The LSU Tigers are adding some insurance in their frontcourt, picking up 24-year-old Israeli pro Gilad Levy for their roster.
The Men's College Basketball season starts in just a few weeks, and the LSU Tigers are still putting together their roster. They added a massive player to their frontcourt on Tuesday: 7-foot-3 Israeli professional Gilad Levy, per LouisianaSports' Hunt Palmer.
Levy will once again require the Tigers to work to get him eligible, but now they are going to need to start extra shots, with some players' cases being stalled and starting to look like they might not go their way.
LSU already has some size in its frontcourt, but nothing to the level of what Levy offers at 7-foot-3. While he doesn't appear to offer much more than that, there is value to just taking up space on the court. The NBA has started to see players with more size start to change defenses.
Over three seasons as a professional in Israel, he has averaged 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game, shooting 66.3% from the field and playing 7.7 minutes per game. It's clear he hasn't had much time on the court to round out his game or the durability to play in longer stretches, but he should have an easier time in the college game than the pro one.
Per CJ of TigerBait.com, the Tigers have had some issues in gaining eligibility for Santos, which makes the addition even more important than it would have been normally. While Santos isn't the same type of player as Levy, he was going to play major minutes at the center spot.
Santos is more of a small-ball big than a true center than Levy, so this would hurt LSU if they aren't able to land both players. The Tigers have put together an impressive roster for Will Wade's return, but they don't have very much shooting. Santos is someone who would add that spacing in the frontcourt. Levy would not.
Brice Dessert will likely open the year in the starting lineup, especially now. Like Levy, he's been a professional for a few years and is more physically advanced than a lot of college players. Dessert averaged 8.7 points with 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in his last season for Anadolu Efes.
Overall, LSU's bigs are in a good spot for being in the first year of a new regime taking (back) over. They won't be the most versatile group, but they are big and have a lot of experience.
