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SEC basketball program has lost all scholarship players to transfer portal, NBA Draft
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Matt McMahon is going to have an incredibly steep hill to climb as the new head coach at LSU. Right now, the cupboards are bare in Baton Rouge.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, LSU officially has no scholarship players left on the roster from the 2021-22 basketball season. The mass exodus comes after Will Wade was fired as the team’s head coach.
Per Borzello, 11 of those players have entered their names into the NCAA transfer portal and 2 have declared for the 2022 NBA Draft. Wade’s exit has also hindered the Tigers on the recruiting front, with all 4 prospects from the 2022 and 2023 classes decommitting.
That leaves McMahon with quite a responsibility over the next few months.
Since LSU fired Will Wade, the Tigers have lost 11 players to the transfer portal, two players to the NBA draft and all four players committed in 2022 and 2023. They have zero scholarship players from this past season still on the roster.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 1, 2022
Wade was at LSU for 5 seasons and was terminated near the end of the 2021-22 season after the school received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA. The Tigers went 105-51 with 3 NCAA Tournament appearances and an NIT bid over that time.
This year, the Tigers were defeated in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
McMahon takes over at LSU after spending the last 7 seasons at Murray State. He was incredibly successful while leading the Racers, posting a 154-67 record in that time. Murray State hit the 20-win mark 4 times and made 3 NCAA Tournament appearances.
This offseason, however, is going to be McMahon’s toughest challenge yet.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB