By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU basketball coach Will Wade was in typical wise cracking mode Wednesday at a Baton Rouge Rotary Club luncheon at Drusilla’s Seafood restaurant.
And why not?
“We go to McNeese tomorrow night, and we got about eight players that can play,” Wade said of his exhibition opener at McNeese State in Lake Charles at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. “And three of them are basically walk-ons. It could get messy at McNeese.”
So, might as well laugh about it.
After a glowing introduction of Wade as he walked to the podium, he said, “You left out the part where I got fired. Thank you. Appreciate it.”
Wade, who was fired by LSU in March of 2022 because of major NCAA recruiting violations while at LSU from 2017-22, is the first coach ever to return to the same major college job in basketball after being fired so recently.
“I’ve noticed two major changes at LSU since I was last here,” Wade said. “Number one, I’m no longer the most controversial coach on campus.”
That was an obvious reference to new LSU football coach Lane Kiffin, who has been harshly criticized by national media for the way he left Ole Miss after the 2025 regular season and has drew the ire of Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey for recruiting players on NFL rosters over the summer.
“And number two, we were just a little ahead of our time with NIL,” he said referencing how players are paid now through Name, Image & Likeness collectives out in the open as opposed to under the table when he was LSU’s coach the first time.
“They call it Name, Image and Likeness,” he said. “I say NIL means, Now It’s Legal.”
NIL actually started in the summer of 2021 when Wade was still LSU’s basketball coach, but it took a year or so to kick into high gear.
Wade said again Wednesday that he has been practicing with 15 players, but he still has not released any of his roster other than four transfers he signed last spring and summer. Those are 6-foot-5 senior guard Abdi Bashire Jr., of Kansas State, 6-8 senior forward Mouhamed Dioubate of Kentucky, 6-2 senior guard Austin Nunez of Texas-San Antonio and 6-3 junior guard Divine Ugochukwu of Michigan State.
Several of his committed overseas players are dealing with eligibility paperwork and the like. Several other players are fifth-year seniors from the 2022 class of college athletes involved in nationwide eligibility lawsuits against the NCAA, which cut off its new rule giving five years of eligibility at the 2023 class.
Tiger Rag has learned that 6-11 freshman center commitment Brice Dessert of Pontoise, France, will play Thursday night. Dessert played for the Anadolu Efes pro team in Turkey last spring, averaging 8.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 17 games.
Also expected to play are fifth-year senior guards Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent, who each played at UCLA last season and won a court injunction as have many other athletes in all sports in various eligibility lawsuits against the NCAA.
Clark, who is 6-3, averaged 11.5 points, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals a game last season in 26 games and 23 starts for the Bruins and averaged 28.5 minutes a game. He shot 42.7 percent from three-point range and 82.1 percent from the free throw line. Dent, who is 6-2, scored 13.3 points a game and averaged 7.6 assists in 35 games and 34 starts for UCLA.
Tiger Rag’s projected roster for LSU in the 2026-27 season follows, pending eligibility questions:
TIGER RAG PROJECTED LSU MEN’S BASKETBALL 2026-27 ROSTER (13 Of 15)
NAME, HT., WT., POS. CLASS, PREVIOUS COLLEGE OR PRO TEAM, HIGH SCHOOL, AGE
-ABDI BASHIR JR., 6-5, 170, Guard, Senior, Kansas State, Phoenix Prep, Phoenix, Arizona, Age: 22 – on official roster
-JORDAN BENDER, 6-8, 200, Forward, Freshman, Northside Christian School, St. Petersburg, Florida, Age: 18
-SKYY CLARK, 6-3, 210, Guard, Senior, UCLA, Montverde Academy, Montverde, Florida, Age: 23
-DONOVAN DENT, 6-2, 185, Guard, Senior, UCLA, Centennial High, Corona, California, Age: 22
-BRICE DESSERT, 6-11, 247, Center, Freshman, Andalou Efes pro team, Istanbul, Turkey, Age: 23
-MOUHAMED DIOUBATE, 6-8, 235, Forward, Sr., Kentucky, Putnam, Queens, New York, Age: 22 – on official roster
-GILAD LEVY, 7-3, 242, Center, Freshman, Palencia pro team, Palencia, Spain, Age: 24
*-RJ LUIS, 6-7, 215, Guard/Forward, Senior, St. John’s, Christopher Columbus High, Miami, Age: 23
-SALIOU NIANG, 6-6, 190, Forward, Freshman, Virtus pro team, Bologna, Italy, Age: 22
-AUSTIN NUNEZ, 6-2, 175, Guard, Senior, Texas-San Antonio, Wagner High, San Antonio, Texas, Age: 23 – on official roster
-MICHAEL RUZIC, 7-0, 160, Forward, Freshman, Joventut pro team, Catalonia, Spain, Age: 19
-LUKE STANSBURY, 6-2, 185, Guard, Redshirt Freshman, Stephen F. Austin, Age: 21
-DIVINE UGOCHUKWU, 6-3, 200, Guard, Junior, Michigan St., Clements High, Sugar Land, Texas, Age: 20 – on official roster
*RJ Luis received a temporary restraining order from a Baton Rouge judge against the NCAA on Aug. 24 that has allowed him to practice and potentially play for LSU this season, which begins on Nov. 3 against LSU-New Orleans. That was even though he signed contracts with two NBA teams after going undrafted in 2025 following his junior season at St. John’s. Luis will soon have to clear other legal hurdles, however. Alabama’s Charles Bediako also received a temporary restraining order from a Tuscaloosa judge, allowing him to play last season, despite previously playing in the NBA developmental league. But the same judge later sided with the NCAA and reversed the ruling after Bediako played in only five games.
“The goal is to be ready to play with a full roster on November 3,” Wade said.
The Tigers open the regular season against LSU-New Orleans on Nov. 3 at LSU.
“We feel like we’re going to get most of them (the 15 practicing) eligible,” Wade said. “We’re behind the cube on some of those. Just don’t know how long it will take. But we have been practicing with 15 players. We’re not doing two-on-two drills. We’ll have everybody at McNeese Thursday night, but we’re only going to play the ones who are eligible. I believe on November 3, we will roll out there with every player eligible. All the fifth-year players and overseas kids will be eligible.”
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