By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU departing senior guard Max Mackinnon didn’t say his basketball coach, Matt McMahon, should be kept or fired.
But after the Tigers’ second straight ridiculously bad season ended Wednesday with an 87-82 loss to Kentucky at the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, Mackinnon sure made it clear how good a coach he feels McMahon is. And he’s got proof – his game.
“I can’t thank this man next to me enough,” Mackinnon began after the Tigers finished 15-17 overall and 3-15 in the SEC following a 14-18 and 3-15 season last year and a 14-19 and 2-16 mark in McMahon’s first season three years ago.
“I think everyone wants to say something on Twitter,” Mackinnon, a transfer who is from Brisbane, Australia, said in a thick accent. “Everyone wants to say something. Everyone’s got an opinion. But we lost our two best players at the start of the year.”
Those were beefy returning 6-foot-10, 245-pound junior forward Jalen Reed, who was lost in November to an Achilles injury, and electric junior UNLV transfer point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., who was one of the best at his position in the SEC through the non-conference season before his foot injury. Thomas was also the most expensive Name, Image & Likeness purchase LSU’s collective was able to cobble together last year at an estimate of about $3 million a year.
For a team like LSU on one of the cheapest roster budgets in the SEC at approximately $8 million and consequently not an overly deep or talented team, losing those two were daggers.
TGIO / Thank God It’s Over. But is it for Matt McMahon?https://t.co/P66InIVImQ
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) March 11, 2026
“We fought, and this guy never changed. Every day, he made me a better player,” said Mackinnon, who scored 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting. “And that’s going to help me for my future game. But I just wanted to say that.”
And this was not lip service. Mackinnon is an interesting dude. There’s no BS with him. His answers are smart, quick and to the point, much like Greg Norman, also an Australian. And he’s ridiculed social media in the past when its contributors went after his teammates.
Mackinnon plays guard, and McMahon has the reputation as a guard specialist. It is one of the reasons why Thomas came to LSU over national champion Florida last year, Kentucky and Syracuse.
McMahon, 47, played shooting guard at Appalachian State and coached elite guards while Murray State’s head coach and as an assistant – Ja Morant, Cameron Payne and Isaiah Caanan. Morant and Payne are both in the NBA and were first round picks – Morant second overall by Memphis in 2019 and Payne 14th in 2015 by Oklahoma City. Caanan was a second round pick in 2013 by Houston.
“I know his history with guards he had at Murray State,” Thomas told Tiger Rag before the season. “I’m very aware of his track record – Ja Morant, Cameron Payne. So, I felt like I could learn a lot with him.”
Before injuring his foot the week of LSU’s SEC opener at Texas A&M when the Tigers were 12-1 and No. 35 in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool), Thomas was leading the SEC in assists and was ninth nationally with 7.0 a game and was scoring 16.2 points a game.
“He just orchestrates the offense,” McMahon said at the time, bubbling over. “The one thing I hope everyone sees is that along side his stat line, his effort and toughness on defense is going to be key for us. He plays with relentless effort out there. I love him. He’s an elite floor general. Great court vision, willing passer. Relentless worker. I’ve been really impressed. Probably the biggest surprise is he has been very impactful on defense with his ability to disrupt and pressure.”
He tried to play on his injury, but in the end saw action in only three SEC games before having to call it a season and have surgery. If LSU’s collective of donors can drop $40 million for its 41-man football roster, it should be able to find $3 million or more to bring Thomas back next season along with McMahon.
Considering the $30 million projected budget deficit in LSU athletics due to the Brian Kelly Brink’s buyout of $54 million and the $91 million price tag over seven years for Nick Saban II, aka Lane Kiffin, bringing McMahon back with Thomas, a solid core of other returning players and a couple of elite new additions from the portal would be “fiscally responsible,” as athletic director Verge Ausberry says.
Tiger Rag Exclusive: LSU AD Verge Ausberry weighing “fiscal responsibility” with mounting Matt McMahon losses:https://t.co/SnUMP4iIBO
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) February 14, 2026
Much more fiscally responsible than paying McMahon’s $8 million buyout, hiring proven slimy thief Will Wade for six years at $17 million (his North Carolina State contract) and another $15 million roster treasure chest for Wade or some other more reputable coach.
Why not at least put McMahon’s roster budget closer to the center of the SEC than rock bottom. It doesn’t look like it when you look at his record, but McMahon can coach. LSU fans say he’s only a mid-major coach, because he won big at Murray State and lost hugely at LSU. Incorrect. He’s an SEC quality coach, but he’s trying to win on LSU’s mid-major basketball budget.
Give McMahon’s Wade’s roster budget and leave Wade at North Carolina State. Much cheaper. And if he doesn’t win next year, make a move before the end of the season and make a real hire, other than Wade.
“He pushed me to limits I didn’t think I could get to,” Mackinnon said, echoing what Ja Morant has said. “His energy. I never thought I could play at this level. So, I want to credit coach Mac. He’s changed my basketball, and he’s changed my future for opportunities ahead. So I wanted to credit that.”
Well said, Max.
Put that on Twitter.
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