Building around international talent and defensive versatility, Will Wade is mostly bypassing the transfer portal hype to assemble a lean, battle-ready LSU Tigers rotation designed for November competition over preseason praise.
LSU Tigers fans and the college basketball world as a whole have been waiting patiently as Will Wade fills out the first roster for his return to Baton Rouge. People are growing impatient, though, as there are still just two known players on the roster.
During an appearance on Tingle & Co. on Tuesday, though, Wade tried to calm some nerves and clear up some confusion about the roster.
The reason that they haven't been very active in the transfer portal, is that the roster is mostly being built around international players. They're also not going to have a very deep roster, as Wade said that they are only going to pay for the 8-9 guys who will be getting consistent play time.
Of those 8-9 guys, the public knows of one transfer portal player in Mo Dioubate, but that is the only confirmed player.
"We have one that everybody knows about. I would contend we have, I would tell you, sitting here right now, we have all but one spot filled for what we're going to need to compete on a night-in, night-out basis. We're working on that last spot. So, you know, we're in a good place. We feel very good about it," said Wade.
There has also been a lot of smoke around former Cleveland Cavaliers draft pick, current Italian professional Saliou Niang from Senegal. He, like Dioubate, is a versatile and active defender. It feels like that is the identity that Wade is trying to build with this team.
This probably won't be the process every season, but Wade has a plan to get this first LSU roster together. They'll certainly be an experienced bunch, but it won't be the flashiest and might not be the most popular when it comes time for preseason polls.
"You get nothing for winning in March and April, except for having everybody like you on Twitter, having everybody write good articles about you. My job is to have the best player we can have by the first day of class in August at LSU. We'll have the best seven, eight guys that we can assemble from all around the world by August and we'll be ready to compete when it comes time for November."