By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
It appears LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade may be close to finishing his roster for the 2026-27 season as he has a possible 11 on the team after a very busy week with six additions since only Monday.
But that’s just it – “possible.”
As of May 23, LSU has confirmed exactly zero of Wade’s commitments and/or signees. Schools usually do not confirm any new additions until they are signed. But LSU hasn’t even confirmed Wade’s reported signees, such as the widely reported signing on Friday of center Brice Dessert (6-foot-11, 247 pounds), a pro player on the Andalou Efes team in Istanbul, Turkey, who is from Pontoise, France. He committed last Tuesday.
LSU has also not confirmed the widely reported signing of former St. John’s All-American guard/forward and Big East player of the year RJ Luis (6-7, 215). That is likely because LSU will have to finesse that signing legally as Luis signed with the Utah Jazz and then the Boston Celtics as an undrafted free agent following the 2025 NBA Draft. He never played in any real games, but he signed.
In addition, Wade has not been in contact much at all with LSU athletic department officials concerning his new players.
In the meantime, 247sports.com includes only four committed roster players for Wade’s Tigers and ranks that four-member portal class at No. 40 in the nation. That includes No. 62 overall portal prospect and No. 9 small forward Mouhamad Dioubate (6-7, 220) of Kentucky, No. 123 portal player and No. 23 shooting guard Abdi Bashir Jr. (6-7, 175) of Kansas State, No. 231 portal prospect and No. 45 point guard Divine Ugochukwu of Michigan State and unranked guard Austin Nunez of Texas-San Antonio.
There is also new addition Ahmad Hudson (6-6, 239), a forward from Ruston High who committed to the LSU football team recently as the No. 1 tight end in the nation for the class of 2027. And he has told Tiger Rag and other outlets that he plans to also play for Wade.
The rash of additions of overseas professional players is up to five, including four since Tuesday. And that has attracted much negative attention across the nation. Those are forward Saliou Niang (6-6, 190) of Virtus Bologna in Italy, point guard Yam Madar (6-3, 181) of Hapeol in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Dessert, who all committed on Tuesday, and center Michael Ruiz (7-0, 160), a club pro player for Joventut Badalona in Catalonia, Spain, who committed on Wednesday. The fifth overseas pro player is center Marcio Santos (6-8, 250), who plays for Maccabi Rapyd in Tel Aviv, Israel, and committed on May 6.
Michael DeCourcy, an expert on college basketball for decades at The Sporting News, tweeted about Wade’s worldwide, wild recruiting on Thursday.
“When an NCAA basketball coach gets desperate these days, the results can be revealing,” he said. “When that coach is Will Wade, it’s a remiinder of what we already knew.”
WILL WADE’S CIRCUS ACT OF OVERSEAS RECRUITING
The headline of the accompanying story said, “Will Wade’s latest manuevers at LSU show the circus will follow wherever he coaches.”
His first paragraph said, “Did anyone really expect Will Wade would not act like a clown when he agreed to return to the circus that is LSU athletics/”
DeCourcy wrote that Wade plans to pay the previously mentioned Yam Madar $5 million, even though the 25-year-old is currently averaging 3.1 points a game for Hapoel in Israel.
The “desperate” term may not be a reach. Among the targeted portal players Wade tried to get shortly after taking the LSU job last March who turned him down were the following:
-No. 2-ranked Kansas State point guard PJ Haggerty, who went to Texas A&M.
-No. 6 Seton Hall center Najai Hines, who went to Connecticut.
-No. 5 Georgia combination guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, who went to Arkansas.
-No. 4 Georgetown small forward KJ Lewis, who went to USC.
-No. 5 North Carolina State guard Matt Able, who went to North Carolina.
-No. 15 Florida Atlantic guard Deven Vanterpool, who went to Providence.
Funny, remember all the heat football coach Nick Saban took when he left Michigan State for LSU and not one Michigan State assistant followed him? Well, one would think one or two of Wade’s players at North Carolina State would have followed him to LSU the way four followed Lane Kiffin to LSU from Ole Miss after last season. Of course, Wade was just at NC State for less than a year, whereas Kiffin was at Ole Miss for six.
Maybe, Wade will get all his overseas pro players on campus. It’s not like very many have been adhering to NCAA rules since the portal and NIL began in 2021. Maybe, he’s just pushing the edge of the envelope more than anyone else. That’s what he has done for most of his career, particularly when he was at LSU the first time and NCAA rules were enforced.
And LSU fired him for a litany of NCAA recruiting violations in 2022.
Or perhaps the NCAA will block what Wade is trying to do overseas and what other coaches have done in bringing over pro players from there for years.
NEW NCAA RULES CONCERNING ACQUISITIONS OF PRO PLAYERS FROM OVERSEAS
“New eligibility requirement guidance that could significantly impact top international talent headed to college basketball was distributed by the NCAA earlier this month,” wrote Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney on Thursday.
“The guidance, distributed May 8 and obtained recently by Sports Illustrated, lays out updated preenrollment eligibility requirements largely surrounding compensation and professional team involvement,” Sweeney continued. “How aggressively the requirements will be enforced is unclear, but they lay the groundwork for the NCAA to push back significantly on professional players in Europe and other top international leagues enrolling in college.”
At the moment, no one, including Wade himself, knows for sure who will be on LSU basketball’s roster for 2026-27. If approved, Wade could have a team with an average age older than some NBA teams. Here are the 11 possibilities:
LSU’s POTENTIAL 2026-27 MEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER (11 with class designations for next season)
Abdir Bashir Jr. Guard, 6-7, 175, Sr., Kansas State Transfer, Native of Burnsville, Minnesota, Age 21.
Brice Dessert, Center, 6-11, 247, Fr., Andalou Efes pro team in Istanbul, Turkey, Native of Pontoise, France, Age 23.
Mouhamaed Dioubate, Forward, 6-7, 220, Sr., Kentucky Transfer, Native of Queens, New York, Age 22.
Ahmad Hudson, Forward, 6-6, 239, Fr., Ruston High, Native of Ruston, Age 17.
RJ Luis, Guard/Forward, 6-7, 215, Sr., St. John’s Transfer, Native of Miami, Age 23.
Yam Madar, Guard, 6-3, 181, Fr., Hapoel pro team in Tel Aviv, Israel, Native of Beit Dugan, Israel, Age 25.
Saliou Niang, Forward, 6-6, 190, Fr., Virtus pro team in Bologna, Italy, Native of Dakar, Senegal, West Africa, Age 22.
Austin Nunez, Guard, 6-2, 185, Sr., Texas-San Antonio Transfer, Native of San Antonio, Age 23.
Michael Ruzic, Center, 7-0, 160, Fr., Joventut club pro team in Catalonia, Spain, Native of Besancon, France, Age 19.
Marcio Santos, Center, 6-8, 250, Fr. Maccabi Rapyd pro team in Tel Aviv, Israel, Native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Age 23.
Divine Ugochukwu, Guard, 6-3, 195, Jr., Michigan State transfer, Native of Sugar Land, Texas, Age 20.
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