BATON ROUGE – Coach Johnny Jones hosted his first Tipoff Luncheon presented by Hub International at L’Auberge Resort on Tuesday and gave the assembled fans and media on hand an update on the LSU program heading into the Nov. 7 free to the public exhibition game against Morehouse.
Coach Nikki Caldwell was the guest for the event which will reconvene on Dec. 9 for its next edition.
Here are some of the comments from Coach Jones regarding the 2014-15 Tigers:
“We’ve got a great group of guys this year, one thing we have a veteran group, unfortunately our veterans are sophomores. But they are really good sophomores. Guys that were on the All-SEC freshman, all-conference team last year. Jordan Mickey and Jarrell Martin really have the ability and capability of really leading this team and taking this team to where we are trying to go with the additions of a tremendous recruiting class. Josh Gray, who will probably start for us at the point guard position, has been great and good as advertised, averaging 34 points a game in junior college, number one JC player in the country last year.
“We’ve had the good fortune of having Keith Hornsby sit out last year … certainly hasn’t had a tough transition for him, he’s really picked things up well and he certainly will be as good advertised. He has the ability to score, defend; he’s got great size, good athlete and will be able to perform for us at a certain level for us that we need.
“I think that one guy that I would probably feel or think has been improving each day that were excited about is Elbert Robinson III. He came in at about 315 pounds and he has gotten down to about 275 because of his work and diet and he really has put it together because he really wants to be great … He is really taken in as to what Jordan and Jarrell do to compete at a certain level and has done a tremendous job with the way that he has improved each day. It gets us as coaches really excited because when you have a guy that size and can take up size and space inside with the strength with the ability to score down on the low block and defend that he has can really give us a reason to be excited.
“We have several guys returning from last year’s team that we think can make an impact – Tim Quarterman being one as well. But the other newcomers, Aaron Epps, who is capable of playing on the perimeter at 6-9 and can shoot the ball out there like Jarrell Martin at that size and he can really create some space for us out there on the floor for us and Jalen Patterson, another guard who is going to be a tremendous addition to our team. Brian Bridgewater, sat out last year, he did not have an opportunity to compete or play with us. I think he’s gradually going to catch up after having a big time year layoff.
“Our Conference is going to be tough, Kentucky the number one team in the country, the number one recruiting class in the country. They are picked to win our league. Along with Florida, returning some guys and has had certain guys sitting out. I think when you add teams like Georgia, who is returning all of their players, went 12-6 in the league last year, tied for second place with Kentucky and for whatever reason were left out of the NCAA tournament. Very solid basketball team won well down the stretch last year. Arkansas, returning all of their players, won 8 of their last 10 games and for whatever reason, was left out of the NCAA tournament. But that is how competitive and tough our league is.
“When you look at the parity, when you look and see what Kentucky was able to do, went 12-6 in our league because other teams in our league were good enough to beat them, with Kentucky getting to the championship game and Florida making it to the Final Four, with Tennessee making it to the Sweet Sixteen, that is the type of league we are in and we are excited about it. We feel like the league is bigger, better, stronger than it was a year ago. It will certainly be very competitive and we’re excited to meet the challenges in front of us this year.”