OBryant joins select company
The LSU basketball team had a difficult travel day Thursday.
The Tigers were unable to fly back to Baton Rouge following their game against Ole Miss in Oxford on Wednesday night. With more travel issues due to the weather Thursday, coach Trent Johnson made the decision to have the team go directly to Fayetteville.
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LSU will try to snap its seven-game losing streak when it faces Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. One of the Tigers' two Southeastern Conference victories came last month against the Razorbacks at the PMAC.
Johnson did receive some good news Thursday when it was announced that LSU signee Johnny O'Bryant was selected as a player in the McDonald's All-Star game on March 30. O'Bryant is averaging 19.2 points, 14.7 rebounds and 6.2 blocked shots for Cleveland (Miss.) East Side High School.
O'Bryant is the 13th Tigers signee to be chosen to participate in the game. Duane Spencer, who originally signed with Georgetown before transferring to LSU, also played in the McDonald's game.
It has been six years since a Tigers signee participated in the McDonald's game - Tasmin Mitchell. Former coach John Brady had four of his signees chosen for the McDonald's game - Stromile Swift (1998), Brandon Bass (2003), Glen Davis (2004) and Mitchell (2005).
It has been 18 years since an out-of-state LSU signee was selected for the McDonald's game. The Tigers had two non-Louisiana players chosen for the 1993 game - Ronnie Henderson (Mississippi) and Deuce Ford (Tennessee).
Four of the McDonald's game participants earned All-America honors while at LSU - Chris Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Swift and Davis. Those four individuals and Bass were SEC Players of the Year. All but two of the McDonald's game choices were named to at least one All-SEC team.
The first McDonald's game was held in 1977. Here is the list of LSU's previous McDonald's game participants.
1984: John Williams - two-time All-SEC
1988: Chris Jackson - two-time All-SEC, two-time All-America
1988: Stanley Roberts - All-SEC
1989: Shaquille O'Neal - three-time All-SEC, two-time All-America
1990: Jamie Brandon - two-time All-SEC
1992: Duane Spencer (transfer from Georgetown) - All-SEC
1993: Deuce Ford
1993: Ronnie Henderson - two-time All-SEC
1993: Randy Livingston
1998: Stromile Swift - All-SEC, All-America
2003: Brandon Bass - two-time All-SEC
2004: Glen Davis - three-time All-SEC. All-America
2005: Tasmin Mitchell - three-time All-SEC