Will Wade’s Roster Still At 4 Officially, But He Has 15 In All And Discussed A Few At Press Conference

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The LSU men’s baskeball program officially still has only four players officially.

But coach Will Wade said his actual roster has 15 players at a press conference on Wednesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in the Courtside Club room.

“Well, we’ve been practicing two-on-two the last couple months, so that’s been good,” Wade deadpanned to open his first press conference since his grand opening one on March 30 in the same building on the main floor.

“No, we’ve got a full roster,” he said. “We’ve got 15 guys practicing. We’ve been that was since right after Labor Day (Sept. 7 after classes began on Aug. 24).”

“I wouldn’t trade our guys for anybody.”
-Will Wade on his 15-man mystery roster at press conference on Wednesday. But just 4 officially. pic.twitter.com/BDp0dJsqb1

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) September 23, 2026

Wade could not explain why he and LSU have not publicized the other 11 players on his unwritten roster, but it has to do with the large amount of players from overseas. He also can’t discuss St. John’s transfer RJ Luis, the Big East Player of the Year in the 2024-25 season who has been practicing with the Tigers since receiving a local court ruling on Aug. 24 allowing him to play related to a lawsuit against the NCAA. Never mind that he signed NBA contracts with two teams after he left St. John’s. And, therefore, he will be facing other legal hurdles either before the LSU opens the season on Nov. 3 or shortly after that.

“I can’t get into it for a variety of different reasons – all the eligibility issues for each guy, and we’re not going to go down that road,” Wade said. “I know there are some frustrations about how this has been handled, but we’re always going to protect our kids. It has taken on a life of its own. There are other teams in the same spot we are that have four people on their roster and no people on their roster.”

TIGER RAG PROJECTED LSU MEN’S BASKETBALL 2026-27 ROSTER (12 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 Academy, Queens, New York, Age: 22 – on official roster

*-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

-MARCIO SANTOS, 6-8, 250, Center, Freshman, Maccabi pro team, Tel Aviv, Israel, Age 23

-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.

Wade practiced with 15 players on Monday.

“We have a full roster,” Wade said. “We have everybody here. We have everybody in school. We’re still working through eligibility with three or four of them. We’re going to have a really good team. We’re going to have all the guys that we can get eligible and need eligible by the first game. We may have to work through some stuff with some of these exhibitions, which is fine.”

LSU plays its first exhibition game on Oct. 8 in Lake Charles at McNeese State, where Wade coached in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons after LSU fired him in March of 2022 upon the NCAA announcing approximately a dozen violations, including half a dozen major, recruiting related infractions under Wade. He coached LSU the first time from 2017-22 and won the program’s first SEC title since 2009 in 2019.

“We feel good about where we are,” Wade said. “Excited about the season, excited to be back.”

Wade did say a full roster will likely be released before the season opener on Nov. 3 against LSU-New Orleans. And he said he could talk about 10 of the 11 players in addition to the four on LSU’s official roster –  Kansas State senior transfer guard Abdi Bashir Jr., Kentucky senior transfer forward Mouhamed Dioubate, Texas-San Antonio senior transfer guard Austin Nunez and Michigan State junior transfer guard Divine Ugochukwu.

He can’t talk about Luis.

“I can talk about whoever you want to talk about outside of one (Luis),” he said as that case is pending. “I want to be careful. With him, we’re going to go through the process and abide what the SEC tells us. We’ll see where that ends up.”

Wade was asked about the two highly ranked fifth-year senior guards he signed last month from UCLA – Donovan Dent and Skyy Clark.

“Skyy can shoot the ball, shoots it really, really well from three-point range,” Wade said. “Skyy’s got great leadership. He’s got great command of what we’re doing. He’s got a very good way about him. Dent reminds me a lot of Tremont Waters (LSU point guard who was a top player for the Tigers on their SEC championship and NCAA Sweet 16 team in 2018-19). Very unselfish, can get in the paint at any time. I really like those two.”