Three LSU newcomers landed inside Evan Miyakawa’s top 10 ranking of incoming international players, a strong sign that the Tigers’ roster is starting to take shape in a hurry.
Miyakawa, a college basketball analytics expert, used his BPR metric to sort the top 25 incoming international players. The stat is designed to measure how many points better, or worse, a team is per 100 possessions with a player on the floor. LSU had three names near the top of the list.
At No. 2 overall among incoming international players, and No. 9 in the broader incoming player ranking, is forward Saliou Niang. He was one of the two key eligibility battles LSU needed to win, alongside RJ Luis, and missing on both would have been a major blow to the Tigers’ depth.
Getting Niang alone still gives LSU a major boost. The wing is described as a high-end athlete who should be a strong defender and a threat when attacking the basket.
Miyakawa projected him at +2.62 offensively and +2.34 defensively, for a combined 4.96 BPR.
Coming in at No. 7 among international players, and No. 17 overall, is center Michael Ruzic. He’s already been eligible and has flashed in exhibition play, including a recent outing with 15 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and a made three.
LSU won’t need to lean on him for massive minutes now that the roster has more depth, but his blend of size and shooting should matter. His projection lands at 1.97 BPR on offense and 2.27 on defense, giving him a total of 4.24.
Right behind him is center Brice Dessert at No. 8 among international players, and No. 22 overall. Dessert is expected to give Ruzic some breathing room, even though the two seven-footers bring different skill sets.
Dessert is viewed as the more offense-oriented big, coming off a season in Turkey where he averaged 8.7 points per game while shooting 80.6% from the field. He also blocked 1.3 shots per game, though his 3.3 rebounds per contest were lower than expected.
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