Tasmin Mitchell: Been Around The Block (A Few Times)

Tasmin Mitchell has seen it all in Baton Rouge. With the Tigers back to their winning ways, could he see Detroit this spring and the NBA in June 2010?

Getty Images

Tasmin Mitchell with LSU fans at the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

It's almost hard to believe Tasmin Mitchell is still playing college basketball.

It's not his fault, though; this really is only his fourth year. It has more to do with LSU. The program has ridden a Britney Spears-like rollercoaster since Mitchell's arrival.

He has seen it all: starting in a Final Four, a member of first and last place SEC teams, the departure of three fellow forwards—Glen Davis, Anthony Randolph and Tyrus Thomas—to the NBA, and three different head coaches.

Just think how it'll feel when he's around again next year.

Due to a season-ending ankle injury last year, Mitchell was given a medical redshirt and now has this year and next to continue his college career.

Right now, the good times are back again, so he doesn't mind sticking around. His ankle is healed. The Tigers' losing ways are behind them. They've returned to the national polls with a 23-4 record and a first place SEC seat. He's also dealt with having his godfather Butch Pierre, last year's LSU interim head coach, passed over as the program's permanent coach.

"I just want to play basketball," Mitchell says.

It's become Mitchell's motto since having to endure last season in street clothes. With basketball taken away from him, he had a realization.

"I just want to play basketball" has become his motto.

"I've been playing ball since I was six," he said. "It was real tough to sit out one year. It really taught me you have to cherish every moment on the basketball court."

Some of his opponents would wish he would get off it again; he's put up career numbers this season. He had 41 points on 12-of-15 shooting to go along with 11 boards, five assists, two steals and two blocks in a recent overtime win over Mississippi State. He had 27 and nine against Georgia. He scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against South Carolina. While his scoring and rebounding numbers usually pop, he does normally fill a stat line.

"I feel like I'm a complete player," said Mitchell, who's averaging 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks. "I can post up, dish, get to the hole, play defense, shoot it. I can do everything."

Having said that, it hasn't exactly been easy for Mitchell to watch three LSU forwards go pro while he's been left behind. That was supposed to be him; he arrived in Baton Rouge ranked higher out of high school than Davis, Randolph or Thomas. He was considered the country's 10th best prep senior, according to a consensus of the top recruiting analysts, in 2004. Of the top 12, he and Tyler Hansbrough are the only ones who haven't been drafted yet.

Mitchell believes it's his injury that has held him back.

"If I hadn't been injured, I'd probably be there with them," Mitchell said. "I got to be patient."

DraftExpress.com's Jonathan Givony doesn't believe Mitchell was or is on a path to the NBA, though.

"I really can't say for sure whether he would be in the NBA if not for the injury, but in my opinion that is probably unlikely," Givony said. "He had many of the same limitations that he did now back then still. The problem is that he's a below-average athlete even at the college level, and it's questionable whether he has the lateral quickness to defend perimeter players. When he's forced to do so at LSU, he clearly struggles. His upside is clearly limited, although that shouldn't take anything away from the fact that he's a very good college player."

LSU head coach Trent Johnson will go a step further. He sees Mitchell as much more than just a very good college player.

"Tasmin is a hell of a kid," Johnson said. "Work ethic, personality, fun to be around, fun to coach, passionate. I don't give kids false compliments. He's a kid who's been as good as I've been around."

And he'll be around for one more year.

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine