Once the game between LSU and Texas A&M was over, a game in which LSU got embarrassed, the Tigers' postseason fate was sealed. The NCAA Tournament was clearly out of the question for a team that has underachieved all year long despite having possibly the best player in the nation and several other talented players.
Ben Simmons was supposed to be a one-and-done player all along, but the hope was that we would at least get to see him on the biggest stage one time. Instead, LSU's lack of effort has kept it out of the big dance. It seemed as though LSU would at least be heading to the NIT to showcase its star freshman, but it declined invitations from every other postseason tournament.
Head coach Johnny Jones took responsibility for his team underperforming all season and said they will use this time "to get better and start preparations for next season." Unfortunately for Jones and LSU those preparations likely will not include Simmons as he is fully expected to enter the NBA Draft where he might be the first overall pick.
To that end, Simmons is expected to sign with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, the same agency that represents LeBron James. That doesn't make it a guarantee that Simmons will be gone, but all signs are pointing that way and it would be hard to blame him, especially when you consider how this year went for the Tigers.
LSU was ranked in the preseason polls because it didn't just have the No. 1 incoming recruit (Simmons), but also had the fourth-best recruiting class in the nation. Jones did a great job of getting the talent to come to Baton Rouge, but once it got there the disaster began.
Simmons put up monster numbers as a freshman at LSU (19.2 points 11.8 rebounds per game) but at some point he has to shoulder some of the blame as well. Jones deserves the most blame because he is the head coach and his team clearly wasn't playing very hard, but the star player shouldn't go blameless. It is tough to place blame on a 19-year-old kid who put up great individual stats, but he wants to play in the NBA next year and teams that want to take him have to take into account the fact that he couldn't lead his team into a 68-team field. Simmons is an extremely talented player and will continue to grow and mature but this season is as much of a bad look for him as it is for the LSU basketball program.
It is unfortunate that we won't get to see Simmons play in the NCAA tournament, or any tournament at all for that matter. But neither he nor LSU deserves to be there, and that was not the expectation when he chose to play his college ball in Baton Rouge.
