LSU coach Will Wade, indefinitely suspended by Tigers’ athletic director Joe Alleva for refusing to discuss an alleged role in a recruiting scandal, wasn’t supposed to be in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday night.
But during an emotionally electric two hours when the 10th-ranked Tigers crowned themselves as the 2019 SEC champions with an 80-59 regular-season finale dismantling of Vanderbilt, Wade actually was everywhere.
The second-year Tigers’ coach was the fabulous ball-handling wizardry of sophomore point guard Tremont Waters, who had 14 points and eight points in a game that Waters said interim coach Tony Benford “gave me the keys to the car and let me drive it.”
He was the relentless rim attack of senior forward Kavell Bigby-Williams, who tried to tear down the basket with each of his four dunks on his 10-point, 11-rebound Senior Night swan song.
He was the boundless joy of junior forward Marlon Taylor, using his insane God-given hops to continuously climb imaginary ladders for 10 points, elevating to heights where only lob passes and offensive rebounds live and breathe.
He beamed through the calm eyes of junior guard Skyler Mays, the Tigers’ most experienced and steady hand whose understated 14 points and eight assists always came from the right places at the perfect times.
He was the energy infusion of freshman forward Emmett Williams, bringing his tireless bench effort to the starting lineup and grabbing eight rebounds including five offensive boards.
He was the voice of readiness of reserves such as freshman forward Darrius Days, who nailed five 3’s for 15 points (“He was shooting from Steph Curry land,” Benford marveled) and little-used junior guard Marshall Graves, who scored a career-high 12 points on four 3s.
He was the indomitable spirit pulsing through usual freshmen starters Naz Reid and Javonte Smart, the former sitting out because of a face injury and the latter being benched by Alleva for possibly being linked to Wade’s alleged recruiting indiscretions.
He was in every attention to detail, in each swarming defensive rotation against Vanderbilt’s band of 3-point sharpshooters, in all the sweat of loose ball chases and relentless rebound battles.
Thirty-one games into a remarkable 26-5 season with a 16-2 SEC record that earned them their 11th league championship, the Tigers are now unquestionably a mental clone of their 36-year old coach.
From the tragic shooting death of teammate Wayde Sims hours before the scheduled start of preseason practice, to the stunning events of the last couple of days linking Wade to an FBI investigation of college basketball corruption involving college coaches and shoes companies, Wade’s team has done nothing but put one foot in front of the other.
It always focuses on the task at hand, even if the unfathomable happens, such Wade’s suspension on Friday and the Saturday morning decision of LSU administration to sit Smart.
“The last 48 hours have been a rollercoaster, but that just makes this team special, because Coach Wade always says to narrow the focus,” Mays said. “I just tried to be myself. I kept a straight face and we had a good practice Friday. I had a pretty good feeling about this game.”
Before the suspensions of Wade and Smart and with Reid out of action, there was palpable apprehension from Tigers’ fans fearing Saturday’s matchup had all the hints of a “trap game.”
Vanderbilt didn’t want to become the first team in the SEC to go winless at 0-18 in conference play since then-league member Georgia Tech’s 0-14 whitewash in 1953-54.
Some of the Commodores’ best efforts this season had been against some of the better teams in the SEC, including an 88-83 home overtime loss to then-No. 1 Tennessee.
Speaking of the Vols, they erased another bit of motivation for LSU by losing 84-80 at Auburn in their regular season finale Saturday afternoon. It meant even before tipoff against Vandy, LSU had already clinched at least a tie of the SEC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC tournament.
Before this season started, the thought of a piece of the league title and being a top seed in Nashville would have been more than satisfactory for these Tigers.
It might have been a dream for Wade and his team, but it was more a hallucination for a program that lost 21 games two years ago when it was 2-16 in the SEC.
But whether you’ve watched five games or five minutes of LSU basketball this season, you know it wasn’t in the Tigers’ DNA to take the Commodores light or feel sorry for themselves over things they couldn’t control in the past 48 hours.
This team doesn’t like it easy. It’s more comfortable when its victories have varying degrees of difficulty, whether coming back for an overtime win at Missouri after trailing by 14 points with 2:14 left, or knocking off then-No. 5 Tennessee in overtime despite the absence of an ill Waters and just one point from a foul-plagued Reid.
It is a group of winners hellbent on keeping their fans in alternate states of ecstasy and agony and then again ecstasy, all in a matter of seconds.
Improbable win by improbable win, produced by indelible moments whether it was Bigby-Williams’ game-deciding tip at Kentucky, Smart’s game-winning free throws vs. Tennessee or Waters jetting the length of the floor for a scooping layup at Florida to force an overtime and an eventual win, these Tigers have captured the hearts of a fan base rejuvenated by the hiring of Wade.
“This team is going to go down as one of the most exciting teams in the history of LSU basketball,” said former LSU coach Dale Brown, who originally resuscitated a fading post “Pistol Pete” Maravich Tigers’ program in the early 1970s to produce two Final Four appearances, 13 NCAA tourney bids and four SEC titles in his 25 seasons. “They play hard, they play together, they like each other, they are very well-coached, they’re unselfish and they have the eight best players in the country on one team.”
It’s a crew of highlight reel athletes disciplined through Wade’s coaching to play exactly the roles that are designed for them.
Which is precisely how Saturday night transpired.
The Tigers came flying out of the gate dunking, running, Waters twisting defenders into pretzels before scoring or dealing assists and Days (“He had a career night against us,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said) and Graves (“I tell people Marshall is the best shooter on the team,” Waters said) dropping threes from all angles and deep distances.
There was no doubt as LSU rolled to 43-28 halftime lead and an eventual 30-point advantage that the Tigers fed off the energy of their student section that showed up en masse to successfully cheer their team to victory while booing the bejeezus out of Alleva.
Armed with “Free Will Wade” and “Free Smart” signs and the energy to creatively deliver non-stop “Free Will Wade” and “Joe Must Go” chants delivered from an hour before the game all the way to the glorious last seconds, the students were a show by themselves.
“The (LSU) student section,” said an admiring opposing coach Drew, “was a little extra loud.”
When the final horn sounded and the Tigers rushed to hug Wayde Sims’ parents, and then the student section to start the postgame party that concluded with the entire team cutting down a championship net, Wade, wherever he was watching the game, must have had a full heart and a tired smile.
His team had honored him the best way they knew – a victory and a championship built in his image.
“I’m 101 percent sure he watched the game,” Waters said. “I’m pretty sure when we messed up he was yelling and throwing stuff at the TV.
“But we know he’s had our backs from day one and he’s still there for us.”
Does that mean Wade will be back on the sidelines when the Tigers open play in the SEC Tournament at 12 noon on Friday against a yet-to-be-determined open?
No one knows.
Tomorrow’s a new day, this week starts the postseason for the Tigers and it’s officially March Madness.
And if March gets any madder for LSU, don’t sweat it. It’s just another hurdle relished by Team Lagniappe, a band of brothers who never fail to give a little extra against all odds.
