Dominance continued: SL teams take district titles
October 29, 2013
BREAKING: Coach, girlfriend, 3 others given criminal summons after Destrehan forfeitures
October 30, 2013
Johnny Jones brought back the fire and intensity to LSU basketball in his first as Tigers’ coach.
In his second go-round, Jones now hopes to return LSU to the NCAA Tournament.
With four returning starters and one of the best recruiting classes in school history at his disposal, Jones’ Tigers are anxious to build on last season’s successes, which saw LSU post 19 wins and a 9-9 record in SEC play.
“We have guys that are returning that understand what we’re looking for and have really adapted,” Jones said when asked about his team’s second-year prospects. “We’ve been able to go out on the recruiting trail and take care of some needs and concerns from a year ago.”
LSU’s experience will likely be key in the upcoming season.
Junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III is back in Baton Rouge after establishing himself as one of the top players in the SEC a year ago.
O’Bryant averaged 13.6 points and 8.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He finished the season with 15 double-doubles and was a First-Team All-SEC selection.
The standout forward’s return marks an early Christmas gift to LSU fans. O’Bryant had the option to leave Baton Rouge for the NBA following last season.
He returned to school in an effort to further polish his craft and push LSU’s team to higher levels – a big coup to the Tigers’ hopes.
“Scouts started showing up at our practices and games (last year),” Jones said. “I thought Johnny had put himself in a position to be a draft pick last year. For him to come in, say he enjoyed the year and was looking forward to coming back and improving his game – that certainly meant a great deal to us.”
O’Bryant said he thought long and hard about the decision, but ultimately came to the conclusion that his college days were not complete. He said that he wants to experience playing in the NCAA Tournament, while also returning the Tigers to prominence.
“I want to develop into the best player that I can be,” O’Bryant said. “I want to win. That’s something I really haven’t experienced since coming here. With how the team is looking, I really think we have a chance to win big.”
The reason for O’Bryant’s optimism is the depth of returnees on the Tigers’ roster.
In the backcourt, 2012-13 starting guards Anthony Hickey and Andrew Stringer are back after combining to average 22.1 points and 5.7 assists per game.
Running alongside them will be small forward and Tri-parish native Shavon Coleman, who averaged 10.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season.
The returnees combine to make LSU one of the most experienced teams in the entire SEC. The Tigers are picked to finish fourth in the league – a big jump for the team.
O’Bryant said he believes LSU can challenge the elites of the conference in this season.
“We’re climbing the ladder trying to take down any team that is in our way,” O’Bryant said. “With the talent that we have coming back to this team, we can definitely surprise some people.”
But it’s LSU’s new players that could put the Tigers over the top.
Jones and his staff landed one of the top recruiting classes in school history in the offseason.
Headlined by McDonald’s All-American Jarell Martin, several LSU freshmen will likely be in a position to earn playing time.
Joining Martin in the recruiting class were forwards Brian Bridgewater and Jordan Mickey, center Darcy Malone and guard Tim Quarterman.
Jones said that the recruiting class will add size and depth to the Tigers’ team – something that LSU lacked last season when they had a thin bench.
“In this league, you have to have big guys out there that can match up with the elite competition,” Jones said. “We’re very fortunate to have Johnny O’Bryant III returning from last year. And then having the ability to go out and recruit a couple of guys that will allow us to be able to compete at a higher level certainly helps.”
A higher level of competition is certainly the Tigers’ goal.
Jones said LSU wants to rebuild the tradition it earned in the 1980s and 1990s when Jones was an assistant coach under longtime Tigers’ coach Dale Brown.
“We know how important it is (to restore LSU),” Jones said. “I’ve seen the highs – when we had players like Shaquille O’Neal and John Williams on the 1986 Final Four team. We want to see if we can get some consistency and stability in the program in terms of the people we recruit and the guys that we have in there.”
