Should LSU MBB fans be worried about the future?

On Saturday, the Tigers hosted the Texas Longhorns. Coming off a three-game losing streak to a trio of top-15 teams, this was a great opportunity for the Tigers to get back in the win column before playing three of their next four on the road.

The Tigers took care of the ball and hung around in the first half, but disaster struck in the second half. The Longhorns shot 68.6% from the field and 54.5% from three in the second half and LSU's turnover issues reared their ugly head once again. The Longhorns outscored LSU, 58-33 in the second half and went on to win by a landslide.

After the game, LSU fans came out the wood works and took to social media to voice their displeasure with the teams recent performance. So, the question on everyone's mind is, should LSU fans be worried about the future of the program?

There's no short answer to this question, so let's start by going back in time a few years.

After the 2021 regular season, former LSU Head Coach, Will Wade, was fired after receiving a notice of allegations that "detailed significant misconduct." Kevin Nickelberry then took over for the Tigers March Madness game against Iowa State, which they lost.

With sanctions coming and basically the entire roster leaving, LSU had to find a new coach to bring in to try to rebuild the program. They landed on Matt McMahon, former Murray State head coach who brought the Racers to national relevance during his time there.

McMahon stepped into possibly the worst situation possible. He had no returning players (Mwani Wilkinson ended up returning a few weeks later, but was in the portal when he signed) and had to build a roster from scratch. Things weren't great in his first season - they won just two SEC games - but he got his first freshman class in and grabbed some big name transfers such a Will Baker and Jordan Wright out of the portal.

In year two, McMahon's squad over performed. They went 9-9 in SEC play and just missed out on the NCAA Tournament. They lost in the first round of the NIT to North Texas, but things were looking up.

McMahon followed that season up by bringing in a top-15 recruiting and transfer class, which included guys like Vyctorius Miller, Curtis Givens, Robert Miller, Jordan Sears, Dji Bailey and Cam Carter. They had a solid non-conference schedule, but once they entered SEC play, they hit a massive speed bump and have lost seven of their last eight games. However, the SEC this year is an absolute animal, which some have dubbed as the best conference in the history of college basketball.

It felt like this was the year Matt McMahon was going to make the NCAA Tournament and bring LSU back to being relevant, but that obviously is not the case. But, I don't think fans necessarily need to be smashing the panic button quite yet.

From the outside, things don't look good, but you have to take a step back and see what he's dealing with.

His two best returning players - Jalen Reed and Tyrell Ward - are out for the season. Their best post player and their best three point shooters are gone and haven't been around for a long time (in Ward's case, he didn't even play a game this year). Do I think this team is amazing with both of them? Not necessarily, but I think they're probably a whole lot better than they are now if they have both of those guys in the starting lineup.

You also have to consider that LSU is towards the bottom of the SEC when it comes to NIL support in men's basketball. We don't know what their real number is, but I can guarantee you it isn't anywhere close to what Alabama, Kentucky, Auburn, etc. are spending. That's why he missed out on Chris Cenac. He just couldn't afford to offer him what Houston was.

Despite the lack of NIL support, he has still managed to sign the No. 11 recruiting class in the country in 2025 that includes three top-70 players, all of whom should make an immediate impact on this team. Their incoming class mixed with a potential returning core Vyctorius Miller, Curtis Givens, Robert Miller, Jalen Reed, Corey Chest, Daimion Collins and Trey'Dez Green + whoever he bring in through the transfer portal is an exciting thought.

One thing that bothers is when fans compare McMahon's success to Wade's success through their first three seasons. First, Wade came into a MUCH better situation than McMahon did. Second, Wade is the entire reason LSU's basketball program is where it is right now. He's the one who brought all the sanctions and left McMahon with absolutely nothing to build off of. And I say this as someone who loves Wade and has gone to 30+ games as a fan when he was at VCU.

Fans will expect McMahon to lose his job after this season is over, which I understand, but when you think about it logically, not only would it be unfair to him, but you'd be starting at ground zero once again.

Should fans be worried about the future of LSU Men's Basketball? Probably, but I don't think it's just because of McMahon. He needs to be better, but the school and fanbase also needs to put the same support into men's basketball as they do football, women's basketball and baseball if they want the program to be relevant again.

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