The LSU Tigers bolster their backcourt by landing a high-volume perimeter threat in former Kansas State Wildcats standout Abdi Bashir Jr.
After weeks of inactivity, LSU Tigers men’s basketball recruiting is beginning to heat up. They just secured another major addition as Kansas State Wildcats wing Abdi Bashir Jr. committed on Friday morning, per Joe Tipton of On3.
It had begun to look like the biggest contributors to next year’s Tigers roster were all going to be international players. While they will still have major pickups from overseas, Bashir is a major add from within the NCAA.
Bashir could end up being a major offensive force on this team. He scored 20 a night for Monmouth as a sophomore before transferring to the Wildcats. There were more mouths to feed on Kansas State, so the production dropped, but he was still promising.
The Nebraska native averaged 13.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per night last season on 42.1/44.4/68.8 shooting splits. That 44.3% from three was on 8.4 attempts per game, too, so he’s a legit sniper. LSU hasn’t had someone with this level of shooting ability in a long time.
The 6-foot-7 wing further brings this Tigers roster into focus. They have the defensive intensity of Mo Dioubate and Marcus Santos, a ball handler in Divine Ugochukwo and now the sharpshooter in Bashir.
Not a lot of teams want to have almost a full starting lineup over a week into May, but Will Wade has remained confident in how they’re building this team out.
There are some players who aren’t public yet, and now they have four confirmed players. Wade has set the precedent where they could only pay like eight people. This won’t be an exceptionally deep roster, but the starting lineup is coming into shape and it looks good.