It's now official that LSU Tigers commit Marcio Santos isn't making it to campus, as he has signed a two-year deal to return to the EuroLeague.
Well, it felt like it was only a matter of time before it started happening, but LSU Tigers basketball commit Marcio Santos has decided to cut his losses and head back to the EuroLeague instead of fighting for eligibility in the NCAA.
It had been apparent for a few weeks that Santos wasn't going to make it to campus. Saski Baskonia in Spain announced that they had inked a two-year deal with the big, making it official that he won't make it to Baton Rouge.
If Santos had made it to the team, he would have been a key player for Will Wade and his staff. The 23-year-old was on a dominant team in Brazil while younger and developing. He had spent the last few years in Europe as a floor-spacing big.
Over the past two year, Santos had put up 7.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals plus blocks per night on 51.4/33.8/78.9 shooting splits. Those might not sound like world-beating numbers, but he was going to be far ahead of most collegiate players in his development and would have had the strength to dominate down low.
That's also part of the reason that he isn't going to end up making it. After the debacle that Lane Kiffin went through trying to add the "former professional players" who had a legitimate gripe with the system, it was clear that Wade would have an extra tough time getting some of his players to the court. Santos' only real claim would have been that he had never competed in NCAA before.
LSU's first exhibition game takes place in just over a week on Thursday, October 8. As of right now, there are only four players listed on the team's official roster: Divine Ugochukwu, Abdi Bashir Jr., Austin Nunez and Mouhamed Dioubate.
It'll be interesting to see what Wade is able to put out on the court this year. Despite the lack of public certainty about the roster, the plan is still for them to try to compete right away.
Wade has been great at navigating the waters of change over the past few years. Despite coaching at three schools over the past five seasons, the only NCAA tournament he has missed since 2020 was the year that he was away from coaching. The Tigers, on the other hand, haven't made it since Wade left. The good news is that clarification should be coming soon, as the season is just around the corner.
