William Penn Charter and Team Final four-star big man Matt Gilhool has committed to LSU after also considering schools including Alabama, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Mississippi State, and Tennessee.
Gilhool becomes the first high school player to commit to head coach Matt McMahon in the class of 2025, but he’s the fourth nationally ranked prospect to commit to the Tigers in the last two years.
Currently ranked No. 70 overall in the national class, Gilhool is coming off an EYBL season in which he averaged 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 52% from the floor for Team Final.
Scouting Gilhool
Gilhool is a skilled lefty big who can stretch the floor and is mobile for his size. He’s been known as a stretch big for several years now and has both soft natural touch and clean mechanics. He knocked down 31% of his threes, on less than two attempts per game, during the recent EYBL season, but has more shooting potential left to discover and should be a legit pick-and-pop threat in time. He can put it on the floor a bit, is generally efficient with his bounces, and starting to show some passing potential too, but still a bit turnover prone at times (0.8 assists vs. 1.6 turnovers per game in the EYBL).
He’s not necessarily a physical presence inside, but he has good hands, touch, and an excellent right hand to be a quick and efficient finisher in the lane, making 58% of his attempted two-point field goals. He’s also capable of beating opposing big men down the floor as a rim-runner, agile for his size, and relatively athletic.
A reclassified senior, Gilhool is older for his grade and will turn 19 in May of his senior year. Yet, he still remains fairly lean physically and doesn’t always impact the game in the paint as much as someone his size should. He can get pushed off his spots on both ends of the floor and struggle to defend stronger big men in the post, but should be mobile enough to guard ball-screens in multiple ways. He’s an adequate area rebounder (6.1 per game) and capable weakside rim protector (1.2 per game).
Overall, Gilhool is a skilled and mobile lefty who stretches the floor, relies on touch and dexterity in the lane, and may be capable of playing either the four or five spots down the road, but will have to bulk up his frame and adapt to playing through more contact first.
The Fit at LSU
Floor-spacing bigs are always in high demand, and that has been particularly true for McMahon. Will Baker, Jalen Reed, and Derek Fountain, the three players who led the Tigers’ frontcourt in minutes played last season, were all willing and capable of taking open rhythm threes last year. This year, McMahon is adding Robert Miller, a 6-foot-10 freshman who prefers to play facing the basket.
Miller and Gilhool have some similarities in that their talent is obvious with their combination of size and skill, and yet they both need to be more impactful in the lane. If they can develop that, they could develop into a very potent frontcourt tandem who can be interchangeable inside and out. or even both on the perimeter, thus opening up the paint to create driving lanes for their guards in modern five-out offensive concepts.
LSU has simultaneously added complementary pieces around them in the frontcourt. Daimion Collins, the Kentucky transfer who played in only six games last year before dislocating his shoulder, is an extreme athlete and lob threat who still has two years of eligibility left. Corey Chest, who has four full years of eligibility left after redshirting last year, is a junkyard dog type in the paint who can provide the physicality and motor to balance the floor-spacing skill of Miller and Gilhool.
Collectively, the Tigers are building a versatile frontcourt with different types of bigs who are capable of fitting together in various ways and thus allowing the team to play multiple styles.
