Can Will Wade Restore LSU Basketball to SEC Relevance?

Four straight NBA drafts without a selection and four consecutive NCAA Tournament misses underscore the challenge facing Will Wade in his return to LSU. A look at the SEC's last decade shows where the Tigers stand—and what Wade must accomplish to get the program back among the league's elite.

By Bryan Lazare

June 26, 2026

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Photo by IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The NBA conducted its draft last Tuesday and Wednesday.

That event drew no interest from the LSU fan base.

For the fourth consecutive year, no Tigers player was drafted by a NBA team. The last LSU player selected in the NBA draft was Tari Eason in 2022.

Only one other time since Pete Maravich joined the program in the late 1960s did the Tigers go four straight NBA drafts with no player chosen (2001-04).

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