:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68477093/1287231919.0.jpg)
UPDATE 10:16 A.M., December 9
Well maybe there’s a silver lining? Gilbert reportedly told Ed Orgeron he was opting out for the remainder of the 2020 season which okay fine. He hasn’t put in his name in transfer portal...at least not yet.
Honestly, this is the best outcome if he can prevent the transfer. Let him opt out, get his head right, take a break, and come back refreshed for 2021. https://t.co/z7yaUQeGvl
— HO HO HO!-seur (@ATVSPoseur) December 9, 2020
UPDATE 8:48 A.M.
Ed Orgeron had his weekly interview with 104.5’s Off the Bench and said that Gilbert told him he’s considering opting out the remainder of the 2020 season.
“His mother’s in town speaking with him right now,” Orgeron said. “I don’t know if they’ve officially announced it yet. But that’s where we’re at and that’s what we discussed.”
Orgeron said that Gilbert would be welcomed back to the program if he chooses to come back, just as Neil Farrell was when Farrell returned prior to the season starting.
“I think that if he opts out and he wants to come back, definitely I’m going to take him back,” Orgeron said. “He’s a great player and a great young man. I recruited him and we treat him like family, just like everybody else.”
Just when you thought the 2020 season couldn’t get worse for the LSU football program, a rumor began floating Monday night that freshman tight end Arik Gilbert is considering leaving the Tigers.
The news was first reported by 247Sports and then confirmed by The Athletic’s Brody Miller.
#LSU star freshman Arik Gilbert is heavily considering leaving LSU and missed practice today, sources tell The Athletic. @247Sports first to report.
— Brody Miller (@BrodyAMiller) December 8, 2020
Gilbert has been homesick since he arrived, sources say, and LSU is currently fighting to keep him.
Gilbert missed practice Monday and is “really, really homesick” according to a report by 247Sports. LSU is apparently doing all it can to keep Gilbert from leaving Baton Rouge.
Gilbert was LSU’s highest rated recruit, in fact he was 247’s highest rated tight end recruit in its history. Gilbert was also the Gatorade National High School Player of the Year. The Marietta, Georgia native is currently LSU’s leading receiver with 35 catches, 368 yards and two touchdowns now that Terrace Marshall has opted out.