The Saints announced today that they’ve released veteran kicker Shayne Graham. Graham was 19 of 22 on field goals last season, including a long of 50 yards. New Orleans has two other kickers on the roster, Zach Hocker who they signed after a tryout last weekend and Dustin Hopkins. Wide receiver Lance Lewis takes Graham’s spot on the roster. He spent last season on the 49ers practice squad.

Two New Orleans-area natives have been elected to the Saints Hall of Fame. Tyrone Hughes and the “Beer Man” Michael Lewis were oustanding return men during time with the “Black and Gold.” Hughes was a standout at St. Aug in New Orleans and drafted by the Saints in 1993. Lewis attended Grace King High School. He was driving a beer truck when he made the Saints roster in 2000.

The SEC Baseball Tournament is underway in Hoover, Alabama. Earlier today, Alabama eliminated Ole Miss six to one. The Tigers will take on the winner of this afternoon’s game between Kentucky and Auburn.

Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari released a statement today that says he’s NOT interested in the Pelicans head coaching job. Calipari has been linked to the vacancy in New Orleans, because he coached current Pelican players Tyreke Evans and Anthony Davis in college.

The Louisiana Tech men’s basketball team has been known as the “Dunkin Dawgs” under former head coach Michael White. Tech’s new top dog, Eric Konkol, says he wants to keep that style in place….
cut 18 (18) “….to them”

And LSU has captured the SEC All-Sports men’s title for 2014-15, thanks to conference titles in baseball and men’s golf. It’s the first SEC All-Sports title for the LSU men since 1996-97.

The SEC Baseball Tournament gets underway today in Hoover, Alabama. The Fighting Tigers have the top seed and they’ll play tomorrow at 4:30 PM. They’ll face the winner of this afternoon’s contest between Kentucky and Auburn.

UNO is looking for a new head baseball coach as the 74-year-old Ron Maestri has decided to step down. Maestri started the Privateers baseball program in 1972 and after taking a 28-year-absence, Maestri came back two years ago to get the program moving in the right direction.

And speaking of coaching, LSU’s Paul Mainieri has been named as the SEC Coach of the Year. Mainieri accepts the award on behalf of his entire staff…
cut 30 (08) “…in the country”
And LSU pitcher Alex Lange was named freshman of the year.

Louisiana Tech officials have chosen Eric Konkol as the man to replace Michael White as the Bulldogs men’s basketball coach. Tech is coming off a season in which they won 27 games and finished second in scoring in Conference USA. During his introductory press conference, Konkol talked about his philosphy on offense….
cut 17 (19) “….great shot”

In NBA news…the Pelicans will reportedly speak with Golden State assistant coach Alvin Gentry about becoming the head coach in New Orleans. The Pels are also said to be interested in Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, who is not expected to be back in Chicago.

And former Ragin Cajuns star Elfrid Payton has been named to the NBA’s All-rookie team.

New men’s basketball coach Eric Konkol says he’s wants to build on a standard of excellence that’s already growing at Louisiana Tech. Konkol takes over for Michael White, who won three straight league titles. Konkol, who has been an assistant at Miami for the last four seasons, says he’s heard nothing but great things about the Bulldog basketball program…

cut 16 (19) “to me”

Last year, Tech won 27 games and they were second in Conference USA in scoring.

LSU athletic director Joe Alleva tells the Baton Rouge Advocate that he doesn’t want the Tigers playing Texas A-and-M on Thanskgiving this year. It was played on Turkey day last year, but this year the game will be in Baton Rouge and Alleva says LSU will not play in Tiger Stadium on a Thursday as long as he’s with the school. The game could be played either on Friday or Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.

The start time for LSU Softball’s NCAA Super Regional game against Arizona Saturday at Tiger Park has been changed. Game one of the best of three series will now begin at 2PM. The change was made to lessen traffic issues for this weekend’s Bayou Country Superfest in Tiger Stadium. Sunday’s schedule for games is unchanged with game two starting at 4PM and game three, if necessary, beginning at 7PM.

LSU’s Paul Mainieri has been named the SEC Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to a regular season league championship. LSU’s Alex Lange has been named Freshman of the Year after finishing second in the SEC with an ERA of 2.11.

Southeastern Louisiana sophomore outfielder Jacob Seward has been named Southland Conference player of the year. The Brother Martin grad is hitting .365 with 47 runs scored and 35 runs driven in.

It is reported that the Pelicans have received permission to interview Golden State assistant coach Alvin Gentry for their head coaching vacancy. Gentry’s name has popped up as one of the leading candidates for the position, along with Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau. It’s unclear when an interview with Gentry would take place as the Warriors begin the Western Conference finals tonight.

Louisiana Tech named former Miami Hurricane assistant Eric Konkol as its new head men’s basketball coach today. Konkol replaces Michael White, who led the Bulldogs to three straight league titles. The Wisconsin native says he wants to build on that success…
cut 30 (23) “….what we are here to do”
Konkol has served as a long-time assistant to Jim Larranaga at George Mason and Miami.

LSU athletic director Joe Alleva tells the Baton Rouge Advocate that he doesn’t want the Tigers playing Texas A-and-M on Thanskgiving this year. It was played on Turkey day last year, but the game this season will be in Baton Rouge either on Friday or Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.

There’s a belief that Saints third-round draft pick Garrett Grayson could be the heir apparent to Drew Brees. Grayson says he’s looking forward to learning from Brees…
cut 18 (20) “….a beat”
Grayson also says playing in a pro-style offense in college should help his transition into the NFL.

LSU’s Paul Mainieri has been named the SEC Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to a regular season league championship. LSU’s Alex Lange has been named Freshman of the Year after finishing second in the SEC with an ERA of 2.11.

And Southeastern Louisiana sophomore outfielder Jacob Seward has been named Southland Conference player of the year. The Brother Martin grad is hitting .365 with 47 runs scored and 35 runs driven in.

Eric Konkol was named as the new head coach of the Louisiana Tech men’s basketball program today. Konkol comes to Ruston after spending the last four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Miami, before that he was an assistant at George Mason for seven seasons. Konkol helped Miami win 25 games last season.

At Saints rookie minimp, Coach Sean Payton said he was impressed with third round pick and quarterback Garrett Grayson. Grayson says running a pro style offense at Colorado State should help him learn the Saints playbook…
cut 17 (15) “….for me”
Grayson says he has no problem with learning from Drew Brees, while watching from the sidelines, until Brees decides to retire.

UL Lafayette and LSU have reached the super regionals of the NCAA Softball Tournament. LSU beat Arizona State twice yesterday to advance. They won the first game five to nothing and then won the second game four to three in nine innings. The Cajuns are headed to the Super Regionals after a nine to one win over Baylor.

The number one ranked LSU Tigers captured their 16th SEC regular season championship over the weekend and will enter this weeks SEC Baseball Tournament as the number one seed. The Tigers are two-time defending tournament champions and get a bye in the first round. LSU will see their first action Wednesday afternoon against the winner of Tuesday’s Kentucky versus Auburn matchup.

The Southland Conference Baseball Tournament is this week in Sugar Land, Texas and Louisiana schools hold the top four seeds. Regular season conference champion Southeastern Louisiana comes in as the top seed followed by Northwestern State, Nicholls State, and then McNeese State taking the number four seed. All four teams will see first round action this Wednesday.

UL-Lafayette’s sweep of ULM gave the Ragin Cajuns the number three seed in the Sun Belt Baseball Tournament while sending the Warhawks home for the season. The Cajuns will face Texas State in a first round matchup Wednesday afternoon.

Tulane enters the American Athletic Conference Baseball Tourney as the number three seed. They’ll take on UConn Wednesday afternoon.

The Saints held a rookie minicamp over the weekend. A chance for the coaches to get a look at the players that were recently drafted or signed as free agents out of college. That includes third-round draft pick and quarterback Garrett Grayson. Coach Sean Payton says he was impressed with what he saw from Grayson…

cut 16 (13) “really effective”

Grayson says running a pro style offense at Colorado State should help him learn the Saints playbook.

Louisiana Tech is set to introduce its new men’s basketball coach at a press conference this morning. Miami Assistant Coach Eric Konkol is expected to be the guy to lead the Bulldogs after Michael White stepped down to take the head coaching job at Florida.

The Saints’ rookie mini camp takes place this weekend at the team’s headquarters in Metairie. The three-day camp is an opportunity get a first look at this year’s draft picks and un-drafted free agents will battle for an invite to training camp. As far as the un-drafted free agents attending mini camp, Saints sideline reporter Kristian Garic is high on wide receiver RJ Harris out of New Hampshire. Garic admits it may be a long shot for Harris to make the team, but he is intrigued…:
CUT 18 (11) “of Missouri”
Garic is impressed with the players the Saints selected in this year’s draft.

In high school baseball semifinal action….in 2A Oak Grove beat Runnels 5-1 and defending champ Kinder beat top seeded Doyle 6-1. ULL commiment Dylan Poncho drove in 4 runs and was the winning pitcher. Oak Grove and Kinder play for 2A title tomorrow at 3pm.

The top ranked LSU Tigers still hold a half-game lead over Vanderbilt in the SEC standings despite a 10-7 loss to South Carolina last night. The Tigers had a four run lead after 5 innings, but the Gamecocks exploded with a total of eight runs in the sixth and seventh innings to secure the victory. LSU’s Jake Godfrey gets tagged with the loss after starting the seventh and giving up four runs on one hit with four walks and no strikeouts. The series resumes tonight at 7 and you can watch on ESPNU.

In the Southland Conference, Southeastern Louisiana clinched its first ever Southland Conference regular season championship after a 5-0 win over UNO. Central Arkansas got past McNeese State 5-4 and Northwestern State blanked Nicholls State 7-0.

In Sun Belt action, UL-Lafayette pounded ULM 10-3. First pitch for game two of their series is set for 6PM tonight.

Also, Marshall edged Louisiana Tech 7-6 and Memphis defeated Tulane 7-3.

The Saints’ rookie mini camp takes place this weekend at the team’s headquarters in Metairie. Saints sideline reporter Kristian Garic says says there is excitement around the team’s two first round draft picks, offensive tackle Andrus Peat from Stanford and linebacker Stephone Anthony from Clemson. He says a lot of eyes will be on third round pick, quarterback Garrett Grayson from Colorado State…

cut 17 (08) “ability he has”

As far as the undrafted free agents attending mini camp, Garic is high on wide receiver RJ Harris out of New Hampshire.

According to a new Sports Illustrated report, the reason that former LSU Tiger and current Dallas Cowboy La’el Collins was questioned in the death of his ex-girlfriend Brittany Mills is because the victim’s daughter mentioned the offensive lineman’s name. There is no confirmation of that detail from the Baton Rouge Police Department. An arrest has yet to be made in Mills’ case. Collins, who was not drafted, signed a three-year deal with the Cowboys for $1.65 million.

The top ranked LSU Tigers had a four run lead after 5 innings, but South Carolina exploded with a total of eight runs in the sixth and seventh to take a 10-7 win last night. Gamecock reliever Reed Scott picks up the win. LSU’s Jake Godfrey gets tagged with the loss after starting the seventh inning and giving up four runs on one hit with four walks and no strikeouts. The series resumes tonight at 7 and you can watch on ESPNU. LSU still holds a half-game lead over Vanderbilt, who defeated Alabama last night, in the overall SEC standings.

In the Southland, Central Arkansas edged McNeese State 5-4, Northwestern State blanked Nicholls State 7-0, and Southeastern Louisiana clinched its first ever Southland Conference regular season championship after a 5-0 win over UNO.

In Sun Belt action, UL-Lafayette pounded ULM 10-3. First pitch for game two is 6PM tonight.

Marshall squeaked past Louisiana Tech 7-6 and Memphis upended Tulane 7-3.

The Saints’ rookie mini camp takes place this weekend at the team’s headquarters in Metairie. The three-day camp is an opportunity get a first look at this year’s draft picks and undrafted free agents will battle for an invite to training camp. Saints sideline reporter Kristian Garic is impressed with the players the Black and Gold selected in this year’s draft and says the team stayed true to what they said they believed in with this draft class…

cut 16 (08) “off the field”

Garic says there is excitement around the team’s two first round draft picks, offensive tackle Andrus Peat from Stanford and linebacker Stephone Anthony from Clemson.

In basketball news…there’s a report the Pelicans are waiting to see if Chicago Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau will be available before starting their head coach search. Thibodeau’s Bulls were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by Cleveland last night and there’s talk he won’t be asked to return as Chicago’s coach.

ESPN has announced that LSU will host Oklahoma as part of the ESPN-Big 12 challenge on Saturday January 30th.

The number one ranked LSU Baseball team can win a Southeastern Conference championship tonight if the Tigers beat South Carolina and Vanderbilt loses to Alabama. This is also a big series for South Carolina. The Gamecocks are 12-15 in the SEC and fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Paul Mainieri says they are expecting big crowds at Carolina Stadium, a place they’ve had some success at ….
cut 18 (19) “…than this”
Tonight’s game begins at six PM.

Also getting underway at six P-M, U-L-M hosts U-L Lafayette. The Warhawks are still trying to nail down a spot in the Sun Belt Tournament. And Louisiana Tech concludes its regular season with a three-game series against Marshall that starts at six PM.

Southeastern Louisiana can win its first Southland Conference championship tonight with a win over UNO. Northwestern State is in second place and they host Nicholls State tonight. The Colonels have won nine in a row. Also, McNeese State is at Central Arkansas. The Cowboys are 17-and-10 on the league.

In basketball news…ESPN has announced that LSU will host Oklahoma as part of the ESPN-Big 12 challenge on Saturday January 30th.

And there’s a report the Pelicans are waiting to see if Chicago Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau will be available before starting their heading coach search. Thibodeau’s Bulls could be eliminated tonight and there’s talk he won’t return as Chicago’s coach.

Former LSU Tiger Odell Beckham has been voted to be on the cover of the EA Sports Maden NFL 16 video game. Beckham beat out Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski a in vote by the fans.