BATON ROUGE – Coach Trent Johnson held his annual post-season media session Monday at the LSU Athletics Department. His 2010-11 team met for the first time Sunday night following the team banquet and began conditioning work earlier Monday.
Here are some of the other highlights from his opening comments:
- Tasmin Mitchell was named the team MVP and most inspirational player as voted by his teammates. Eddie Ludwig voted by his teammates as most improved player and coaches voted Ludwig the Coaches Award. Dennis Harris won the sixth man award and Storm Warren the award for best defensive player.
- The four walk-on players from the 2009-10 roster – Chris Beattie, Taylor Jacobsen, Daron Populist, Zach Kinsley – have been excused from the program with walk-on tryouts again scheduled in the fall.
- Bo Spencer has been suspended indefinitely for “lack of fulfillment in his responsibility academically.”
- Individual skill development sessions will start April 12. Freshmen will probably report around June 7.
- Next year’s schedule features non-conference games with Memphis, Wichita State, Houston, North Texas, Rice and Virginia.
Honors Given Out at Sunday Night’s Team Banquet At Lod Cook Alumni Center:
Coaches Award – Eddie Ludwig
Most Improved Player – Eddie Ludwig
Sixth Man Award – Dennis Harris
Best Defensive Player – Storm Warren
Most Inspirational Player – Tasmin Mitchell
Most Valuable Player – Tasmin Mitchell
Opening Statement from Coach Trent Johnson …
“These past few weeks have given me some time to reflect, evaluate and recruit. It’s really obvious that we need to get bigger, stronger, quicker and faster. We need to develop our mental toughness and quite frankly that started (Monday) morning.
“We had our awards banquet last night, and I think the guys were a little taken aback by that in terms of the attendance and support this program has gotten over the years. There were probably about 250 or 300 people there last night. For me it was a time to honor the seniors Alex (Farrer) and Tasmin (Mitchell). Immediately after that we had our first team meeting, and now we’re moving forward.
“Our goal is really short and simple. We’re going to work extremely hard and extremely smart to work our way back to the top of this thing. As much as I talk in terms of ‘we’ and ‘us’ on this team, I’ve had three teams in the last 11 years, seven with postseason experience, it was really hard for me to watch games. It took me a while to be able to watch a full game.
“In terms of the banquet, Tasmin was named our MVP and our most inspirational player as voted by his teammates. Eddie Ludwig was voted by his teammates as the most improved player. The coaches, who vote for the coaches’ award, all coaches voted with the exception of me, chose Eddie as the recipient of that award. Dennis Harris was the sixth man and Storm Warren was named Defensive Player of the Year, and that was voted on by the team.
“The walk-ons — Chris Beattie, Taylor Jacobsen, Daron Populist and Zach Kinsley — were great for our basketball team and our program. They have been excused. We’re going to open up walk-on tryouts starting in the fall. Bo Spencer has been suspended indefinitely for lack of fulfillment in his responsibility to his academics.
“We’re going to lift four days a week starting at 6 a.m. Our individual skill development sessions will start April 12. Prior to that, the guys have been advised on their own to make 1,000 shots per week. Our deficiencies in terms of shooting the ball from the perimeter and the post were obvious. Other than that, it’s the weight room and skill development. We’ll break the skill development down into three groups and three 40-minute sessions per week. Storm Warren, Malcolm White and Garrett Green will be one group. Dennis Harris and Eddie Ludwig will be a group. Chris Bass and Aaron Dotson will be the other. Freshmen will probably report June 7. Obviously, there’s a level of excitement because of this recruiting class coming in. I stick to my guns in terms of judging a recruiting class at the end of their career rather than the beginning.
“One of the things I mentioned to fans last night was that Alex Farrer and Tasmin Mitchell are exactly what our program is going to look like moving forward. Both guys are good citizens and good people. They’re overachievers in the classroom and on the basketball floor. I want to go back to something Tasmin has said; in all the records he’s accumulated over the years the one he is the most proud of is the minutes played. That shows the coaches and his teammates had trust in him.
“When you look at next year’s schedule, it is going to be really challenging for us. Houston, Memphis, North Texas and Wichita State are all on the non-conference schedule, then you add going on the road to Virginia and Rice; it’s going to be extremely challenging.
“The incoming class is going to have to grow up fast. We wanted to get out and visit with each of these recruits individually so they have an idea of what they’re getting into mentally. We’re not going to sit up here and dwell on the negatives. We have an opportunity to make a big jump from where we ended up this year to where we’re going to end up next year. I’m excited as I’ve ever been. It’s going to be an interesting spring and summer. I’m looking forward to it.”
Additional quotes from Coach Johnson to questions:
Elaborating On Bo Spencer’s status …
“I don’t want to elaborate on that because academics are what they are. I do know we’re in a situation right now where there are a couple of other guys outside of him that need to do some work in the classroom. He hasn’t met his academic responsibilities, plain and simple.”
On Bo Spencer’s involvement with the team …
“He is suspended from all basketball activity with the team. It’s all about his academic responsibility. It’s pretty cut and dry. He just has to get it done.”
On the expectations of next year’s team …
“I like to think that we will be a much more balanced team. You know what you get from Storm, Eddie and Dennis. Garrett Green has to really improve. The guys coming in on the perimeter are skilled, can shoot, can pass and catch. I really look at this team as being a team that is really balanced. We’re not going to have a guy that can go out and score 25 or 26. I know that we will be able to trust that a play is going to get run and a screen is going to be there and trust that guys are going to be in a situation to take a charge. The key in all of it is the mental and physical part of it. We have to have it from everybody.”
On Tasmin Mitchell‘s NBA draft status …
“I think he’s going to play. I don’t know the draft at this point because there are some guys that have not declared. It would be unbelievable to me if Tasmin Mitchell is not on an NBA roster next year. I’ve told everyone I’ve talked with to not look at one year, or the beginning or the middle. I told them to look at the whole body of work. A lot of people had questions about Marcus Thornton. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Marcus has a chance to play. A lot of people had questions about Garrett Temple, and he’s on an NBA roster. I have to believe that Tasmin is somewhere in between Marcus and Garrett. There is just too much going on there between Tasmin’s character, skill set and willingness to want to do right by everybody and the respect that he shows everybody. There are a lot of guys in that league that I happen to know that aren’t half the person he is and half the player he is that are making a pretty good chunk of money sitting at the end of the bench. He’s going to work his tail off to get to where he needs to be. If things don’t work out for him, he’s still going to be the same person he is. Last night at the banquet one of our incoming freshman said he wanted to wear No. 1. I said that nobody will wear No.1 until there is a championship or someone pays that kind of respect to the game of basketball.”