Butch Pierre watched intently as McCall and Ferriday High’s boys went back and forth in a low-scoring contest last Friday at the Ferriday 7th grade gym.

But it wasn’t so much the game itself Pierre was watching as it was two individuals.

Pierre, an assistant coach at LSU, was checking out two players – Ferriday junior Jason Scott and McCall junior Donald Perry.

And the reason Pierre has to be so intent in his recruiting is because of sanctions that limited LSU to only four scholarships over a two-year period in connection with the recruitment of Lester Earl.

&uot;That is why it is so important that we have success this season,&uot; Pierre said. &uot;We want to get this program back to where it used to be. Hopefully we can get the type of players to reach that level. It’s hard to do, but I think we’ll be OK.&uot;

LSU is 14-3 overall and 2-3 in the Southeastern Conference.

&uot;The preseason schedule helped us build a lot of confidence and create some character,&uot; Pierre said. Obviously when we went to Hawaii and won that tournament the players started to believe they could win.&uot;

Pierre said the SEC is more balanced this year and that any team can beat another on any given night.

&uot;We always thought we had the chance to be in position to make the postseason if we played together,&uot; Pierre said. &uot;With our schedule we were able to get enough wins that would give us that chance. And now with every win, that chance becomes more real. We have to win at least a couple of games on the road.&uot;

Pierre credits freshman guard Torris Bright and junior college transfer Lamont Roland with making the Tigers a better team.

&uot;Going in we know our front line would be pretty good,&uot; he said. &uot;We just needed to add a few more new players to help improve the team. We played a lot of close games last year. The difference this year is that we’re winning some of those games.&uot;

Bright has led LSU in scoring in three games, including a 21-point effort in a win over Alabama.

&uot;Torris is important to the team because he is a playmaker and a scorer,&uot; Pierre said. &uot;Now if we could get us a point guard, that would allow him to improve even more.&uot;

Roland spent his summer in Natchez attending Copiah-Lincoln and working out with local players.

&uot;Lamont has worked his way into being dependable on and off the floor,&uot; Pierre said. &uot;He’s also worked his way to being our best defensive player. He expends a lot of energy trying to stop the other team’s best player and sometimes that hurts him on the offensive end. But he has really contributed.&uot;

LSU is led by sophomore forward Stromile Swift, who has been the top scorer in seven games and top rebounder in nine. He scored 33 points and had 13 rebounds against Wyoming.

&uot;Stromile has had a few nagging injuries that had held him up in practice,&uot; Pierre said. &uot;He’s the type of kid who when he doesn’t practice every day, he tends to lose that edge.&uot;

Pierre is in his third year as an assistant to John Brady. He joined Brady after serving for one year as assistant at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

At St. Amant High School he earned prep All-American honors. His jersey was retired at St. Amant in 1980.

Pierre started four seasons as a point guard at Mississippi State University under Bob Boyd and graduated as the Bulldogs’ all-time assists maker (342). Pierre averaged 6.7 points and 6.1 assists per game for his career and was team captain in his senior season (1983-84). Pierre was a graduate assistant at Mississippi State when Brady served as an assistant coach under Boyd. He also worked under Marty Fletcher at then Southwestern Louisiana.

Joey Martin is sports editor of The Democrat. He can be reached at (601) 445-3632 or at joey.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.