Recent LSU adversity only latest hurdle for Tigers

Will Wade won’t be on the bench Thursday in Jacksonville, Florida, when third-seeded LSU opens the NCAA Tournament against Yale.

But by no means is the latest adversity for the Tigers program the most significant hurdle it has faced this year. Before it had even played a game this year, it tragically lost Wayde Sims to a fatal shooting in late September near the Southern University campus.

That helped bring this team closer together, LSU interim head coach Tony Benford said.

“They’ve gone through a lot of adversity this season,” Benford said Wednesday. “Losing one of their teammates, Wayde Sims, made these guys a tighter-knit group and brought them closer together … and made it easier for us to coach them.

“We have a quality group of character kids. They’ve really bought in and … taken ownership of the team.”

That type of closeness showed on the floor, especially in Southeastern Conference play.

“We had six games in overtime in the league,” Benford said, “and went 5-1 in those games because of the closeness of this group.”

Now, the Tigers have to bounce back from a last-second loss in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament to Florida.

“Our guys have been working extremely hard the past few days,” Benford said. “We gave the guys a couple of days off (after the SEC Tournament).

Though tragic, Sims’ death was not unfamiliar to Benford, who was the most outstanding player of the Southwest Conference’s postseason tournament in 1986 while at Texas Tech.

“We lost a teammate when I was in college,” Benford said. “He died when we were playing in the rec center, had a heart attack. That brought us closer together. That’s what I see with these guys. These guys are truly their brother’s keepers.”

Guard Skylar Mays said the team is dealing with the program’s latest setback.

“The idea of family is if one person’s down, another person has to pick them up,” Mays said. “We knew we needed to come together even more.”

Guard Tremont Waters is from New Haven, Connecticut, where Yale is located.

“If I had a strong enough arm, I could throw a rock to Yale’s basketball facility (from my house),” Waters said. “It’s a great feeling to make it this far and play against someone back home.”

Benford said he and his fellow assistants have managed their evolving responsiblities well.

“Coach Wade delegates a lot to our coaching staff,” Benford said. “We have a great staff. That’s made it easier, having good coaches on the staff.”

As for all of the negative talk about the program over the last two weeks, Benford said there is a way to handle that.

“We talk about narrowing our focus,” he said. “We can’t control the outside noise. All we can control is our locker room and our huddle. That’s huge right there, when you can narrow your focus.

“They’re aware of what’s going on outside, but when we walk through those doors, it’s about preparing for Yale.”

LSU and Yale will tip off at 11:40 a.m. Thursday in Jacksonville. The game will be shown by TruTV.

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