Category: LSU Tigers

LSU lands commitment from Kansas State transfer Cam Carter

LSU lands commitment from Kansas State transfer guard

The LSU Tigers and head coach Matt McMahon landed what was a notable commitment to their 2024-25 roster Friday via the transfer portal, as Kansas State guard Cam Carter has officially committed to the SEC program.

A player who originally began his collegiate career in the SEC at Mississippi State, the Kansas State transfer is coming off a breakout 2023-24 season with the Wildcats where he averaged 14.6 PPG, 5 RPG, 2.6 APG, and 1.4 SPG. In addition to those numbers, Carter also started all 34 games for Kansas State, and shot 39.1% from the field, 30.9% from three, and 84% from the free throw line.

Carter was at Kansas State each of the past two seasons, where he has started all 70 games during that span. Over those two years, Carter averaged 10.4 PPG, 4 RPG, 2 APG, and 1.2 SPG on 38.8%/31.8%/80.9% shooting.

Carter’s time at Mississippi State also lasted only one season, where he would average 2.2 PPG across 27 games, four of which he started.

Carter is now the first transfer addition for LSU so far this offseason, and is likely to be an instant-impact player for the Tigers in 2024-25.

Can LSU contend for the SEC’s top 2025 recruiting class?

Could the SEC’s top 2025 recruiting class end up residing in Baton Rouge?

If there was ever a framework to land the SEC’s top recruiting class, then you could make an argument that the LSU Tigers certainly have it at the moment.

LSU and head coach Brian Kelly currently hold not only the SEC’s top 2025 recruiting class at the moment, but also one that ranks No. 3 nationally with only nine commits according to 247Sports Team Rankings. The Tigers also have a class average rating of 94.70, which also ranks among the best in the nation and SEC.

Of those nine commits, three are currently rated as five-star prospects, with each also considered as the No. 1 overall player at their position nationally for the 2025 cycle.

The headline prospect in that trio is undoubtedly Bryce Underwood out of Belleview High School in Michigan, who is not only the top quarterback in the 2025 class, but also the No. 1 player in the entire country.

In addition to Underwood, LSU also has the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver in the 2025 class in Dakorien Moore out of Duncanville High School in Texas, who is also the No. 3 prospect nationally. Harlem Berry, who is an in-state prospect out of St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Louisiana, is also a Tigers commit, and is the No. 1 running back in the country.

Alongside those three five-star prospects, LSU also has five more four-star’s included in the class, as well as one three-star.

So, can the Tigers keep up this recruiting momentum to potentially contend for the SEC’s top recruiting class in 2025? Time will ultimately tell, but there is no denying that LSU is certainly hot on the recruiting trail as we enter the spring.

Mel Kiper Jr. has Commanders selecting Jayden Daniels at No. 2

Mel Kiper Jr.’s first mock draft shows Commanders selecting Jayden Daniels over Drake Maye with the No. 2 pick.

With the NFL Draft just three months away, it is everyone’s favorite time of year – mock draft season. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. (subscription required) released his first mock draft for 2024, making his prediction as to how the first round will go (subscription required). While most understand that the draft is still far enough away for countless things to change, as a fan, it is fun to speculate.

Before Kiper’s first mock draft, many thought that the first few picks were a given barring any trades. It has been highly speculated that the first two quarterbacks taken off the board would be USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. However, it appears that Kiper has a different opinion.

In his first mock draft, Kiper has the Washington Commanders selecting LSU’s Jayden Daniels over Maye. The Tigers quarterback had an outstanding season, finishing with 3,812 yards, 40 touchdowns, and the Heisman Trophy.

Maye, who finished 2023 with 3,608 yards and 24 touchdowns was becoming the favorite quarterback to be taken after Williams. While Kiper is not always correct, this should be a sign for Commanders fans everywhere to hold off on ordering a Drake Maye jersey for 2024 until the actual draft.

LSU to promote quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan to offensive coordinator

LSU is promoting assistant coach Joe Sloan to offensive coordinator

According to reports, LSU head coach Brian Kelly has found a new offensive coordinator, as the Tigers are reportedly promoting wide receivers coach Joe Sloan to OC and play caller.

In addition to Sloan, the Tigers are also reportedly promoting wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator Cortez Hankton to Co-OC.

Sloan has been in Baton Rouge as LSU’s quarterbacks coach since 2022 and was an important factor in the development of Jayden Daniels during his two seasons with the Tigers. Prior to his time at LSU, Sloan spent nine seasons at Louisiana Tech, where he was key in the success of the Bulldogs offense.

Hankton also joined LSU’s staff in 2022 and has since served as the Tigers wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator where he was an important factor in the development of one of the SEC’s top wide receivers across the last two seasons, Malik Nabers. Prior to his time at LSU, Hankton was the pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Georgia from 2019-22.

Wake Forest, Florida atop D1Baseball’s 2024 preseason rankings

The Demon Deacons and the Gators are considered the teams to beat in college baseball as the 2024 season approaches.

With the calendar turned to the start of 2024 and warmer weather theoretically on the way, college baseball season is quickly approaching. The first signs of life on the NCAA diamond came on Tuesday when D1Baseball released its preseason rankings of the 25 best teams this upcoming year.

The defending champion, LSU, is only six months removed from its College World Series title. However, the rankings think the leaders the Tigers lost, including the first two picks of last year’s MLB draft in pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews, are enough to drop LSU down to a humble fourth.

Two conference foes slot in ahead of the defending champions. Florida, the team that lost to LSU in the final series, sits second. The Gators also won the title in 2017 and were atop the national rankings with a 16-1 record in 2020 before the rest of the season was canceled due to COVID-19. Arkansas finished the regular season 39-15 last year, but a surprising 4-3 postseason campaign held them back from advancing to Omaha after TCU stunned them in their home regional.

All three of the top SEC teams are looking up at Wake Forest, however. The Demon Deacons lost to LSU in the 11th inning of a survive-and-advance game with a ticket to the championship series on the line.

Here are the full rankings:

Rank Team 2023 Record
1 Wake Forest 54-12
2 Florida 54-17
3 Arkansas 43-18
4 LSU 54-17
5 TCU 44-24
6 Vanderbilt 42-20
7 Oregon State 41-20
8 Texas A&M 38-27
9 Tennessee 44-22
10 Clemson 44-19
11 East Carolina 47-19
12 Duke 39-24
13 N.C. State 36-21
14 Virginia 50-15
15 North Carolina 36-24
16 Texas 42-22
17 UC Santa Barbara 35-20
18 Coastal Carolina 42-21
19 Alabama 43-21
20 Iowa 44-16
21 Texas Tech 41-23
22 UCLA 28-24-1
23 Northeastern 44-16
24 Kansas State 35-24
25 South Carolina 42-21

 

The top quarterback in the Class of 2025 announces his commitment

The Michigan native has back-to-back state titles in 2021 and 2022 and came four points from a third this past year.

Quarterback Bryce Underwood, a five-star prospect and the consensus top overall player in the Class of 2025, announced on Saturday that he had committed to play for LSU. On3’s Hayes Fawcett reported the announcement.

The Michigan native, who plays for Belleville High School, was the MaxPreps National Sophomore of the Year in 2022 and National Freshman of the Year in 2021, throwing for more than 5,600 yards and 76 touchdowns between the two seasons. He led his team to back-to-back Michigan Division I state titles in his first two years, and he led Belleville back to the title game in 2023, although his team 36-32 lost to Southfield A&T.

“Ahead of his years physically,” 247Sports recruiting analyst Allen Trieu said in his scouting report. “(He h)as a strong arm with the ability to make throws to any part of the field. Throws a good deep ball and can use touch to give his receivers a chance to go make plays on the ball.”

Underwood had been given offers from schools like Alabama, Michigan, and Colorado, but he ultimately decided on the Tigers.

“LSU felt like home,” Underwood said in Fawcett’s report on the decision. “The relationship I built with the coaching staff is unbreakable. I’ve never felt an atmosphere better than LSU’s.”

Get more LSU coverage at LSU Wire.

Blake Baker announced as LSU’s defensive coordinator

Baker has spent the past two seasons as Missouri’s defensive coordinator after a brief stint as LSU’s linebackers coach.

LSU found a replacement for its defensive coordinator, and the Tigers found him within their own conference.

LSU announced on Saturday that Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker would take over the same position for their team. A tweet from ESPN’s Pete Thamel revealed it was a three-year contract with an expected average annual value of $2.5 million, making Baker the highest-paid assistant coach in college football.

Baker helped lead Missouri to an 11-win season this past season, as the Tigers allowed 20.8 points per game to finish as the nation’s No. 25 scoring defense. His unit held all but three of their opponents under 30 points, including a 36-7 win over Tennessee and a 14-3 win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

Baker spent the 2021 season in Baton Rogue as LSU’s linebackers coach before he took the Missouri coordinator job. He’ll be tasked with remedying a Tigers defense that allowed 28.0 points and 416.6 yards per game, both outside the top 80 in the country.

Get more LSU coverage at LSU Wire.

LSU lets go of DC Matt House, purges defensive staff

The Tigers parted ways with defensive coordinator Matt House and three defensive assistants after allowing 416.6 yards per game in 2023.

LSU head coach Brian Kelly will fully overhaul his defensive coaching staff for the 2024 season, starting with defensive coordinator.

247Sports’ Matt Zenitz reported on Wednesday that the Tigers are letting go of defensive coordinator Matt House as well as defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey and defensive backs coaches Kerry Cooks and Robert Steeples.

The Tigers scored 45.5 points per game to finish as a top-scoring offense in the country, led by Heisman winner Jayden Daniels at quarterback, but LSU only finished the season 10-3 after they allowed 28.0 points per game. They surrendered 416.6 total yards per game, ranking 108th in the country in total defense, and their 255.6 pass yards allowed per game was a bottom-20 mark in the country.

In their 13 games, LSU’s opponents gained 500 yards of total offense in four separate games. The defensive season bottomed out in September when the Tigers played Ole Miss, who scored 55 points and put up 706 yards.

LSU opponents averaged 6.14 yards per play this season.

Get more LSU coverage at LSU Wire.

LSU lands two big commitments from the transfer portal

Brian Kelly’s team grabbed a big name on offense and defense on Friday with two big names from the transfer portal committing to LSU.

LSU scored two big transfer portal commitments on Friday when former Mississippi State wide receiver Zavion Thomas and former Texas A&M safety Jardin Gilbert committed to the Tigers just a few hours apart from each other. On3’s Hayes Fawcett first reported both announcements.

Thomas, who was named to the FWAA 2022 Freshman All-American team as a punt returner, appeared in 22 games for the Bulldogs. He caught 40 passes for 503 yards in 2023, the second-most on the team in both categories. His best game of the season came against Auburn when he scored his lone touchdown of the season among his 112 yards on nine receptions.

As his most prestigious accolade would suggest, Thomas’ most impressive work as a freshman came as the Bulldogs’ return man. He racked up 365 punt return yards over the last two seasons, averaging 12.6 yards per return. He highlighted his impressive 2022 campaign with a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown in the closing seconds of the first half against Georgia.

Thomas will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Gilbert played three seasons with the Aggies. His most prolific season came in 2022 when he tallied a career-high 61 total tackles and both of his career interceptions.

The 6-foot-1 safety made five tackles in the first two games of the 2023 season before a shoulder injury cut his time in College Station short. He will also have two years of eligibility left.

Thomas and Gilbert are both Louisiana natives. Gilbert brought up how getting to play in his home state influenced his decision in Fawcett’s report.

“Why would I do it anywhere other than to come home where I belong?” Gilbert said.

Get more LSU coverage at LSU Wire.

Kateri Poole no longer with LSU women’s basketball team, Kim Mulkey says

LSU head coach Kim Mulkey confirmed Poole was no longer with the program but did not comment on the reason for the dismissal.

LSU women’s basketball coach announced guard Kateri Poole is no longer with the team after the Tigers’ game on Sunday.

Mulkey did not comment on whether Poole’s departure from the program was disciplinary or whether the decision was hers or Poole’s.

Poole posted an Instagram story with the words “(T)hank you tiger nation” over a photo of the national championship trophy LSU won a season ago.

The junior transferred to LSU before the 2022-23 season after spending the first two years of her career at Ohio State. The guard appeared in 35 games during the Tigers’ national championship run, averaging 4.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. She shot 36.6% from the floor and a career-high 45.2% on 3-pointers last season.

Poole appeared in four games so far this season for LSU, most recently on November 17 against Southeast Louisiana.

The departure comes weeks after star forward Angel Reese missed four games in November for undisclosed reasons, with Mulkey hinting at “locker room issues” the team needed to move past.

Get more LSU coverage at LSU Wire.