NCAA Basketball: 5 biggest losers of the 2022 offseason (so far)

LSU Tigers

Let’s start with the good news: the Will Wade era has come to a close. There were successful moments during his tenure, but there were many more moments of drama and scandal. It was time to move forward from that.

Matt McMahon should bring some level of respectability back to a program that sorely needs it. Based on his time at Murray State, it also seems likely to say he’ll bring some wins, too.

Now for the bad. This offseason has brought a lot of upheaval to the program. LSU doesn’t return a single player from last year’s NCAA Tournament. The program needed a reset, but this is taking things to an extreme measure.

In the long run, getting rid of the toxicity could work wonders for the Tigers. For next season, however, it’s hard to see if the pieces can come together to form an NCAA Tournament team.

Justice Hill was a big get for McMahon, as the point guard followed his coach from Murray State to Baton Rouge. Hill blew up last season, averaging 13.4 points and 5.1 assists per game. He’ll be the team’s floor general.

Adam Miller is practically an addition too after the Illinois transfer missed last season with a knee injury. LSU could’ve sed him last year, but a fully healthy Miller is a good contributor.

McMahon will probably have to throw a lot of freshmen and underclassmen into major minutes, though, which could be a gauntlet in the SEC (unless you’re at the recruiting level of Kentucky, which the Tigers are not). The daunting offseason should make for a challenging Year 1 in Louisiana.