LSU baseball Coach Jay Johnson has named Thatcher Hurd as the Tigers starting pitcher on opening day against VMI. Hurd was the winning pitcher in the College World Series championship game and was outstanding in the postseason last year. Alabama transfer Luke Holman will start game two. Johnson is holding off on naming a starter for Sunday’s game.

The Pelicans play their final game tonight before the All-Star break as they host the Washington Wizards. New Orleans is coming off a three and one road trip. Meanwhile, Washington is just 9-and-44, so a good chance for the Pels wto win their 33rd game of the season. Tip off is at 7 PM.

The Saints will reportedly hire former Chargers running backs coach Derrick Foster as their new running backs coach. Foster worked with Austin Ekeler and helped him score 44 total touchdowns during a three year period.

And Broncos coach Sean Payton has officially named former Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael as a senior offensive assistant in Denver.

The LHSAA girls basketball playoffs get underway tonight. In non-select. here are your top seeds….Walker, Wossman, Rosepine, Arcadia and Hicks. In select….Huntington, Lafayette Christian, Dunham, Southern Lab and Oak Hill. The state championship games will take place on March 1st and second in Hammond.

The LSU men’s basketball team rallied back from 20 points down against Florida last night, but came up a little short and fell to the Gators 82-80. Jordan Wright had a great chance at tying the game, but his floater in the lane bounced off the rim. The Tigers have lost six of their last seven.

Angel Reese has been named SEC Women’s Basketball player of the week for a tenth time.

Men’s basketball tomorrow…The Ragin Cajuns are at Old Dominion, ULM visits Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech will look to snap a two-game losing streak when they host Jacksonville State.