Today we will look at the amazing Tremont Waters and the hope that is left for LSU to get a tournament invite come selection Sunday. We will talk about the baseball win against UNO and what’s next for Paul Mainieri and crew. We will also look at some gymnastics and softball news, along with what to expect for the 2019 recruiting cycle.
But first there is the little matter of Tim Quarterman getting paid $16,000.
The FBI’s long running investigation into widespread fraud related to NCAA basketball and player agents has been slowly approaching it’s finale for the last few weeks as details start to trickle out to news outlets. This morning, Yahoo reported on a set of documents seized from the ASM Sports agency that detail payments to a couple dozen players in D1 basketball from some major programs. That list includes Tim Quarterman, who played guard for LSU from 2013-16 and was part of the only post season accomplishment of the Johnny Jones era: a single NIT win. Quarterman reportedly received at least $16,000 from the agency during his junior season. It’s hard to say at this point what, if anything, the NCAA can or will do about this matter, but it’s gonna be a real shame when it puts a speed bump in front of the work Will Wade has been doing to turn around this program.
Speaking of hoops, LSU avenged their earlier season at loss at Vanderbilt with a 88-78 victory in the PMAC on Tuesday night. If you didn’t watch, you missed a dazzling performance from Tremont Waters. Waters struggled early but eventually finished with 28 points and 9 assists. In the process, Waters broke the LSU freshman assists record that Ben Simmons set in 2016. Skylar Mays, Wayde Sims, and Aaron Epps were also all in double-digits. Next up for LSU, is a game at Georgia on Saturday.
The past week has given LSU a fighting shot at the dance. Right now, LSU is that less popular high school guy who wants to ask the prettiest girl in the school to prom. Is it likely that the boy takes that girl to the dance? Probably not. Is it possible that if that boy makes the right moves and catches enough breaks that the girl could say yes? You bet. LSU needs to take care of business and catch some breaks, but they still have a shot at the dance. LSU will likely need to win out and make some noise in the conference tourney. I wouldn’t bet on it, but as we have seen in sports all some teams need is a chance.
It has been a season filled with accolades for the gymnastics team. It seems that every week a Tiger is pulling in an reward from the SEC offices. This week was a clean sweep, as all of the SEC’s weekly awards will be sent to Baton Rouge. Gymnast of the week was given to Sarah Finnegan as Lexie Priessman earned specialist of the week. Freshman of the week was awarded to Christina Desiderio. All of these honors are well earned as LSU posted their two highest scores of the year last weekend. LSU will shoot for that 198 again this Friday in Athens as they face UGA.
LSU beat UNO 14-6 on the diamond Wednesday night. LSU found themselves down 3-0 at the end of the first inning after a rough start from Cam Sanders. The bullpen was fairly solid throughout, as they only allowed three more runs the rest of the night. LSU was without star shortstop Josh Smith as they will be for the next month or so but his replacement, Hal Hughes, added a sacrifice to go ahead 6-5, as well as an RBI double. LSU will welcome Texas to Alex Box on Friday to play a three game weekend series.
Our own Billy Gomila made some media appearances this week, hitting up Jacob Hester’s Hangin’ With Hester show on 104.5/104.9 ESPN in Baton Rouge, and also on Mark Rogers’ Youtube channel, both discussing LSU’s offense:
As you probably know by now, Mississippi State let Andy Cannizaro go on Tuesday. It is well known Mainieri is not on the best terms with Cannizaro or State. Per usual, Paul Mainieri met with reporters on Tuesday and of course he was asked about Cannizaro’s situation. Mainieri gave the usual coach speak. When I say coach speak, I mean he just talked around the question. Scott Rabalais of The Advocate opined on Andy Cannizaro’s future, and spoiler alert, it’s not at LSU.
Ross Dellenger of The Advocate had a story on Kary Vincent that is well worth your time. In there, you will read about why Vincent lost his starting job and how he handled it. You will also see how the dual sport athlete balances track and football. Vincent is a Tiger who could have a huge breakout season in 2018.
The LSU women’s basketball team will be looking for an upset tonight when they travel to South Carolina. The game has a 5:30 start time and can be seen on the SEC Network. LSU is ranked for the first time since 2014, but South Carolina has been a powerhouse the last few years so it will take a lot for LSU to pull this one off.
The softball team begins a packed slate this weekend with a double-header today in Stockton, California. LSU is 12-0 right now and would like to keep rolling behind their two stud pitchers, Carly Hoover and Allie Walljasper.
ATVS’ own Corey Poche put together a fantastic primer for the 2019 recruiting class. In there you will find info on all the current commitments as well as a position by position preview of all the reaming targets.