By GLENN GUILBEAU
Tiger Rag Editor
Maybe new LSU basketball coach Will Wade didn’t want him, which would have been a clear mistake.
Or maybe he did, but it didn’t matter.
Because LSU point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Wednesday, March 25 – one day before news broke nationally that Will Wade was leaving North Carolina State to become LSU’s head coach after that had been previously reported by Tiger Rag. And perhaps Thomas never had any intention of staying at LSU.
Chances are Thomas knew his LSU coach, Matt McMahon, was not returning for a fifth season and decided then he wasn’t coming back to LSU.
And on Saturday, Thomas – LSU’s best player from the 2025-26 season – committed to Houston for his senior season as the No. 15 player in the portal and No. 4 point guard. Thomas was the star get of McMahon’s portal class last year as he was the No. 3 point guard in the portal and No. 8 player overall when he signed with the Tigers over Kentucky, Florida and Syracuse.
Kentucky was considering Thomas again in recent days.
Thomas, who will be a senior at Houston, was leading the Southeastern Conference in assists with 7.0 a game for ninth in the nation and was scoring 16.2 a game as the Tigers prepared to open SEC play at Texas A&M on Jan. 3. But Thomas injured his foot in a practice the week of the game, missed LSU’s first five league games, and McMahon’s LSU career and LSU’s season were basically over.
Thomas returned to play three games, aggravated the injury, and his season was over. LSU was 12-1 on the season with a No. 35 ranking in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) before Thomas’ injury. The Tigers finished 15-17 and 3-15 in the SEC for the second straight season.
“You see how effective D.J. is in the open floor,” McMahon said after Thomas’ last game before the injury when he scored 22 points (8-of-11 shooting) with 12 assists in a 90-62 win over Southern Mississippi. “He has such a great feel of the game and vision against different coverages. He’s just so smart. Just thought he was fantastic.”
Wade has not yet signed any players from the NCAA Transfer Portal that opened on Tuesday. But he is expected to sign as many as 13 or 14 as only one player remains with the Tigers from McMahon’s 2025-26 team – freshman point guard Jalen Reece. He backed up Thomas last season before replacing him in the lineup after Thomas’ injury.
Thomas, who was also an excellent defensive player, joins one of the best defensive coaches in the country in Houston’s Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars and Sampson lost the national championship game to Florida, 65-63, a year ago before reaching the Sweet 16 this past season.
Be the first to comment