LSU Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Tigers
By Ben Dickson
Key Reserves
Barring injuries, the Louisiana State Tigers will not be lacking any sort of depth for this upcoming season. Let’s dive into who will be coming off the bench for LSU.
Charles Manning Jr., Guard
Will Wade could easily opt to go with 3-guard lineups and Charles Manning Jr. will be starting. Regardless, Manning Jr. will play a significant role in the rotation.
The Long Island native had his junior season in 2019-20 shortened due to multiple foot injuries that required surgery. In the nineteen games Manning did play, it seemed as if his transition from junior college (Florida SouthWestern State) to high-major college basketball was seamless. Manning averaged 8.9 points per night while making exactly half of his shots from the field.
Manning could emerge into a crucial “3-and-D” guy, as he is a very good defender who also shot 40.6% from three-point range last season.
Josh LeBlanc Sr., Forward
While Josh LeBlanc did not earn a waiver for immediate eligibility, he will be eligible to play in mid-December as soon as the academic semester ends. The Georgetown transfer is primed to be a major piece off the bench for LSU once he is ready.
Throughout his two years at Georgetown, LeBlanc averaged 8.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. After earning Big East All-Freshman honors in 2018-19, he only played in 6 games last season. His production dipped a little bit in each category, but that should be taken with a grain of salt because it was such a small sample size.
The junior, who averaged 1.1 blocks per game during his time at Georgetown, will be another great athlete and defender for Coach Wade to utilize this season.
Shareef O’Neal, Forward
Shareef O’Neal is an interesting piece for LSU this upcoming season. As hoops fans know, he is the son of legendary Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal.
The former four-star recruit dealt with extreme personal adversity with open-heart surgery in December 2018. The fact that a teenager had to deal with something that life-threatening is terrifying, and his comeback to basketball has been inspirational.
As a redshirt freshman at UCLA, O’Neal only played 13 games during the 2019-20 season, averaging 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. As he comes to LSU, he looks to live up to the high expectations set for him in high school. O’Neal, who received a waiver from the NCAA, should be a high-impact rebounder who can score off the bench.
Mwani Wilkinson, Forward
A consensus four-star recruit, Mwani Wilkinson looks to make an impact off the bench for LSU. The freshman from Las Vegas gives LSU good size on the wing at 6’5″ and 215 pounds.
Wilkinson is a defensive presence and his versatility pops off the screen each time he plays. Not only did Wilkinson average a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds per game at Bishop Gorman, he also stuffed the stat sheet defensively, putting up a remarkable 4 blocks and 2 steals per game. Wilkinson is a great athlete that Will Wade will have no problem plugging in off the bench.
Eric Gaines, Guard
Eric Gaines is yet another high caliber four-star prospect for LSU. Gaines is a high-level scorer at the point guard position and can light it up from anywhere. The freshman averaged 18.6 points per game and shot at a 44% clip from three-point range at Lithonia High School in Georgia. Gaines provides solid height at point guard at 6’2″.
Gaines, along with a fellow freshman we will spotlight next, should share minutes manning down the backup point guard role.
Jalen Cook, Guard
Jalen Cook is a smaller guard at only 6’0″, but his ability to score cannot be doubted. Cook averaged nearly 30 points (29.8 PPG) on average at Walker High School in Louisiana and can shoot the three at a high rate. Even though he is two inches smaller than Gaines, he may be more ready for the college game at 205 pounds compared to Gaines at 155.
If there is anything else to say about Cook, it is that he is simply a winner. In addition to taking home Louisiana’s Mr. Basketball honors in 2020, he helped lead his high school to their first-ever state championship. Cook and Gaines both bring a ton to like to LSU’s backcourt.
Aundre Hyatt, Forward
Aundre Hyatt enters his sophomore year for the Tigers after having a minor role in the 2019-20 season. Hyatt averaged 1.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in only 10.9 minutes of action each night.
Hyatt needs to improve on his 12-for-50 shooting from behind the arc last season in order to have a bigger role on a deep LSU Tigers team.
Josh Gray, Center
It’s unclear how big of an impact Josh Gray will have for LSU in his freshman season. What is clear is that Gray is a big man, at 6’11” and 255 pounds. The Brooklyn native was a top-200 recruit who put up solid numbers at Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut. Gray should play a factor for LSU eventually, but will have trouble finding significant minutes with the state of its current roster.