Laney: Tigers miss out in early basketball recruiting

• By GARY LANEY
• Published: Jun 29, 2009 - Page: 1C

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Not to ruin your baseball afterglow. And I don’t mean to cause alarm.

But I do think it’s OK to worry a little bit about LSU basketball now.

While the baseball team was going through its national championship run in Omaha, Neb., the basketball team was going through a rough couple of weeks of recruiting news.

First was the loss of 2009 prospect Noel Johnson, who chose Clemson over LSU after getting released from his original letter of intent to Southern California following the Tim Floyd fiasco.

That much was OK. Getting Johnson for 2009 would have been a bonus.

But what happened last week, when a couple of top local 2010 prospects committed to out-of-state schools instead of LSU, is when the concern really kicked in.

Langston Galloway of Christian Life Academy picked St. Joseph’s of Philadelphia, where he has strong family ties, while Brian Williams of Glen Oaks picked Oklahoma State, where former John Brady assistant and LSU interim head coach Butch Pierre did the heavy lifting in recruiting.

Let the gnashing of teeth begin.

LSU signed two players for the 2009 class, leaving 10 scholarship players for next season — even after Tasmin Mitchell took his name out of the NBA draft pool. The rationale was with a deeper 2010 prospect class, it was better to save those scholarships for next year than to sign mediocre 2009 talent.

So far, in what was supposed to be a deep year in-state for midlevel talent, LSU is 0-for-3 in landing in-state recruits. Earlier, wing Markel Brown of Peabody also committed to Oklahoma State.

The theory that LSU was saving to land a bumper in-state 2010 crop doesn’t look so good now. Still out there among top-tier in-state talent is Matt Derenbecker of Metairie Park Country Day. Otherwise, the pickings are getting thin.

Trent Johnson and his staff are still in the hunt for good regional talent, maybe better talent than they have lost from in state. Already on board is a power forward from Jackson, Miss., Jalen Courtney.

Point guards generally more highly regarded than Galloway in Texas (Phil Pressey of Dallas) and Mississippi (Andre Stringer of Jackson) are showing interest in LSU. Shooting guards and wings from Atlanta to Detroit, also highly regarded, are also in the picture.