For the second time in four seasons, the LSU men’s basketball team heads into the NCAA Tournament with an interim coach. They made it to the Sweet 16 in 2019 without Will Wade who was suspended after his voice popped up on an FBI wiretap allegedly discussing financial payments to a recruit. Wade has now been fired for alleged recruiting violations, but interim coach Kevin Nickelberry is confident he and the staff can bring the team together under these circumstances as well….

Cut 20 (18) “….they want to be”

The Tigers face Iowa State on Friday night.

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It’s a big week for the Tigers on the diamond as well. They host 10-6 Tulane at the Box tonight before opening SEC play this weekend with a three-game series against Texas A&M. LSU has won four in a row and is ranked 16^th in the country by Baseball America. Tulane won the last meeting, 10-9, in April of 2018 and has taken five of six in a series that dates back to 1893.

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The New Orleans Saints met with Deshaun Watson Monday night, as they try to make a deal for the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback and Tuesday they suffered their first major loss in free agency as safety Marcus Williams agreed to a five-year, $70 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens. The team also restructured the deal of defensive lineman Marcus Davenport as the Saints work to get under the salary cap. So far, New Orleans is the only team in the league to not make a move in free agency.

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Coach Dennis Allen has added three more members to his coaching staff, as the Saints announced the hiring of Bob Bicknell as a senior offensive assistant, Sterling Moore joins the defensive staff, and Matt Clapp is in as the team’s new strength coach.

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Former LSU star Andrew Whitworth has decided to go out on top. After 16 seasons, four Pro Bowls, two All-Pro selections, and finally winning both the Walter Payton Man of the Year award and a Super Bowl championship this season, Whitworth is retiring from football. He spent 11 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before joining the Rams for the last five.

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The New Orleans Pelicans will be looking to close their four-game homestand with a split when they host the Phoenix Suns tonight at the Smoothie King Center. New Orleans won the last matchup 117-102 on February 25.

The Saints met with Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson on Monday night, according to reports. Houston will likely seek multiple first-round picks, and an established player or two, in exchange for the 28-year-old franchise QB. He’s scheduled to earn roughly $34 million per season over the next four years.  If the Saints acquire him, Rod Walker of The Advocate says they’re doing it to win a championship right now.

Cut 18 (13) “…worth it.”

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The Saints have also placed a second-round tender on restricted free agent receiver Deonte Harty, so if Harty signs an offer from another team, they will have the opportunity to either match or receive a second-round pick as compensation. Former LSU standout and five-time Pro Bowler Jarvis Landry has been released by the Cleveland Browns. In four seasons in Cleveland, Landry had 288 catches for more than 3500 yards and 15 touchdowns.

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Number three seed LSU will have to wait until Saturday for their NCAA opening-round matchup with Jackson State. By the time they tip-off, it will have been more than two weeks since the Tigers took the court. Coach Kim Mulkey says the rest vs rust debate isn’t something she had to consider during her time at Baylor.

Cut 19 (18) “…you play again.”

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Mike McConathy, a fixture at Northwestern State for the last 23 years, has announced his retirement as men’s head basketball coach. Over a 39-year career, he won 682 games with 330 of those coming with the Demons. Under McConathy, Northwestern State won two regular-season conference titles and made three trips to the NCAA tournament. The program has struggled of late…finishing below .500 six times in the last seven seasons.

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Tulane visits LSU at The Box tonight, and the Pelicans host the Phoenix Suns.

The Saints and Panthers are reportedly the two teams most interested in trading for Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson. The three-time pro bowl selection did not play last season, because of 22 civil lawsuits and ten criminal complaints were filed against him alleging inappropriate contact with massage therapists. The criminal charges have been dropped, clearing the way for Watson to play in 2022. Rod Walker with the Advocate Newspaper says if the Saints want to make a deal with the Texans it will cost them draft capital…
cut 17 (16) “…..like Deshaun”
The Saints are also reportedly interested in signing former LSU Tiger and Lutcher standout Jarvis Landry. The 29-year-old receiver was released by the Browns.

For the second time in four seasons, the LSU men’s basketball team heads into the NCAA Tournament with an interim coach. They made it to the Sweet 16 in 2019 without Will Wade who was suspended after his voice popped up on an FBI wiretap allegedly discussing financial payments to a recruit. Wade has now been fired for alleged recruiting violations, but interim coach Kevin Nickelberry is confident he and the staff can bring the team together under these circumstances as well….
cut 20 (18) “….they want to be”
The Tigers face Iowa State on Friday.

Northwestern State head coach Mike McConathy has announced his retirement after 23 seasons as the head coach of the Demons. McConathy won 330 games at Northwestern and posted another 352 victories at Bossier Parish Community College. McConathy also took Northwestern to the NCAA Tournament three times.

Assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry will lead LSU into battle when they start NCAA tournament play Friday against Iowa State…The Tigers are 20-12 this season and making their third consecutive tournament appearance. Nickelberry says the players were heartbroken when they learned of Will Wade’s firing Saturday, but they’ll be ready to play come game time.  He stressed that this is a unique situation, and a special opportunity for the Tigers.

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LSU baseball is back in the top five after collecting four wins over nonconference foes, according to Collegiate Baseball. The Tigers face Tulane tomorrow night before starting SEC play this weekend.

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The Saints are one of the teams in pursuit of Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.  According to reports the Saints and Panthers have made offers to Houston for Watson, who plans to meet with both teams over the next two days. The 28-year-old has four seasons remaining on his contract with an average payout of $34 million in salary and bonuses.

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After a 25-5 season, the LSU Lady Tigers are the three seed in the Spokane Region of the Women’s Basketball Tournament and will play Jackson State on Saturday in the PMAC. Kim Mulkey has led LSU to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018 and this is the first time since 2014 that the Lady Tigers will host first and second-round games.

Cut 18 (23) “…for the players.”

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After a 40-day retirement, Tom Brady has decided to return to the NFL for one more run. The 44-year old will be playing his 23^rd season, three short of the record held by George Blanda. Besides the teams in the NFC South, at least one other person is extremely disappointed by Brady’s return. What was supposed to be his final career touchdown ball sold for $518 thousand just hours before Brady announced his return.

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The NCAA tabbed LSU as a six-seed for the Men’s Tournament, but Will Wade will not be joining the Tigers in Milwaukee, where they will play 11^th-seeded Iowa State out of the Big 12 on Friday night. Assistant Kevin Nickleberry takes the reigns after Wade was terminated by LSU for alleged major recruiting violations within the program over a number of years. Nickelberry says the players were heartbroken when they learned of Wade’s firing, but they’ll be ready to play in the NCAA Tournament…

Cut 8 (11) “…with character.”

LSU has now advanced to three straight NCAA Tournaments, but the search for a new head coach will be impacted, just how much will depend on how harsh the NCAA is with its punishment.

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Good news on the diamond for LSU as they completed a three-game home sweep of the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats. The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 28-8 over the weekend, including a 15-0 shutout on Sunday. Four players had three RBI and Ma’Khail Hilliard struck out six over six scoreless innings as LSU improved to 13-3.

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Kim Mulkey and the LSU women’s basketball team are staying home for the start of the NCAA tournament. The P-MAC will host first and second-round contests for the first time in 8 years, with the third-seeded Tigers taking on Jackson State this Saturday. When Mulkey was the head coach at Baylor last season, her Lady Bears beat Jackson State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, so she’s familiar with them…

Cut 17 (19) “…with the score.”

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Without Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum, the Pelicans snapped their four-game losing streak with a 130-105 grounding of the Houston Rockets. Jonas Valanciunas led the way with 32 points and 10 rebounds in just 27 minutes. Rookie Jose Alvarado collected the first double-double of his career with 16 points and 10 assists. The Pels close out their four-game homestand against the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night.

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LSU is a six-seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, but head coach Will Wade will not bring them to the Big Dance. Wade was fired on Saturday for allegedly committing major recruiting violations that finally became public after a lengthy NCAA investigation. Assistant coach Kevin Nickelberry is serving as interim head coach…
Cut 7 (12) “…be here.”
The Tigers will face Iowa State on Friday night in Milwaukee in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Saints are reportedly interested in trading for Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson now that he’s been cleared of criminal charges following allegations of sexual misconduct stemming from massage therapy sessions. Watson still faces 22 civil lawsuits. The NFL Network reports the Saints and Panthers have made strong trade offers to Houston.

After a 25-5 season, the LSU Lady Tigers are the three seed in the Spokane Region of the Women’s Basketball Tournament and will host Jackson State on Saturday in Baton Rouge. Kim Mulkey and the team watched the unveiling of the bracket in the PMAC with hundreds of fans…
Cut 16 (18) “…the game.”

The Nicholls State University men’s basketball team is in the N-I-T for the first time in program history and the Colonels will visit top-seeded SMU on Wednesday.

Jonas Valanciunas scored 32 points last night as the Pelicans snapped their four-game losing streak last night with a 130 to 105 win over last-place Houston at the Smoothie King Center. New Orleans has a one-game lead over Portland for the final spot in the play-in tournament.

For the third time this season, the LSU men’s basketball team lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks as the Hogs eliminated the Tigers from the SEC Tournament with a 79-67 win in Tampa. The Razorbacks went on a 19-0 during the middle of this game to put the Tigers away, who will now wait to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They will be either a five or six seed.

The Louisiana Tech men’s and women’s basketball teams are in the Conference USA Tournament finals today playing for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The men’s squad scored just 42 points but still beat North Texas 42-36 yesterday. They will play a tired UAB team tonight in the championship game. The Blazers beat Middle Tennessee in three overtimes yesterday. The title game is tonight at 7:30.

The Lady Techsters will face Charlotte at 4:30 today in their first Conference USA finals appearance. The Lady Techsters rallied from 13 points down to defeat Middle Tennessee 80-72. La Tech has won a season-high six straight games.

The Nicholls Colonels won the Southland Conference regular-season title, but they were bounced last night in the semi-finals of the league’s conference tournament. Nicholls was just six of 20 from three-point territory and shot 36-percent from the field in a 71-64 loss to Texas A-and-M Corpus Christi.

The Islanders will face Southeastern Louisiana in tonight’s conference tournament championship game. The Lions dribbled past U-N-O 74 to 65 as Joe Kasperzyk came off the bench to score 19 points.

Grambling’s season ended yesterday with a 73-54 loss to Texas Southern.

The Pelicans lost their fourth straight last night as they were stung by the Charlotte Hornets 142 to 120. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum did not play, but Zion Williamson watched from the team’s bench.

Baseball. LSU beat Bethune Cookman eight to seven, Louisiana Tech trounced Houston Baptist 22 to 2. ULM outlasted Nicholls 10 to 8 in ten innings and Houston and the Cajuns were suspended at five a piece in the eighth inning yesterday.

For a third time this season, the LSU Tigers lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Hogs scored 50 points in the second half and the Bayou bengals couldn’t keep up and lost 79-67. Darius Days had a double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Tigers as a five seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Louisiana Tech is one win away from an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament as the Bulldogs won an ugly game over North Texas. The final score was 42-36. Tech shot just 29-percent from the field, but the Mean Green shot 24-percent. Two players finished in double figures for the Dunkin Dogs, Keaston Willis and Cobe Williams each had 12 points. The Conference USA Championship game is tomorrow night at 7:30.

In the Southland Tournament, top seeded Nicholls faces Texas A-and-M Corpus Christi, while UNO faces Southeastern Louisinana. The championship game is tomorrow.

In the SWAC Tournament, Grambling lost to Texas Southern today 73-54.

The Saints have reportedly restructured the contract of running back Alvin Kamara, saving the team eight million dollars in salary cap space. The team converted ten million dollars of Kamar’s salary into a signing bonuys.

And former Saints linebacker Craig Robertson has announced his retirement. Robertson played for New Orleans from 2016 to 2020. He did not play last season.

The LSU baseball team took game one of its three game series with Bethune Cookman eight to seven today. The Tigers trailed 6-2 in the fifth inning, but rallied back. Jacob Berry hit a two run homer run, Dylan Crews hit a solo shot and Brayden Jobert had the game winning hit in the seventh inning. Dylan Fontenot earned the win with 2.1 innings of shutout baseball.

The Pelicans face the Charlotte Hornets tonight, but CJ McCollum will not play as he’s in COVID protcol. Brandon Ingram is also out with a hamstring injury.

The LSU men’s basketball team will face Arkansas for a third time this season at 1:30 today in a quarterfinal matchup of the SEC Tournament. The Tigers took down Missouri yesterday 76-68 as Tari Eason had 19 points. It was LSU’s first game since we learned the program has received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA. Coach Will Wade says it has not been a distraction to his team…
cut 18 (14) “…with the investigation”
But Wade says he looks forward to commenting on the NCAA allegations in the future.

Louisiana Tech overcome a season-high 20 turnovers to beat Western Kentucky 59-57 last night to advance to the semifinals of the Conference USA Tournament. Kenneth Lofton Junior registered his 17th double-double, 15 points and 12 rebounds.

In the Southland, UNO eliminated McNeese 82-78 and in the SWAC Grambling edged Southern 60-58.

Because of the threat of rain tonight, the sixth-ranked LSU baseball team will begin its three-game series against Bethune Cookman at noon today. The Wildcats are 5-and-7 this season after not playing last year because of COVID. They were in a Regional in 2017. Tigers Coach Jay Johnson says Bethune Cookman has only hit three home runs, but they can score in other ways…
cut 20 (12) “….good opponent”
Blake Money will start on the mound today. Johnson has yet to name a starter for tomorrow and Sunday.

In other action today, the Cajuns host Houston for a 4 PM first pitch. U-L-M is at Nicholls, and Louisiana Tech hosts Houston Baptist.

Three state championship trophies will be handed out in Lake Charles at the boys high school basketball tournament. The Class B title game is tonight as Simsboro takes on Zwolle.

It is tournament time for basketball…in the LHSAA Boys Nonselect tournament, the field has narrowed as we approach the championships on Friday and Saturday at McNeese’s Burton Coliseum.

In Class 4A, Carver crushed Huntington, 84-35 to advance to the title game for the second consecutive season. Jaylon Hicks had a game-high 20 points to lead the Rams who will face McMain, the defending state champs in the final. The Mustangs defeated second-seeded Edna Karr, 52-41, paced by Alex Hammond’s 15 points.

Zachary will be making its second-straight appearance in the 5A title game after knocking off Ouachita, 75-60. Jordan DeCuir led the Broncos with 24 points. They will face the surprising Northshore Panthers, who will be making their first bid for a state crown after beating Walker 68-54 in the semis. James Bridges posted a double-double with 25 points and 10 boards for Northshore in the win.

Today’s semifinals will set up the championships for divisions 2A and 3A. Madison Prep advanced to the 3A championship game with a win over Donaldsonville. They will face Wossman on Saturday after the Wildcats got past Bossier. In the 2A semis, Amite takes on Lakeview and Rayville plays Port Allen.

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Moving from Marsh Madness to March Madness…Grambling is just 12-20 this season, but three of those wins have come over Southern, including today’s 60-58 upset of the Jags in the SWAC basketball tournament. Tra’Michael Moton nearly had a triple-double for the Tigers with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Grambling advances to face Texas Southern in the semifinals on Friday.

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LSU moves on to the SEC tournament quarterfinals after topping Missouri 76-68. Tari Eason led the Tigers with 19 points with Darius Days adding 16 more. They will face Arkansas Friday afternoon at 2 pm. McNeese faces UNO in the Southland tournament this evening, with top-seeded Nicholls and number two Southeastern off until tomorrow’s semifinals.

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The second-longest work stoppage in baseball’s history has finally come to an end. Major League Baseball and the Players Association have reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement after the owners locked out the players for 99-days. According to reports, spring training camps will open on Sunday, with teams able to sign free agents and make trades once again. Aside from the financial pieces of the negotiations, there are some on-field changes coming as well, including the adoption of the DH by the National League, a 12-team postseason, and advertising on jerseys and batting helmets.