Kevin Nickelberry stated the obvious in the opening thoughts of an 18-minute press conference Sunday that was anything but a preview of LSU's NCAA basketball tournament opener vs. Iowa State Friday at 6:20 p.m. in Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
“This time a couple of days ago, I didn't think I was going to be sitting here,” said Nickelberry, a third-year Tigers’ assistant coach.
The 57-year-old Nickelberry, who has 15 years college head coach experience including 12 on the Division 1 level at Hampton and Howard, was elevated to LSU’s interim coach Saturday immediately after head coach Will Wade and his top assistant Bill Armstrong were fired for seven alleged Level 1 rules violations in the Notice of Allegations the school received several days ago from the CCU of the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP).
It's the second time in the last four seasons LSU heads into the NCAA tournament with an interim coach. In Wade’s second season, he was suspended by LSU for the SEC and NCAA tournaments for refusing to meet with school administrators after a Yahoo Sports story revealed Wade’s voice was on FBI wiretaps with aspiring agent Christian Dawkins as Wade discussed buying high school prospects.
Then-LSU assistant coach Tony Benford was named interim as the Tigers lost immediately to Florida in the SEC tourney, then won twice in the NCAA tournament over Yale and Maryland and advanced to the Sweet 16 where they lost to Michigan State in the Midwest Regional semifinals.
“The interim coach here won two games, so there’s a lot of pressure on me,” Nickelberry said with a brief laugh.
Nickelberry said the team was informed of the firing of Wade and Armstrong by LSU President William Tate IV and school athletic director Scott Woodward shortly after the Tigers returned Saturday following a loss to Arkansas in Friday’s SEC tourney quarterfinals in Tampa.
Nickelberry also said Wade did not meet with the team after he was fired.
The first player Nickelberry met with after the firings was senior Darius Days, the only player on the current team that was a member of the 2018-19 Tigers’ squad that had Benford as the post-season interim.
Nickelberry said he asked Days to address the team in a private meeting with no coaches.
“He’s won a lot of games at LSU, so they (the players) respect him and listen to him,” Nickelberry said of Days. “By him talking with them, he’s cleared the path for me. I told him, `I need you to be my fullback and clear the way. I’m not that fast, but give me a hole and I can run through it.' So, hopefully he’s cleared the way and I can run through it.”
With the firing of Armstrong and Nickelberry becoming the interim, former LSU star Tasmin Mitchell now becomes lead assistant. Nickelberry said he’s elevating director of player development Vernon Hamilton and special assistant to head coach Brandon Chambers to assistant coach status.
“I can promise you we’re going to play with integrity, with character, play for LSU and those letters on the front of our jerseys,” Nickelberry said. “Yes, it’s been a tough couple of days. But at the end of the day, you’re asking us to go out and play basketball. We’ve been very successful this year playing basketball, so I’m excited and I know the kids are excited. They’ve earned the right to be here.”
Nickelberry has coached in the NCAA tournament with three teams (LSU, Holy Cross and Charlotte). LSU players who have played in NCAA tournament games are Days (5 games), sophomores Mwani Wilkinson and Eric Gaines (2 each), senior Parker Edwards (1) and senior transfer Xavier Pinson (1 for Missouri).
“We’ll be locked in and focused,” Nickelberry promised. “But sometimes, you forget these guys are just kids who love basketball. This (the sudden firing of Wade and Armstrong) is not what they signed up for.
“They signed to play basketball for LSU, so I’m going to make sure that they’re focused on that and enjoy the experience.
The No. 6 Midwest seed Tigers (22-11) have never played No. 11 Midwest seed Iowa State in basketball.
Under first-year coach T.J. Otzelberger, the Cyclones 20-12 record this season is an 18-win improvement over last year that ties the ISU record. With one more win, the Cyclones would set a program record for the biggest turnaround in school history.
Iowa State finished the year tied for fifth in the nation with nine Quadrant 1 wins. The trip to the NCAA tournament Otzelberger’s third of his career (he had two as South Dakota State’s head coach) and fourth postseason appearance overall.
This year’s team starts three transfers, including senior guard and Penn State transfer Izaiah Brockington (17.2 points, 7.1 rebounds per game) who was named the Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year. Also, guard Tyrese Hunter (10.8 ppg) was named the league’s Freshman of the Year.
Iowa State is coming off its largest defeat margin of the season after getting hammered 72-41 by Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament.
