Will Wade Excited About Future of LSU Basketball
Will Wade finally believes LSU basketball is in a position where the program will truly take off. In the past there's been elite talent but there hasn't been much in terms of sustainability with the roster year to year.
The elite talent that's come through Baton Rouge has largely gone two years into their stay, not giving Wade ample time to plan for the future. But some of the players the program has recruited in the last year are ones that will be around for a while leaving Wade to think the roster is in as good a place as it's been since he arrived in 2017.
"The next two or three years I think we're really just taking off right now. I know everything's going well, we're gonna have a good year but we're just getting started," Wade said. "I think this thing's in as good a place since I started here and we're getting ready to go on a major, major run with these next couple of years. We've finally been able to catch our breath and the portal's helped us."
Just take a look at the recent history of the program. Players like Trendon Watford, Tremont Waters, Naz Reid, Javonte Smart and Cam Thomas have all been integral pieces to the program but whose futures weren't mapped out. Reid and Thomas were gone after a single season while Watford, Smart and Waters all flirted with leaving early in their respective times with the program, leaving not much of a framework for Wade to build a sustainable roster.
This season has been a different type of building for the program as senior guard Xavier Pinson and forward Darius Days are the only two who are likely to leave the program after the season. The play of transfer Tari Eason and freshman big Efton Reid will be important to monitor but there is talent returning next year that will keep the roster deep for the foreseeable future.
"You just gotta find the right ones, latch on to the right guys," Wade said. "I've said this but I actually feel like we're in a really good place, this is the best we've been in recruiting space. I feel like we've got some stability with our roster now, we have a good feel who will be back, who won't be back."
Brandon Murray, Mwani Wilkinson, Eric Gaines, Alex Fudge, Jerrell Colbert and Justice Williams are just a few players who seem primed to return to the program next year and beyond. That's a key core of returning talent, not to mention the additions of elite freshmen forwards Julian Phillips and Devin Ree and any players Wade decides to target in the transfer portal.
There are also a number of future prospects the Tigers are targeting in 2023 and beyond who will want to reclassify to an earlier class, giving the program extended time with those players.
It's been a slow burn to this point as LSU has proven to be consistent in Wade's first four years with the program. Now's the time to capitalize on that consistency.
"We're gonna recruit really good high school kids and we're gonna find guys that really fit us in the portal," Wade said. "The more data I have, the better I can predict everything and the better chance we have to hit on guys like Eason, Pinson. We're gonna be in really good shape."
