LSU to Rely on Leadership Of Darius Days to Get Team Focused for NCAA Tournament Run
The first player Kevin Nickelberry met with was Darius Days. Upon hearing the news over the weekend that coach Will Wade had been let go by LSU and Nickelberry would be the interim coach for the NCAA Tournament, Nickelberry wanted to make sure the pulse of the team was still focused.
It's why when he asked Days to speak, he not only agreed but made sure it was a players-only meeting to regain that attention to the task at hand. For those who have followed this program in recent years, this situation isn't new for the now senior Days.
Back in 2019 when news of the allegations against the men's basketball program initially surfaced and Wade was suspended, Days was a vital piece to that team that eventually made a run to the Sweet Sixteen under Tony Benford. That team obviously went through its fair share of adversity and having that experience is a reason why Nickelberry will lean heavily on his star forward.
"I'm gonna lean on him a lot," Nickelberry said. "Darius has been through this before so I asked him to speak to the team, he spoke to the team and he's gonna continue to mentor these kids and prepare them for this moment."
LSU will be entering the tournament as a No. 6 seed in a tough midwest region that also includes Kansas, Aurburn and Wisconsin, with the Tigers first opponent coming up against No. 11 seed Iowa State. Days and senior guard Xavier Pinson have tournament experience, as does sophomore guard Eric Gaines and forward Mwani Wilkinson from a year ago.
But many of those guys participated in a COVID restricted tournament and will have to adjust to a very different feel with numerous distractions. The focus level must be higher than it's been all season, a difficult task to ask of a college team that now is without its head coach.
"The one thing we lack, we don't lack talent but we do lack experience so we're gonna have to rely on Pinson and Days to lead these young guys," Nickelberry said. "They came here to play basketball at LSU so I'm gonna make sure they're focused on that and let them enjoy this opportunity and experience."
Despite the tumultuous circumstances, Nickelberry and LSU know this isn't a situation where anyone is going to feel sorry for this team. The hope is the leadership of this team will help lead to a respectable outcome for a program that could be heading for pretty bleak times ahead.
"We gotta go out and compete. We're talented and have guys that care about each other so we'll be fine. I tell them win or lose I'm with you guys," Nickelberry said.
"We'll play with integrity and we'll play with character, I can promise you that. We're gonna go out and we're gonna play for LSU, for those letter on our jerseys. We're gonna play with heart, we're gonna play with passion but most importantly we're gonna play for our school."
