An up-to-date look at the publicly known first LSU Tigers roster and coaching staff for Will Wade's return year to Baton Rouge, with four players added so far.
The LSU Tigers basketball roster is coming into focus and it's far more exciting than fans began to expect with the late start that Will Wade got in the portal and in signing international talent.
So far, the public knows about four players who will be on next year's team. Three have come from the transfer portal and one from overseas. Wade has said before that there are more committed players than we know about right now, there will be a heavy focus on international players and
Here are the Tigers we currently know about:
G Divine Ugochukwu
Ugochukwu is on his third team in as many years and will likely finally have his biggest role as the only real combo guard that LSU has right now. He's more of a shooting guard than a point guard, but can play both roles if he needs to.
Jeremy Fears did most of the playmaking for the Spartans last season, but Ugochukwu was second on the team with 1.5 assists. The new Tiger also had 5.1 points and 1.5 rebounds on 50.6/44.2/55.6 shooting splits.
G/F Abdi Bashir Jr.
Bashir is the best sharpshooter that LSU has seen in a long team. He shot 44.4% from deep last season on 8.4 attempts per night. As a sophomore, two years ago, he averaged 20.1 points and shot 10.4 three a night on 37.7%. He will be a major part of the Tigers offense and should be fun to watch.
F Mo Dioubate
Dioubate averaged 8.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game for the Kentucky Wildcats last season. He is far more exciting because of his defensive upside, though. He can guard positions 1-5 and do it well. This type of hard-nosed defender is exactly what this team needs. He may not be the most dynamic offensive player, but he doesn't need to be.
F/C Márcio Santos
Santos, like Dioubate, has been described as a bit of a bully. He's more developed as a 23-year-old, which will help him in the front court as he's a little bit undersized. He averaged 8.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists for Maccabi Tel Aviv last season.
His three-point shooting took a little bit of a dip last season in the IBSL, but he shot above 40% in both the EuroCup and EuroLeague. That stretch ability will come in handy, especially for someone like Dioubate who gets his points in the paint.
Coaching and Support Staff
Head Coach: Will Wade
Associate Head Coach: Rick Stansbury
Associate Coach: Johnny Jones
Associate Coach: Damon Stoudamire
Associate Coach: Vernon Hamilton
Chief of Staff and Director of Performance: Greg Goldin
Director of Player Development: Jay Smith
Director of Operations: Nick Flory
Director of Scouting and Video: Brady Jones
Executive Assistant to the HC & Coordinator of External Relations: Reed Vial
Director of Analytics and Scouting: Isaac Stansbury
Sr. Associate Athletic Trainer: Shawn Eddy
Communications Director: Kent Lowe
Coordinator: Tam Davis