By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
It was like the LSU men’s basketball just had National Signing Day on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And suddenly, new coach Will Wade has 14 players on his OFFICIAL roster on the LSUsports.net athletics website. Yes, 14, after there were just four officially until just two weeks ago when that grew to 10. Wade has been practicing with those 14 since September, but now everyone has received the stamp of approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Almost everyone, that is.
Didn’t know if I’d ever see the day. Will Wade officially has 14 players listed on his LSU basketball roster https://t.co/OHzIGfJUg6
— Toyloy Brown III (@TJ3rd_) October 21, 2026
Last Tuesday, the NCAA cleared three of the most significant LSU transfer signees, and they could all be in the starting lineup when the Tigers open the regular season on Nov. 3 against LSU-New Orleans. Or maybe this Saturday when LSU plays at Florida State in its last exhibition game at noon.
That terrific trio Tuesday featured 22-year-old junior forward Saliou Niang (6-foot-6, 190), formerly of the Virtus pro team in Bologna, Italy, 23-year-old senior center Brice Dessert (6-11, 247), formerly of the Andalou Efes pro team in Istanbul, Turkey, and 23-year-old fifth-year senior shooting guard Skyy Clark (6-3, 210), formerly of UCLA.
Then on Wednesday, the NCAA cleared 7-foot-3, 242-pound senior center Gilad Levy, a 24-year-old formerly of the Palencia pro team in Spain. That’s 14.
But Levy is not completely cleared as of yet because of his age, according to a Tiger Rag source and the NCAA’s new age-based rule passed last June, allowing athletes to play five seasons over five years instead of four years.
The five-year clock for overseas pro players who have never been to college, like Levy, begins with the first full-time semester after they turned 19. Levy turned 19 on July 3, 2021, so his clock at LSU, or another school, began with the 2021-22 season. His five-season window, therefore, ended when the 2025-26 season ended. LSU is trying to get an exception to that rule from the NCAA.
While Niang, Dessert and Levy have never played college basketball, their college class designations are determined by their age. At 23, Dessert is considered a senior with his clock at LSU starting in the 2022-23 season. At 22, Niang is considered a junior with his clock starting in 2023-24.
The only player Wade did not get that he wanted – other than likely Levy – was former St. John’s Big East Player of the Year forward RJ Luis, who was an admitted long shot by Wade and LSU from the beginning last spring when he signed with the Tigers. That was because he signed with two NBA teams after not being drafted in 2025. After trying to get Luis cleared for months, Wade and LSU wisely decided not to pursue him in accordance with the wishes of Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey.
Here is LSU’s All-Star roster:
LSU BASKETBALL 2026-27 ROSTER (14)
NAME, HT, WT, POS, CLASS, PREVIOUS SCHOOL/PRO/PREP TEAM, TOWN, AGE, OFFICIAL ROSTERED DATE
-ABDI BASHIR JR., 6-5, 170, Guard, Sr., Kansas State, Phoenix Prep, Phoenix, Arizona, Age: 22 – rostered May 8
-JORDAN BENDER, 6-8, 200, Forward, Fr., Northside Chr. High, St. Petersburg, Fla., Louisville, Age: 18 – rostered as of Oct. 8
-SKYY CLARK, 6-3, 210, Guard, Sr., UCLA, Montverde Academy-Florida, Los Angeles, Age: 23 – rostered Oct. 20
-DONOVAN DENT, 6-2,185, Guard, Sr., UCLA, Centennial High, Corona, Cal., Riverside, Cal., Age: 22 – rostered as of Oct. 8
-BRICE DESSERT, 6-11, 247, Center, Sr., Andalou Efes pro team, Istanbul, Turkey, Pontoise, France, Age: 23 – rostered Oct. 20
-MOUHAMED DIOUBATE, 6-8, 235, Forward, Sr., Kentucky, Putnam, Queens, New York, Age: 22 – rostered April 20
–BRAD FIFE, 5-10, 150, Guard, Fr., Catholic High, Baton Rouge, Age: 18 – rostered as of Oct. 8
– *GILAD LEVY, 7-3, 242, Center, Sr., Palencia pro team, Palencia, Spain, Ashdod, Israel, Age: 24 – rostered Oct. 21
-SALIOU NIANG, 6-6, 190, Forward, Jr., Virtus pro team, Bologna, Italy, Dakar, Senegal, West Africa, Age: 22 – rostered Oct. 21
-AUSTIN NUNEZ, 6-2, 175, Guard, Sr., Texas-San Antonio, Wagner High, San Antonio, Texas, Age: 23 – rostered May 18
-STRAKE PEARSON, 7-0, 234, Center, Fr., IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida, Prosper, Texas, Age 19 – rostered as of Oct. 8
-MICHAEL RUZIC, 7-0, 160, Forward, Fr., Joventut pro team, Catalonia, Spain, Besancon, France, Age: 19 – rostered Oct. 8
-LUKE STANSBURY, 6-2, 185, Guard, Fr., Stephen F. Austin, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Age: 21 – rostered as of Oct. 8
-DIVINE UGOCHUKWU, 6-3, 200, Guard, Jr., Michigan State, Clements High, Sugar Land, Texas, Age: 20 – rostered May 7
*Gilad Levy has not yet been fully cleared because of his age of 24. The new NCAA rule granting five seasons over five years says a player cannot be 24. But LSU is trying to get an exception for Levy, who turned 24 on July 3.
NOTE: Players listed as officially rostered as of Oct. 8 above were rostered before that, but that was not released by LSU. All above players practiced with LSU since the first day of practice in September, even though most were not yet cleared by the NCAA, which was in accordance with NCAA rules.
Former LSU basketball star Jordy Hultberg (1976-80), who also was an assistant coach under former coach Dale Brown, joined Tiger Rag Radio on Tuesday night to discuss the LSU team.
Hultberg is the LSU Radio Network’s new analyst for LSU basketball games.
“I’m excited. I think they’re going to end up having a really good team,” Hultberg said on Tiger Rag Radio. “The guys they have now in Niang, Dessert and Clark – they are going straight to the starting lineup.”
He sees Dessert making an immediate impact.
“The key addition to me is Dessert,” he said. “He’s a 6-11 big body. Now, you’ve got some rebounding help, and he will let seven-footer Michael Ruzic float around the perimeter more. What makes Ruzic special is he can take you outside and inside, and he’s got that ball handling and footwork. He is pretty adept at shooting the three. You have a three-point shooter in Abdi Bashir. It would be a total upset if they aren’t playing meaningful games in March and making the NCAA Tournament.”
Hultberg particularly likes point guard Donovan Dent.
“LSU has what a coach loves, and that is a dynamic point guard, who handles the ball and can distribute it,” he said. “And boy, he can get to the rim and score.”
Hultberg’s projected starting lineup has Dent at point guard, Skyy Clark at shooting guard and Saliou Niang at a wing guard/forward with Michael Ruzic and Brice Dessert inside. Then Mouhamed Dioubate can come off the bench inside along with Gilad Levy. A third guard would be Divine Ugochukwu, who started at guard for Michigan State last season.
“It’s going to be fun,” Hultberg said. “I think they’re going to be really good. I really do.”
And LSU fans cannot wait after back-to-back 3-15 SEC seasons under former coach Matt McMahon. The Tigers have not been to the NCAA Tournament since the last time Wade was coach in the 2021-22 season. Wade’s teams reached three NCAA Tournaments during his first stay from 2017-22 with an SEC regular season title and Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19.
“LSU fans have been like Moses roaming the desert with no hope whatsoever,” Hultberg said. “Will Wade has proven that he wins. They’ll pack the place. Wade has a fun style of play. He’s an emotional coach. He’s one of the best talent evaluators I’ve ever seen. He just knows good players.”
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