Link Gumbo: 1-11-18

LSU Basketball throttled Arkansas on the road last night in Fayetteville, as Will Wade and the Tigers continue to impress. There were quite a few football nuggets to take note of yesterday also. LSU officially announced Steve Ensminger as offensive coordinator and will hold a press conference today. Also, there were plenty of personnel announcements yesterday with players coming and going. Finally, The Advocate has some interesting details from the Matt Canada settlement that we will take a look at.

LSU went on the road last night and got an emphatic 75-54 against the Arkansas Razorbacks. Aaron Epps led the way for the Tigers with 13 points and 11 boards. It was quite an impressive win for LSU as they were nine-point underdogs on the road against a consensus top 40 team. Going into the night, Arkansas was 15th in RPI and 27th in the KenPom rankings. The selection committee should be keeping an eye on this team, their resume certainly stacks up right now. Will Wade has done a remarkable job with a team the media picked to finish LAST in the SEC.

LSU officially named Steve Ensminger the offensive coordinator yesterday. It has been no secret for a while now that if Ensminger wanted the job-Ensminger was going to get the job. LSU will have an introductory press conference at noon today where Ensminger along with Ed Orgeron will address the media. Ensminger has been a coordinator in the past and produced mixed results. It should be noted that when I say “In the past” I mean a good 20 years or so. It is also expected that consultant Jerry Sullivan will get an on the field role possibly as the “Passing Game Coordinator.” Jerry Sullivan is one of the more underrated parts of this move in my opinion. We have seen LSU wideouts underperform since Adam Henry left the program. Sullivan along with Mickey Joseph should be able to maximize the potential of them. Fans are already acting like the sky is falling eight months before this staff even puts a finished product on display. Just sit back, relax, and wait to see what this offense actually does. The success won’t be determined by Ensminger’s philosophy as much as it will be the QB play he gets.

A lot of news regarding some players that will or will not be on the LSU Football roster going forward. The headling story here is Derrius Guice, who will not. Guice announced yesterday on Twitter that he would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. This is no shock to anyone as Guice is projected as a first-round pick. Guice becomes the fifth LSU junior to declare this cycle. It was awesome watching Derrius Guice in the purple and gold these last three years and we wish him the best in the NFL.

LSU added former Tennesee Tech QB Andre Sale yesterday. Sale will bring depth to the QB position and will walk on meaning he does not take up one of the 25 spots in the signing class. In 8 games with TTU, Sale averaged 7.3 yards per attempt and threw 8 TDs.

Also announced yesterday, TE Caleb Roddy and DB Xavier Lewis are no longer with the team. Roody did not play at all in 2017 and Lewis only appeared in 4 games. Some positive news, Kristian Fulton will be with the Tigers in 2017. Fulton is a former 5-star recruit that some LSU fans might have forgotten about since he redshirted this past season for off the field reasons. Fulton’s presence is one that LSU might need due to the departures of Donte Jackson and Kevin Tolliver. Fulton should compete with Kary Vincent and Patrick Surtain (knock on wood) for the starting job at CB opposite of Greedy Williams.

Yesterday, The Advocate outlined the settlement between former offensive coordinator Matt Canada and LSU. There is some interesting stuff in there and it is worth taking a look at. We do not know exactly what happened but the settlement appears to prove that is was quite a messy situation with Canada during his time at LSU.

#GYMSZN rolls on Friday as the team travels to Gainesville to take on the Gators. The girls now have a “stick crown” similar in concept to Miami’s “Turnover Chain. The Lady Tigers look to move on from their loss to Mississippi State as they take on Alabama tonight. That is all we have for today. Make sure you catch LSU take on Alabama on Saturday night after the Saints game. This team deserves our attention.