Tari Eason didn’t want to think about the future. Following LSU’s early exit in the NCAA tournament, all the sophomore forward could think about what the game, this team and why the ball didn’t bounce the Tigers way in the closing minutes of a tight 59-54 loss to Iowa State.
There’s little doubt about what’s to come for this program. It would be surprising at the very least if even a few of the core pieces of this team return in 2022. Eason is a likely first round pick, Darius Days and Xavier Pinson are both seniors and all of the young players feel destined for the transfer portal.
Again, that’s not what Eason or any of the players wanted to think about in the immediate aftermath of the game.
“No I’m really in the moment to be honest. Right now my mind’s on the game and this team,” Eason said. “I have no idea what the future holds but I know that I love this team and I love LSU and everything it’s done for me.”
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Turnovers and poor execution on offense were the crux behind LSU’s loss to Iowa State, but the team also had a stretch towards the end where it looked like it might pull off a comeback. Pulling within one with just under two minutes to go, it was the late game dagger three pointers by the Cyclones that put LSU down.
For a group with so many young players who hadn’t been in that environment, it was difficult to not have a calming influence who could make the in game adjustments. Forward Darius Days all week preached that the team was in high spirits and focused on the task at hand, but admitted following the game, it was a very hectic week and one that pushed everyone in the program to their limits.
“Very hectic for sure,” Days said. “Losing coach, some of the guys not being here before, it’s just a lot of things we fought through and stuck together. The ball didn’t bounce our way but time will tell. Everybody’s had a great career at LSU, it was very fun playing with these guys and I wouldn’t play with nobody else.”
“The distractions were a lot and these guys fought through those distractions, went out and gave LSU a chance to win tonight,” coach Kevin Nickelberry said. “I’d like to thank all of those guys and now we’ve gotta turn the page.”
Now LSU looks ahead to a very uncertain future, one that is likely to start with the departure of players and include a wide ranging coaching search that will no doubt be a tough pitch for athletic director Scott Woodward. Who that is and what this team will look like in three months is quite honestly anyone’s guess.
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