SEC presidents unanimously approved a new rule to block any former pros from playing for an SEC school, including ex-NFL LSU commits Dae’Quan Wight and Zxavian Harris and former NBA signee RJ Luis. Tiger Rag executive editor Todd Horne expects that rule to also be taken to court.

Cut 3 (13) “…we’ve learned that.”

The LSU and Baton Rouge community gathered in the P-MAC last night to celebrate the life of legendary coach Skip Bertman. One of his top pitchers, Ben McDonald, recalled seeing Bertman in the hospital shortly before his passing.

Cut 8 (16) “…see Coach Bertman.”

LSU announced senior center Braelin Moore was honored with number 18 for the Tigers this season. The number annually goes to a player who best displays leadership on the team. As an offensive lineman, he will not switch from his number 61 jersey number but will wear an 18 patch on his jersey. Senior linebacker Whit Weeks and junior tight end Trey’Dez Green will both wear number seven.

LSU brought in nine new transfers in the receiver room, and players and coaches have not confirmed a top target to emerge. Florida Transfer Tre Wilson will likely be in the initial top four, but he says the competition is still wide open.

Cut 18 (11) “…watch for sure.”

Louisiana Tech announced updates to its future football schedule. The Bulldogs will open next season at Kansas, the 2028 campaign at Texas and 2029 at Alabama in three August kickoffs. Tech also scheduled a 2029 game against Mississippi State as well as home games against Mississippi Valley State in 2028 and Central Arkansas in 2029.

One of LSU’s top basketball signees, 2025 Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis, was granted a preliminary injunction to play for the Tigers this season. Luis declared for the 2025 NBA Draft and signed two professional contracts, but he will be allowed to return to college basketball. One of his attorneys, Elliot Abrams, told WBRZ in Baton Rouge that the NCAA’s rule against pro compensation that used to protect amateurism is arbitrary.

Cut 4 (11) “…to reason.”

The ruling was not related to the lawsuits that allow fifth-year players to return under the new five-for-five eligibility model and is bringing ex-NFL players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavien Harris to LSU.

The Big Ten unanimously approved a new conference rule to not allow any former pro football players to play at any member school. The other Power Four conferences are considering a similar rule, including the SEC.

Saints head coach Kellen Moore confirmed that running back Ty Chandler will miss the season with a knee injury. New Orleans traded for 49ers running back Zamir White, who Moore says fits the offense well.

Cut 17 (11) “…it’ll be good.”

The Saints play their final preseason game versus the Cowboys on Friday.

LSU is less than two weeks out from its season opener versus Clemson, and despite both of the Tigers’ lead running backs returning, a new face will likely take the first carry. Wisconsin transfer Dilin Jones has practiced with the first-team. He says he came to LSU for competition and the whole running back room has improved this offseason.

Cut 21 (13) “…hit the hole.”

LSU basketball is signing another overseas pro, 7-foot-3 Israeli center Gilad Levy. The 24-year-old played in the Spanish pro league last season, averaging less than two points and two rebounds in about five and a half minutes a game in his 18 appearances.

Yesterday, a Baton Rouge judge granted another LSU signee RJ Luis a preliminary injunction allowing him to return to college basketball after signing two NBA and G League contracts. Luis’s attorney, Elliot Abrams, told WBRZ in Baton Rouge that with N-I-L and revenue sharing allowing schools to pay athletes directly, the NCAA is now a professional sports league.

Cut 3 (12) “…cries wolf.”

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that the Big Ten is passing a rule to ban former pros from playing for a Big Ten school, and the SEC is considering a similar rule.

A Celebration of Life for LSU legend Skip Bertman will be held in the P-MAC tonight at 7 with doors opening to the public at 6. Former LSU pitcher Doug Thompson says LSU fans are known for showing up for their teams, and he hopes that the PMAC is bursting at the seams with Tiger fans honoring Bertman.

Cut 8 (08) “…we’re so unique.”

The ceremony will also be broadcast on ESPN-plus and the SEC Network.

One of the former NFL players to commit to LSU is ex-Saints undrafted free agent Zxavien Harris. Head coach Kellen Moore’s brother, Kirby,  is the head coach at Washington State, and he says the slew of lawsuits giving players a fifth season of eligibility puts coaches in a bind.

Cut 18 (17) “…developed here shortly.”

LSU received another commitment from a former NFL training camp player looking to come back to college football. All-SEC Ole Miss D-tackle Zxavien Harris was waived by the Saints this preseason after going undrafted and is now coming to LSU. He joins tight end Dae’Quan Wright as another standout under Lane Kiffin last season, hoping to come back for a fifth year of college eligibility thanks to the ruling of a Baton Rouge judge. Kiffin says he does not think pro players should come back to college but this is an unprecedented situation.

Cut 21 (15) “…fifth year.”

The Patriots are trading former LSU receiver Kayshon Boutte to the Texans for safety Jaylen Reed and a 2028 seventh-round pick. Another ex-Tiger, linebacker Deion Jones, was traded by the Saints to the 49ers for running back Zamir White. Jones just signed with New Orleans earlier this month.

The Saints have been hit by the injury bug hard this preseason. New Orleans returned from a disastrous 34-0 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in their second preseason game Saturday and over 20 Saints were not at practice. Cornerback Rejzhon Wright was placed on injured reserve as he undergoes hip surgery, and running back Ty Chandler is feared to have suffered a severe knee injury.

Tulane announced that Madison Prep product Zeon Chriss-Gremillion will start at quarterback to open the season against Duke. The redshirt senior started his college career at UL Lafayette and spent the last two seasons at Houston.

Grambling head coach Mickey Joseph has yet to name a starter at QB for the Tigers’ season opener Saturday.

Former LSU quarterbacks Max Johnson and Michael Van Buren were each named starters. Johnson will start for Georgia Southern in his seventh college football season, and Van Buren earned the number one spot at South Florida.

Louisiana Tech women’s basketball coach Brooke Stoehr has agreed to a contract extension to stay in Ruston through the 2030-2031 season. She led the Lady Techsters to a 26-and-7 season last year.

LSU received a commitment from Notre Dame edge rusher Junior Tuihalamaka. The 23-year-old was one of the class of 2022 players who received a fifth year of eligibility from a temporary restraining order granted by a Baton Rouge judge. He started three games for the Irish each of the last two seasons and recorded four total sacks, 61 tackles and nine tackles for loss in 28 games.

He joins an edge room featuring Ole Miss transfer Princewill Umanmielen, Tennessee transfer Jordan Ross and five-star freshman Lamar Brown. Coach Lane Kiffin says Umanmielen has been impressive during camp so far.

Cut 18 (19) “…get him down.”

Umanmielen had nine sacks as a Rebel last season.

Class of 2022 college athletes who are looking to return for a fifth season are now ineligible thanks to the NCAA’s stay request approved by the U.S. 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals. Any athletes included in individual injunctions or temporary restraining orders like the one granted in Baton Rouge on Wednesday are still eligible, but all other players will have to wait on further hearings.

Louisiana Tech’s touchdown leader from a season ago, running back Andrew Burnette, was one of the players included in the order, and he has returned to practice with the Bulldogs. Head coach Sonny Cumbie says he’s glad to have him back.

Cut 21 (11) “…to be here.”

Burnnette and the other plaintiffs, including LSU commit Junior Tuihalamaka and former Tiger Jack Pyburn, are awaiting an August 31 hearing to decide if their eligibility will become permanent. Pyburn’s path back to college football may be more difficult than Burnette and Tuihalamaka’s because he, like many others in the case, already signed an NFL contract.

ULM received an over 2-million-dollar grant from the Louisiana Department of Health to expand its health science offerings. The funding comes through the Rural Transformation Project, hoping to provide more educated medical professionals to rural hospitals. Dr. Wendy Bailes, the dean of the ULM College of Health Sciences, says one of the three initiatives of the grant is to increase nursing school enrollment.

Cut 7 (08) “…students per year.”

Beginning July 1, DCFS raised foster care board rate payments from 600 to 900-dollars a month, but stopped reimbursing families for incidental expenses. Danielle Eley cares for three children, and she says those reimbursements help pay for a lot.

Cut 10 (11) “…theater.”

Eley’s testimony helped Covington lawmakers convince DCFS Secretary Rebecca Harris to bring back the reimbursements for the remainder of this fiscal year.

LSU fifth-year senior offensive guard Bo Bordelon has earned his starting spot after four seasons as a backup. The son of former standout Tigers lineman Ben Bordelon, Bo says he had to earn his starting job after asking Lane Kiffin and his coaching staff for a fresh start. He made the switch from right tackle to left guard and put on extra weight this offseason and says his new offensive line coaches have made a big difference.

Cut 14 (13) “…what I want.”

The U.S. 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the NCAA’s stay request against the ruling giving all class of 2022 athletes a fifth year of eligibility. Any athletes looking to return are now ineligible until an expedited appeal hearing unless they have been granted another state-level injunction or temporary restraining order like the one issued by a Baton Rouge judge on Wednesday. That order was granted to over 30 college athletes, many of whom played at Louisiana colleges, including former LSU defensive end Jack Pyburn.