30 Greatest Tigers of the Decade: #2 Seimone Augustus

I feel the need to apologize to Seimone Augustus (not that she cares).  We didn't really cover much of her jersey retirement here, mainly because I knew I was going to wrap up her career with this feature.  Still, she didn't deserve even the appearance of a slight, as she is the greatest female athlete in LSU's history.  Period.  Seimone Augustus is worthy to have her jersey retired next to Maravich, Petit, and Shaq. 

Augustus was a big-time recruit, coming in to school as a two-time McDonald's All American.  LSU had never been to the Final Four in the women's tourney, and a lot of that is because they never had a player of Augustus' quality.  She lived up to the hype right away, averaging 14.8 PPG and 5.5 RPG.  She was the team's best player right away, and she was named National Freshman of the Year and third team All-American honors.  LSU fell one game short of the Final Four, something she would rectify over the course of her career.

She averaged 19.4 PPG and 6.0 RPG in her sophomore year, while also adding 72 assists and 55 steals en route to another All-American season.  More importantly, she saved her best games for the tournament, and carried LSU to its first Final Four in school history.  Seimone led the team in scoring in every tournament game, as LSU beat a murderer's row of Maryland, Texas, and Georgia to make it to New Orleans, where the team lost by 2 to Tennessee.  Augustus, and LSU, had arrived.

Augustus' averages bumped up to 20.1 PPG and 4.6 RPG in her junior year.  Once again, she was the best player on one of the nation's best teams, though the team fell just short in the Final Four again, the one thing she would not accomplish over her career.  She won her first of two Wooden and Naismith Trophies as the nation's best player.   Her senior year, of course, ended  with another tournament defeat, but she once again dominated the season, going for 22.7 PPG and 4.7 RPG, leading the nation in scoring.

Seimone Augustus graduated second in LSU history in points (2,702) and field goals made, but first in field goal percentage.  She holds the NCAA record for most double-digit scoring games with 132.  She's in the rarified air with her two National Player of the Year trophies, a rare feat in both men's and women's basketball.  She also graduated with a dual degree, no easy feat, and as the #1 pick in the WNBA draft.  Augustus never got the title she wanted, but she brought LSU to heights never before contemplated.  She is the Bob Petit of the women's program, a thoroughly dominant power forward who stands as one of the all-time greats of her sport.