Morgan reaffirms LSU commitment

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Apr 25, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:30 a.m.

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There’s a lot of work to do on the recruiting trail in the next few weeks for new LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson.

But Johnson made a huge statement this week by apparently closing the book for good on the 2008 class.

J’Mison Morgan, the centerpiece of the Tigers’ 2008 recruiting haul, will honor his commitment to LSU.

Johnson and James Mays, Morgan’s coach at South Oak Cliff in Dallas, confirmed Thursday that the 6-foot-10, 275-pound Morgan plans on enrolling at LSU and playing for the Tigers.

Morgan met with Johnson and Tigers associate head coach Butch Pierre in person in Dallas on Tuesday.

That meeting convinced the big Texan that LSU is still the right place for him.

“He’s a very, very good basketball player who fits well in the system we’re going to implement,” Johnson said from Fayetteville, Ark., where is recruiting at the Real Deal on the Hill AAU tournament. “He’s a very talented young man with a good basketball IQ and he has the chance to be a very good player at this level if he works hard. It was important for him to meet me and for us to make sure he felt comfortable with me and what we’re going to do at LSU.”

Efforts to reach Morgan were unsuccessful, but Mays said Johnson helped remove any lingering doubt in Morgan’s mind.

“He was very comfortable with coach Johnson, and coach Johnson reassured him about how big a role he would have in his program,” Mays said. “He talked a lot about how much he was looking forward to working with J’Mison as a player and told him that he would be a big part of their offense.”

After signing with the Tigers during the November signing period and boosting LSU’s class into the top 20 national rankings by Rivals and Scout, Morgan helped steer South Oak Cliff to a fourth consecutive Class 4A state championship in 2008.

As a senior, Morgan averaged 13.5 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots a game and played a key role as the Panthers finished the season on a 15-game winning streak to wind up 25-8. He is currently rated as the No. 25 player in the country by Rivals.com and 29th by Scouthoops.com.

When LSU fired former coach John Brady on Feb. 7, Morgan wavered on his commitment, in large part because of a strong relationship with Pierre.

Pierre was installed as LSU’s interim coach after Brady was dumped and the Tigers went 5-5 after the coaching change. Pierre was a candidate for the permanent job and during the two-month search, Morgan said several times that his LSU future might hinge on whether Pierre was retained in some capacity.