Last season was a step in the right direction for LSU basketball.
The Tigers finished 18-15 overall, won eight SEC games, and even captured a victory in the NIT before losing in the second round.
However, that was just the first step in Will Wade’s master plan of molding LSU back into a national contender.
This year, the Tigers enter the season ranked No. 23 in the preseason AP top 25, which shows how quickly expectations have changed for a program that lost 15 straight games during the 2016-17 season.
But as most coaches are this time of year, Wade is more concerned with LSU’s daily progress than an early national ranking.
“Just because there’s a number next to you doesn’t mean anything except you’ve probably got a little bit of a target on your back as we start the season here,” Wade said at LSU Media Day on Monday. “We’re not going to concern ourselves with that or worry about that. It’s about how you produce and what you do moving forward.”
The reason for the high expectations is simple: talent. A whole lot of talent.
Not only do the Tigers return a potential SEC player of the year candidate in do-it-all point guard Tremont Waters, but they add the nation’s No. 4 recruiting class to the mix.
There’s more depth, there’s more length, and there are more intangibles that’ll allow Wade to implement his high-pressure defensive system even further.
Nearly the entire group of newcomers should get an opportunity to make an impact right away for Wade’s team, and that added depth is what makes LSU a legitimate SEC title contender.
Skylar Mays is also back after a double-digit scoring season (11.3 ppg), and senior Daryl Edwards provides experience after playing 22.0 minutes per game last year.
But everyone knows that it all starts with Waters. The 5-11 sophomore was incredible in his first season in Baton Rouge, averaging 15.9 points and 6.0 assists to go along with a league-high 2.0 steals per game.
Waters understands that type of production adds even higher attention and expectations, and he’s already embracing his leadership role on a young but overly talented team.
“I am embracing my role, enjoying the process because where I want to go, I have to become more of a leader,” Waters said. “My teammates are helping me, they are always encouraging me, ‘Tremont you have to lead more, talk about this, talk about that.’ I am just open ears listening to them and applying it in practice and games.”
Wade has also seen Waters accept all the things that come with being one of the nation’s most versatile playmakers.
And the second-year coach is pleased with how Waters has progressed since playing 33 minutes per game as a freshman.
“He just has a more mature approach,” Wade said. “He’s been a more vocal leader. He’s been talking more to our guys. He speaks up in film. When I say something, he says, yeah, Coach is right about this. I didn’t listen to this last year, but Coach is right; you guys got to figure this out or it’ll come back to bite us. I think he’s growing with his leadership and his understanding and just the pace.”
As for Wade, he understands that it’ll take more than just a player like Waters and a fantastic group of freshmen to be a Final Four contender.
That’s why Wade and his staff are focusing on the process itself in trying to fit all the pieces together day after day.
“Our big emphasis here moving forward is we’ve just got to build better habits every day, and we’ve got to have a better attention to detail,” Wade said. “I think that’s really important when you’re going to have a younger group and you’re going to be relying on some younger guys that your attention to detail is really good and that we build habits and earn the right to win.”
“We’ve got to continue to learn, continue to process things, and continue to improve and get better.”
For more SEC basketball coverage, follow me on Twitter @theblakelovell.