At this time of year, LSU fans are revved up about football. They love Les Miles down in Louisiana, and the Bayou Bengals should have another solid season.
The fans in Baton Rouge are also very enthusiastic about college hoops this season. This squad will play an up-tempo pace that people will love to watch. There is no doubt that they will put up plenty of points on the board, baby!
The Tigers made the the NCAA tournament last season, suffering an early loss to NC State. Johnny Jones' squad finished 22-11, but nine of the losses were by seven points or fewer. That team featured Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin, and both declared early for the NBA draft.
There is optimism surrounding this season because of three super Diaper Dandies. Leading the way is 6-foot-10 Ben Simmons, considered by most recruiting services to be the top freshman in America. Simmons has great size, ability and basketball IQ. He can run the floor and dominate on both ends of the court.
Joining Simmons to form the terrific trio of freshmen are guards Antonio Blakeney and Brandon Sampson. You may remember Sampson, who was originally going to St. John's before de-committing when Steve Lavin left as coach.
There hasn't been this much enthusiasm about young talent at LSU since Chris Jackson and Shaquille O'Neal were down in Baton Rouge, starring under Dale Brown.
These youngsters got a taste of playing together as a unit, along with returning like Tim Quarterman and Keith Hornsby. The Tigers took part in a five-game exhibition tour of Australia. Three of the contests were against teams in the National Basketball League, and the two other opponents were made up of professional area all-star teams. It was not easy facing an experienced group of competitors, but it was a terrific learning experience.LSU went 3-2, but Jones said his players got so much out of the trip.
"I thought they had the chance to do a great job in terms of improving, getting better and having the opportunity with the early practices and the five games that were played over there," he said "The way that they played and the opportunity they had to bond as a team showed some good signs of early chemistry that gave us reason to be excited. At the same time, we were able to learn a lot about ourselves on both sides of the basketball -- the positives and also the things we have to continue to improve and get better at. I thought it was a tremendous opportunity for our guys going over there."
The SEC has a lot of young talent coming in. When you look at Simmons, Blakeney and Sampson, and Skal Labissiere, Isaiah Briscoe and Jamal Murray of Kentucky, and Malik Newman of Mississippi State, there is excitement galore.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the Tigers progress with this group of Diaper Dandies.