LSU basketball is still searching for a breakout in Matt McMahon’s fourth season in Baton Rouge. Does it come in 2025-26?
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: LSU basketball.
Sometimes, a team’s fortune is out of their control. Well, to a degree. But LSU was truly dealt a bad hand last season, starting with star wing Tyrell Ward stepping away from the team prior to the Tigers’ first game. Ward averaged 11.9 PPG over the last nine games of the 2023-24 season, in which LSU compiled a 5-4 record with multiple ranked wins. Then, captain Jalen Reed tore his ACL in the team’s eighth game of the season, a ten-point victory over Florida State. The Tigers, then 7-1, went 7-17 the rest of the way.
Losing two starters, and arguably the two best players on a roster, is a death sentence in a league as competitive as the SEC. After losing Reed, the Tigers eked out a nine-point victory against FGCU then lost to SMU. The wheels fell off, and a February to forget hollowed out after a loss to Arkansas moved the team to 12-12. While the team won two in a row following that loss, their last win came against South Carolina on February 18. A loss in the conference tournament to Mississippi State, 91-62, ended the season. Cursed with bad luck from the beginning, it was a lost season in Baton Rouge.
Even though there wasn’t a head coaching change in the offseason, the Tigers only return two players from the 2024-25 season. The backcourt will have to be completely redone, as no guards return from the previous season. Only Robert Miller III and Jalen Reed come back, both down low. It’s a roster retooled through the portal and the freshman class. Dedan Thomas Jr. might be the best of the new recruits, the former point guard for UNLV. After Kevin Kruger was fired, the All-MWC Third-Teamer hit the portal and was scooped up by McMahon. He’ll try and replicate the role Jordan Sears held as a dual distributor-scorer.
Memphis transfer PJ Carter or freshman Mazi Mosley could emerge as the top shooting guard option, though Jalen Reese could be too good to keep off the court after backing up Thomas. On the wing, a trio of transfers will vie for time in Rashad King (Northeastern), Max Mackinnon (Portland), and Pablo Tamba (UC-Davis).
The team’s frontcourt might be the strength of the program. Reed (albeit possibly not at 100% physically) and Miller of course return. Marquel Sutton transferred in from Omaha, and averaged 18.9 PPG last season. That trio should take the majority of minutes at the four and five for the Tigers, and will form a formidable unit.
What will become of LSU this year? The incoming transfer class is talented, no doubt. But all but one of those transfers comes from a mid-major. And of course, the other new recruits are freshmen. How will these new Tigers adjust to the SEC? Can Matt McMahon right the ship and prove he’s right for Baton Rouge? All of these questions remain, but the Tigers have an offseason to answer them. Anything is possible.
Head coach:Â Matt McMahon (4th season at LSU, 11th season overall)
2024-25 record: 14-18 (3-15)
2025 postseason finish:Â No postseason
Notable departures:Â
- Cam Carter (16.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.2 SPG)
- Jordan Sears (12.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 SPG)
- Vyctorius Miller (8.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.2 APG, 1.0 BPG)
- Dji Bailey (8.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.3 APG)
- Corey Chest (6.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 0.7 APG, 1.2 BPG)
- Daimion Collins (8.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 0.5 APG, 1.6 BPG)
Notable non-conference games:Â
- vs. Drake (Nov. 28) – Emerald Coast Classic
- vs. DePaul OR Georgia Tech (Nov. 29) – Emerald Coast Classic
- at Boston College (Dec. 3)
- vs. Texas Tech (Dec. 7, Fort Worth)
Projected Rotation
PG: Dedan Thomas Jr. (6-1, 178, Jr.)
2024-25 stats: 15.6 PPG, 4.7 APG, 2.0 RPG (UNLV)
SG: PJ Carter (6-4, 183, Rs.-Sr.)
2024-25 stats: 5.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 0.3 APG (Memphis)
SF: Rashad King (6-6, 217, Sr.)
2024-25 stats: 18.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.3 APG (Northeastern)
PF: Marquel Sutton (6-8, 225, R-Sr.)
2024-25 stats: 18.9 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.2 APG (Omaha)
C: Jalen Reed (6-10, 245, R-Jr.)
2024-25 stats: 11.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.0 BPG, 8 GP – Season ending torn ACL
6: Robert Miller III (6-10, 230, So.)
2024-25 stats: 4.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.7 APG, 72.4 2PT%
7: Jalen Reece (6-0, 185, Fr.)
247Sports No. 79 Recruit in Class of 2025
8: Michael Nwoko (6-10, 261, Jr.)
2024-25 stats: 6.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 0.7 APG (Mississippi State)
9: Max Mackinnon (6-6, 2195, Sr.)
2024-25 stats: 14.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.2 APG (Portland)
10: Pablo Tamba (6-7, 206, Gr.-Sr.)
2024-25 stats: 11.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.1 APG
11: Mazi Mosley (6-5, 169, Fr.)
247Sports No. 75 Recruit in Class of 2025
12: Ron Zipper (6-5, 209, Fr.)
International Prospect
LSU Basketball team MVP: Jalen Reed
Jalen Reed’s decision to return for another year after a torn ACL speaks a lot to his determination and grit. He’s the only player in McMahon’s first freshman class to make it four whole years in Baton Rouge. If he can be at 100% when the season begins, that’s a huge plus for the team, not just on the court but off-court as well.
Reed is an all-SEC caliber player when he’s playing at his best. Look no further than his performance last season against UCF, when he scored 21, brought down 13 rebounds, and added on four assists and two blocks. He set a career-high a couple weeks earlier when he scored 24 and collected eight rebounds against ULM.
What kind of team will LSU be next season? Are the Tigers an NCAA tournament caliber team? Or will they be knocking on the door of the NIT? Jalen Reed’s health and production plays a lot into the answers to these questions.
LSU Basketball make-or-break player: Michael Nwoko
Michael Nwoko might be a starter for opening night, depending on how the transfer class looks and depending on the progress of Jalen Reed’s recovery. But even if he doesn’t, rest assured Nwoko will make an impact. He’s got SEC experience, along with Reed and Miller. The Tigers need a veteran that’s gone up against the likes of Johni Broome, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Amari Williams, to name a few.
Can Nwoko help LSU adapt to the new dominant bigs in the SEC, whoever they are, after the departure of those three aforementioned stars? At 6’10”, 261, yes, that’s a distinct possibility. You can’t teach size, and Nwoko’s addition to the team was much needed.
Key analytic: 2PT%
Last season, the Tigers were actually quite efficient inside the arc. They converted on 55.2% of their shots from two. That was good for 50th in the nation, and despite their in-conference struggles, the Tigers were 8th in the SEC from short distance in the conference portion of the season. Who was the most efficient Tiger from close range? Robert Miller made 72.4% of his twos! If he played enough to qualify for SEC leaderboards, that would’ve put him second, behind only Clifford Omoruyi. Is that good? It ain’t bad.
Miller, of course, returns, but who else is going to hit those shots inside? Reed’s mark of 61.2% is pretty good. Miller’s biggest competition for playing time, Omaha transfer Marquel Sutton, hit just 53.1% of his twos in the Summit League. That’s not bad, really, but it’s not at the level of Reed or Miller’s marks in the SEC. We’ll see what happens.
LSU Basketball 2025-26 projections
Projected conference finish:Â 15th in the SEC
Projected postseason ceiling:Â NCAA Tournament First Round Exit