I'm not sure I see this as a "major blow" to the program. While Kennedy has shown to be a resourceful coach/recruiter to some degree, it's never been the case that Ole Miss "expected" to land Miss's best players. Moreover, Kennedy, try as he might, hasn't been able to land/develop a big man for as long as he's been at Ole Miss. He stresses a guard offense, which frankly works for Ole Miss with what they can recruit. Frankly, I saw this as more Miss State's blunder. In the end, I see this as JOB wanting to play with his AAU buddies with a coach who can coach up big men (and has a NBA track record to prove it), at a good school close to home but not in Miss. O'Bryant is a legit SEC Center/PF, who's likely looking to Trent to get him prepared for a NBA 4 spot. With Justin Hamilton playing pure 5 next year, JOB is probably liking the chance to play PF in LSU's system--he gets to develop under Malcolm White, getting a lot of PT.
Johnny O'Bryant Day Today's the day JOB is supposed to announce. And, yesterday was hoops media day. C'mon Johnny, be a Tiger!
Not LSU recruiting, but SEC hoops recruiting. A strong showing by Miss St in this week's news with some big names committing to Rick Stansbury. Looks like the SEC West is going to be something in a year or two.... LSU, Miss St, Arkansas and Alabama, could start to compete with Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt and GA/SC in the East. College Basketball Class Rankings 2011 - ESPN With only 2 potential schollies in 2011, LSU is done, but I'll take quality over quantity in this class. While Miss St hauls in a nice deep class, JOB is still the likely best player in Miss for 2011. Should we start the 2012 thread?
National signing day for non-football sports starts today. Obviously, we want to see Mr. O'Bryant's papers come in asap. We also wait to hear the latest from Mr. John Isaac, whose commitment seems like eons ago (he committed as a sophomore). He's about to start his Senior year in high school hopefully healed from his knee injury. He's an athletic, versatile guard, who I'll be curious to see. Good job Trent! Bring 'em home and let's get focused on 2012!
As we know, LSU landed its two targets for the 2011 early signing period. Johnny O'Bryant and John Isaac, welcome to Tigertown and an exciting TJ led team! I think implicitly these signings leave some question for 2011-2012, where LSU would be one schollie over the limit if everyone stayed on scholarship. Trent alluded to "hard decisions" come end of the season as well. So, stay tuned. As the dust settles from yesterday's signing day, the SEC, perhaps surprisingly, comes out smelling like a rose, besting the ACC and Big East in the recruiting rankings. Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting - SEC leads the way in hoops recruiting rankings I think while the SEC may be a little "down" these last few years, the recruiting landscape undoubtedly has a play in how the league is perceived a year or two down the line. Better players leads to better teams, leads to better non-conference games, leads to more teams in the tourney and more players drafted. Trent put up solid, although unranked, numbers this year and he now focuses on 2012. The interesting question there will be where will that "5*" kid come from, if there is one? We may be looking at another 2010 kind of "deep, good" year... but perhaps Trent is fine with that (i.e., a couple of good LA kids, and a couple from OOS). Or, perhaps, he's opportunistic and the Tigers surprise folks this year, and some highly ranked kid pulls the trigger on LSU. Only time will tell.
More on John Isaac Just thought that LSU hoops fans would appreciate this local Leesville article on LSU signee, John Isaac. Isaac fulfills dream by signing with LSU - Leesville, LA - Leesville Daily Leader I think we often forget that programs can be built on many things, including integrity. It was an interesting, un-publicized fact that here was a kid who in his sophomore year knew he wanted to play for LSU and for Trent Johnson, and really never wavered. Despite a serious injury, LSU and Trent supported this kid, and that integrity has to be noted. Hopefully other recruits see this about our program and make choices based on this. Like on the court or field, often it's the little things that make a difference in your success. :geauxtige:bball::geauxtige
