LSU freshman: 'I think we'll win the national championship'

Things are pointing up for the state of college basketball in Baton Rouge.

LSU's incoming class of freshmen features three of the nation's top 40 recruits, as ranked by ESPN, including No. 1 overall recruit Ben Simmons, No. 15 Antonio Blakeney, and No. 39 Brandon Sampson.

The college landscape is changing, and freshmen are playing a bigger role in deciding the fate of the national title. Kentucky has qualified for four of the last five Final Fours, and Mike Krzyzewksi has adapted his recruiting strategy and just won a national championship with a core made up largely of first-year players.

Therefore, there's reason to believe the Tigers could be right in the thick of the national title hunt from the get-go.

At least one member of the team's 2015 recruiting class believes so.

The team's big-three freshmen met the Baton Rouge media for the first time Wednesday, and there was no shortage of confidence from Blakeney.

"I think we'll win the national championship," he said, according to Sheldon Mickles of The Advocate.

Asked whether he thought the Tigers would be in the hunt for a title, Blakeney answered similarly, saying, "I think we're going to win the national championship."

LSU built a marketing campaign to sell season tickets around Simmons, a 6-foot-10 power forward and 2015's top recruit. He said he's not feeling any extra pressure because of it.

"I'm fine with that," Simmons said. "I have one goal on the court, and that's to win. If I'm focused on that, everything else will take care of itself. I try to not let anything like that get to me."

Sampson, who had committed to St. John's before flipping to LSU, said having other top-flight recruits around takes some of the pressure off.

"I think everybody is approaching this pretty good," Sampson said. "The expectations are going to be high because we have three top-50 players coming in. But we have each other’s back, so it’s not like all the pressure is on one guy."