LSU Finally Reveals 10-Player Roster in Will Wade’s Exhibition Return

LSU men's basketball unveiled a 10-player roster during an exhibition game against McNeese on Thursday night. Head coach Will Wade, stepping onto the bench for the first time with the Tigers after a brief stint as their head coach in 2022, described the program as "shorthanded." Just one day prior, the team only had four players listed on its online roster, which included transfers Austin Nunez, Abdi Bashir Jr., Mouhamed Dioubate, and Divine Ugochukwu.

Coach Wade learned on Thursday that Michael Ruzic, one of his starters, was cleared to play against McNeese. The team's official roster, which had previously listed only these four players, was expanded to include Ugochukwu, Bashir, Dioubate, Donovan Dent (a UCLA transfer granted eligibility through a lawsuit challenging the NCAA's age rule), Ruzic, Skyy Clark (another UCLA transfer), Luke Stansbury, and freshmen Jordan Bender, Brad Fife, and Strake Pearson.

The starting lineup featured Ugochukwu, Bashir, Dioubate, Dent, and Ruzic, with the remaining players serving as substitutes. While Bender and Pearson combined for 13 minutes of playing time, Duke transfers Skyy Clark and Luke Stansbury also saw action. The coach did not disclose the identities of the two additional players who were cleared to play but did not participate.

The LSU roster remains subject to final approval by November, when the team must submit its official roster one day before its first regular season game. Among the roster's more notable additions is former St. John's star RJ Luis Jr., who had left college basketball for the NBA in 2025 and subsequently won an injunction allowing him to return to LSU this offseason.

However, his return faces challenges from the SEC, which has imposed a rule preventing players who signed professional contracts from returning to college in multiple sports, leading to an ongoing legal battle.