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It is Tuesday and we have a lot to get to today after a busy weekend. There is news surrounding basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, football, gymnastics, you name it. So instead of wasting your time with a long intro lets just jump straight into today’s gumbo where we start on the basketball court with some unfortunate events.
LSU was beaten down 95-70 on Saturday night as they traveled to play a very solid Auburn team. It was not a pretty night at all for the Fighting Tigers as they witnessed an 18-0 run by Auburn. It was also a night where we saw Tremont Waters uncharacteristically struggle with only four points and no assists. It would have been nice to see LSU compete and maybe even come away with a win but Auburn is the best team in the SEC right now and LSU is still laying the brick for what they hope could be the best team in the SEC one day.
Part of that bricklaying is discipline, and we saw four LSU players disciplined on Monday night. Freshmen Galen Alexander and Mayan Kiir are both going to sit out the rest of the year with suspensions and it is not clear whether Kiir will return for the 2019 season, but Will Wade made it sound like Alexander has finished his very brief career at LSU. It wasn’t over yet as guards Wayde Sims and Brandon Rachal have been suspended for one game. LSU will be shorthanded for another tough road game at 18th ranked Tennessee.
Some good basketball news, the girls got a big win at home over 12th ranked Tennessee. LSU guard Chloe Jackson led the way with 21 points and Raigyne Lewis added 18 more. LSU forward controlled the boards as she brought down 16 rebounds.
Shifting gears to the Football field now as we saw four former LSU players shine in the Senior Bowl on Saturday. Nobody shined brighter than WR DJ Chark who caught 5 passes for 160 yards and added a touchdown. Chark’s performance earned Co-MVP honors. Chark was looking for a big week in Mobile and it would certainly seem that he raised his draft stock last week. Two LSU D-Lineman both played well. Greg Gilmore and Christian LaCouture both capped off solid weeks with a nice performance in the game as they each were able to get a sack. LSU RB Darrell Williams didn’t pile up the stats on Saturday but he ran the ball well when he got a chance and even hauled in a pass.
To watch Chark’s highlights click on this link: https://www.andthevalleyshook.com/2018/1/28/16942122/2018-senior-bowl-dj-chark-big-game-lsu-football
In LSU recruiting news, it seems they have sealed the deal with DB commit Kelvin Joseph who said he is no longer planning to visit Alabama. LSU and Alabama will still duke it out for the nation's top-ranked CB in Patrick Surtain Jr. LSU also will be in Jamar Chase’s final two as he is down to LSU and Auburn.
Things are starting to get fired up at The Box as Paul Mainieri held his start of the season press conference last week. Highlights of the conference include Mainieri revealing what he expects to be the opening day lineup. Mainieri also said he expects the rotation to start with Caleb Gilbert on Friday’s with Zack Hess and Todd Peterson in the final two slots. Mainieri also confirmed that he expects Jake Slaughter to play third base as we all expected. The Tigers need to replace a lot but should have the talent to contend again in 2018.
Staying on the diamond, LSU first base coach Sean Ochinko will be the hitting coach as Micah Gibbs is recovering from what is being called a serious knee injury.
The ladies in the gym finished second out of four teams in Fort Worth this weekend as they came up just short of the gold. Myia Hambrick continued her excellence so far this year as she was dynamite on the floor routine.
A couple closing notes today:
-LSU Football assistant coaching salaries were revealed last week