LSU Guard Skylar Mays Appreciative of Career with Tigers, Talks Next Chapter in Pursuing NBA Dream

Mays taking next few weeks, months slowly as he prepares for professional career

LSU senior guard Skylar Mays thought he'd seen it all in his collegiate career. As a four-year starter for the Tigers, Mays has been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

In his first season with the program the Tigers finished a woeful 2-16 in conference play but two years later, the program had rose to the top of the SEC mountain, going 28-7 and 16-2 in conference play, eventually leading to a Sweet Sixteen appearance. Mays has been through a coaching change, personal loss and a switch to pre med kinesiology that saw him lose 30 hours of college credit.

Yet nothing could prepare the senior for the surreal events that transpired last week at the SEC tournament.

The Tigers went through a scheduled shootaround Thursday morning when the players started hearing and seeing the rumblings on social media. By 11 a.m., Mays had found out via social media that the SEC tournament had been cancelled in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

By 2 p.m. that afternoon, Mays had learned the season and his college career had been cut short. 

"I thought I'd seen it all but that was definitely something new," Mays told LSUCountry on Wednesday.

Despite the way his season ended not only for himself but his team as well, Mays is electing not to approach it in a negative manner. He knows that he's not the only one that this roller coaster of a week has affected and he can take solace in the fact that he finished his career in the building he grew up dreaming about playing in.

"I finished my college career on a win in my hometown," Mays said. "It was my last time pretty much playing in Baton Rouge, not just for LSU but taking it all the way back to high school as well. What playing in Baton Rouge, in my hoemtown has meant to me, I've been able to reflect a bit on how much that really meant to me. So to kind of end it on a win and for my last college game to be in my hometown, that's something positive I can take away from this."

Since returning home, Mays said he's been in a bit of a standstill as he now turns his focus to the next chapter in his life, the NBA. Mays is currently taking it easy at home for a little while as he prepares to start looking for an agency that will represent him at the professional level.

That's where coach Will Wade has been very beneficial for Mays as the two have had numerous conversations about how to proceed over the next few weeks or even months as the NBA remains on suspension.

"It hasn't been a lot of sulking or going over what could've been, life goes on," Mays said. "I've been getting advice from coach Wade on what to listen for and what to look for in regards to an agency. With everything getting pushed back and the NBA getting shut down, I'm taking things much slower than I would've been so that's been good."

Mays entered his name into the NBA draft a year ago but ultimately decided to return to school after not hiring an agent. Going through that process last season really helped him discover what it is that NBA teams were looking to see out of him in means of improvement.

"My offensive game definitely took a big jump with having more opportunity this year," Mays said. "I think I proved I'm a better playmaker, which is something that teams wanted to see. When you talk to people, they're pretty broad because they don't want you to feel like you need to prove yourself. It's kind of more so just playing your game and improving on everything as the year goes by."

With all of the on court improvements he made in his final season, perhaps the one skill Mays is most proud of is his advancements as a vocal leader for the team. 

Mays said that was something that Wade really challenged him on at the start of the year, especially with plenty of new faces to help get acclimated to the program as well as returning guys expected to fill larger roles.

"Being that person who had experienced it all and really just giving them, somebody who could listen and who could relate to them was important for me," Mays said. "Being there for the guys and being more vocal about it I think is something I did a much better job with this year."

From a health standpoint, Mays is taking the next week or so to rest his body before he starts training hard for the next level. Whenever that time may be, Mays knows he's going to be ready for it and the extra time to get in peak shape is a silver lining to the season being cut short.

"Making myself sit down and not expend too much energy so my body can recover has been the biggest thing so far," Mays said. "Within the next week or so, I'll start running. I'm definitely stretching every day, getting flexibility training in that I can just do in my dorm. So that's kind of the gist of where things stand right now."

Mays is currently projected to fall somewhere in the second round but even if he were to go undrafted, he has traits that NBA teams crave. A native of Baton Rouge, Mays knows that wherever his career takes him, he'll have a whole fanbase and a whole town in his corner.

"I know they're going to follow me as long as I keep playing," Mays said. "LSU fans do a great job from what I've seen with other guys in the NBA and how they show love. Hopefully that's where I end up and find a consistent career in the NBA and I know I'm always going to have a lot of support from the bayou."