BATON ROUGE — LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady issued the following statement Wednesday regarding an earlier announcement that Okaloosa-Walton Community College player Kedrick Brown, a fall LSU signee, has elected to sign with an agent and enter the NBA draft next month:
“In working with Kedrick Brown, we have been informed he has signed with an agent and will enter the upcoming NBA draft. We wish him well, but we are disappointed as a coaching staff he did not choose to come to LSU to compete at this level and develop as Stromile (Swift) did to ensure himself as a high lottery pick.
“As we continue to battle scholarship restrictions and a numbers problem with Kedrick making the decision he has made, we are positive about our basketball program and its progress. With our returning players and the recruiting additions we have added, we feel certain our team will be a much improved one.
“It is unfortunate in today’s game players can leave and turn professional at any time even if there is a chance they may not be ready. In spite of this, we will recruit players we feel can help us win a conference championship. Again, we wish Kedrick the best, but look forward to coaching our present team and are excited about the players we presently have.”