What a 24 hours for LSU athletics. Speculation started yesterday morning that Joe Alleva was out as athletics director and that afternoon LSU announced that Alleva was transitioning to a new role. And it didn’t take long for the school to find Alleva’s successor. Texas A-and-M athletic director and Baton Rouge native Scott Woodward is reportedly heading back to his alma mater to replace Alleva. Glen Guilbeau covers LSU for the USA Today Network…
cut 14 (12) “….Scott”
The Saints will open the 2019 season by hosting Houston on Monday night football. It begins a difficult September for the Black and Gold. After the Texans, New Orleans will visit the Rams and Seahawks and finish the month hosting Dallas on Sunday night football.

LSU is set to begin a three-game series tonight against Florida and there’s good news on the injury front. Coach Paul Mainieri says he’s been told Zack Hess, Zach Watson and Chris Reid could return from injury and play in this series…
cut 16 (14) “…three weeks”
LSU is not sure if Hess will start on the mound tonight, but could come in as a reliever.

New Pelicans executive vice president David Griffen is not closing the door on Anthony Davis remaining in New Orleans. Griffen says he plans to sit down and talk with Davis and the conversation will not be very complicated…
cut 19 (11) “…looks like”
Griffen says he’s already spoken with Davis’ agent and there’s an excitement about what could be built in New Orleans.

LSU announces Joe Alleva is transitioning out of his role as athletic director to a new role as special assistant to the president for donor relations. Alleva has been the school’s A-D since 2008, but Tiger Rag Editor James Moran says he’s leaves as a widely unpopular figure….
Cut 12 (10) “…in charge”
Alleva’s popularity began to take a hit with the attempted firing of Les Miles as head football coach towards the end of the 2015 season. It got worse for Alleva when basketball coach Will Wade was suspended in early March.

David Griffin was introduced today as the new Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations. During the press conference, Griffin said that head coach Alvin Gentry will return next season and he believes there’s a chance Anthony Davis could also return, despite his demand for a trade during the regular season.

Tonight, the NFL will release the schedule for all 32 teams, but there have been plenty of leaks and it’s been reported New Orleans will kick off the 2019 regular season by hosting Houston on Monday night football. It’s one of four primetime games for the Black and Gold. New Orleans will also host Dallas for Sunday night football during week four. Visit the Falcons on Thanksgiving night and host the Colts for Monday night football during Week 15. The Saints and Rams NFC championship game rematch will be week 2 in L-A.

Great come from behind win for UL-Lafayette last night as the Cajuns defeated the Tigers six to five thanks to two home runs in the eighth inning. Orynn Veillon and Handsome Monica went back-to-back and Jacob Schultz threw four shutout innings of relief. The Cajuns now travel to U-T Arlington, who leads the Sun Belt’s Western Division.

LSU gets ready to host Florida for a series that starts tomorrow. Coach Paul Mainieri says there’s a chance Zack Hess can pitch, even though he injured his groin in his last start.

Back to back jacks from Cajun hitters in the eighth inning resulted in a six to five win for UL-Lafayette over 15th ranked LSU in the Wally Pontiff Classic. The Cajuns trailed by two runs heading into the eighth inning, but Orynn Veillon blasted a two-run homer to tie the game and then two pitches later, Handsome Monica hit a monster shot to give UL-Lafayette a six-five lead. Both home runs were hit off LSU reliever Trent Vietmeier, while Cajuns right-hander Jacob Schultz threw four shutout innings of relief for his first win of the year. Cade Beloso drove in four runs for the Tigers.

Louisiana Tech blanked ULM five to nothing as five pitchers combined on the shutout, the second of the season for the Bulldogs. Steele Netterville homered and drove in two runs.

S-L-U outscored McNeese 12 to 3. Connor Manola and Evan Pace homered. And Grambling defeated Mississippi Valley nine to seven.

The Pelicans will introduce their new Vice President of Basketball Operations today, David Griffin. He helped the Cavaliers win an NBA title. And we’ll probably find out soon on whether he plans to retain Alvin Gentry as head coach.

The NFL will release its regular season schedule for 2019 tonight at seven. We know who the Black and Gold will play next season, we just don’t know the dates and times. The Saints will play their NFC South Rivals twice and they’ll also host the Cardinals, 49ers, Texans, Colts and Cowboys. New Orleans will travel to Chicago, Tennessee, Seattle, Jacksonville and Los Angeles in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship game.

Two La Tech football games have been moved to Friday. Tech’s Conference USA home opener against F-I-U will now take place on Friday September 20th and the Bulldogs trip to Marshall will be on November 15th.

And longtime Northwestern State sports information director Doug Ireland has announced his retirement.

Tonight LSU and U-L Lafayette continue their baseball rivalry when the two teams meet at the Shrine on Airline in Metairie for the Wally Pontiff Junior Classic. The Cajuns are 19-and-20, but are coming off a series victory over South Alabama. LSU is coming off a series loss to Missouri. Three position players went down with injuries during the series, Zach Watson, Chris Reid and Hal Hughes. They are not expected to play tonight. First pitch is at 7.

Louisiana Tech looks to start a new winning streak tonight when they visit ULM. The Bulldogs 10-game winning streak was snapped on Sunday at F-A-U. It was there first loss since losing to ULM 9-4 on March 26th. That was ULM’s first win over the Bulldogs in 12 years.

Also tonight, Southeastern Louisiana is at McNeese in a nonconference. Grambling hosts Mississippi Vallen State, Alcorn State is at Southern and Tulane travels to UNO.

The NFL will release its regular season schedule for 2019 tomorrow night at 7 Pm. We already know who the Black and Gold will play next season, we just don’t know the dates and times. The Saints are set to play a home and home series against their NFC South Rivals and they’ll also host the Cardinals, 49ers, Texans, Colts and Cowboys. New Orleans will travel to Chicago, Tennessee, Seattle, Jacksonville and Los Angeles in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship game.

Two Louisiana Tech football games have been moved to Friday. Tech’s Conference USA home opener against F-I-U will now take place on Friday September 20th and the Bulldogs visit to Marshall will be played on November 15th instead.

The Pelicans will introduce their new executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin tomorrow during a press conference set for 12:45.

And Former Pelicans Center DeMarcus Cousins could miss the rest of the season after an M-R-I has revealed he tore his left quad in the Warriors loss to the Clippers last season.

The 16th annual Wally Pontiff Junior Foundation Classic is tonight between the 15th ranked Tigers and the Cajuns. Center fielder Zach Watson, second baseman Hal Hughes and third baseman Chris Reid are expected to miss the game because of injuries. So LSU might only have 11 position players available. The Cajuns are 19-and-20 on the year, but they are coming off a series victory over South Alabama. First pitch in Metairie is at 7.

Louisiana Tech saw its 10-game winning streak end on Sunday with a loss to Florida Atlantic. The Bulldogs, who are ranked 21st in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball, will try to start another streak tonight against ULM. The Warhawks beat Tech 9-4 in Ruston earlier this year.

Also tonight…Southeastern visits McNeese for a nonconference game. Tulane travels to UNO, and Grambling hosts Mississippi Valley.

Tomorrow night, the NFL will release its regular season schedule for 2019.

The injury bug has really caught up with the 15th ranked LSU baseball team as they face the Ragin Cajuns tonight in Metairie. The Tigers will be without three starting position players tonight, center fielder Zach Watson, third baseman Chris Reid and second baseman Hal Hughes. Reid has a hamstring injury, while Watson has a groin injury that’s worse than the injury afflicting Reid. And Hughes has a injured hand that will keep him out at least a week. Also, starting pitcher Zack Hess may have to miss the upcoming series against Florida, because of a groin injury.

Tonight’s game against the Cajuns begins at 7 PM in the 16th annual Wally Pontiff Junior Classic. Louisiana is coming off its third Sun Belt Series victory and the Cajuns beat the Tigers 3 to 1 last year.

Also tonight, Louisiana Tech is at ULM. The Bulldogs have won 10 of their last 11 since losing to ULM in Ruston on March 26th.

In the NBA playoffs last night, former LSU Tiger Ben Simmons had a triple double as the 76ers cut down the Brooklyn Nets 145 to 123 to even their series at one game a piece. Simmons had 18 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

The Los Angeles Clippers came back from 31 points down to stun the Golden State Warriors 135 to 131. Former LSU Tiger Garret Temple had seven points. That series is evened up at one game a piece. The Warriors are concerned former Pelican DeMarcus Cousins tore his left quad muscle.

Seawhawks quarterback Russell Wilson is now the NFL’s highest paid player after he reportedly agreed to a four-year, 140 million dollar contract extension.

Former LSU pitcher Aaron Nola gave up five runs in four innings as the Mets defeated the Phillies seven to six in 11 innings.

And Alabama Coach Nick Saban will visit the Grambling State campus on May 7th for an hour-long Q-and-A session as part of the celebration commemorating Eddie Robinson’s 100th birthday.

Sunday will go down as one of the greatest sports days of all time, with Tiger Woods winning his first Masters in 14 years. The day also marked the return of Will Wade as LSU’s basketball coach. The university released a statement Sunday night saying that Wade has been reinstated after he answered all questions and denied any wrongdoing in connection with recently reported allegations of irregularities in college basketball recruiting. Alleva also says the coach’s explanations and clarifications offered during the meeting, absent actual evidence of misconduct, satisfy his contractual obligation.

Will Wade released his own statement that said he’s humbled and grateful to be back at LSU.

Meanwhile, rough weekend in Columbia, Missouri for the LSU baseball team as they lost two of three to Mizzou. Zack Hess, Zach Watson and Chris Reid went down with injuries during the three-game set.
Louisiana Tech’s 10-game winning streak ended last night as Florida Atlantic defeated the Bulldogs 11-3. The loss drops Tech’s record to 24-11 overall, 10-5 in Conference USA. They are two games out of first place.
Tulane has a six-game winning streak as the Green Wave completed a sweep of South Florida with a 6-4 win on Sunday at Turchin Stadium. Frankie Neimann drove in three runs.
The Ragin Cajuns took two of three from South Alabama. Yesterday, U-L Lafayette hit three home runs for a four to one win. ULM was swept by Appalachian State in a rain shortened series.

Southeastern Louisiana took two of three from Northwestern State. The Lions are one game back in the loss column for first place in the Southland behind Sam Houston.

The LSU Tigers, who are in a three-way tie for first place in the SEC West, begins a three-game set against Missouri tonight. Mizzou has the lowest team ERA in the SEC at 2.77. Missouri is scheduled to start a left handed pitcher tonight and another one tomorrow. Junior centerfielder Zach Watson has been the most consistent right-handed bat in the line-up and knows left-hander hitters in LSU’s line-up can handle all of these southpaws…
Cut 18 (19) get to see more”
Zach Hess will start for the Tigers. He’s 2-and-2 with a 3.71 ERA.

LSU athletics director Joe Alleva and suspended basketball coach Will Wade were scheduled to meet. No word on whether progress was made towards reinstated Wade as the Tigers head basketball coach.

La Tech begins a huge series at Florida Atlantic tonight. The Owls are in first place in Conference USA with an 11-and-1 record. Tech is 8-and-4 and they’ve lost just one league game since they were swept by Southern Miss in the opening weekend of conference play. Bulldogs Coach Lane Burroughs credits good starting pitching…
Cut 19 (17) “came out”
Tech goes into the series with an eight-game winning streak, while the Owls have won seven in a row.

ULM has won four in a row and they are at Appalachian State. After losing two midweek games, the Ragin Cajuns host South Alabama.

In the Southland…Northwestern State is at Southeastern Louisiana, Nicholls host Incarnate Word and UNO is at McNeese.

Will Wade meets with LSU and NCAA officials today in the first official meeting between the groups since the basketball coach was suspended because of an FBI wire tap scandal. Tiger Rag assistant editor Tyler Nunez says the meeting could lead to Wade’s reinstatement….
Cut 7 (09) “…a week.”
And five players from the SEC championship team have declared for the NBA draft. But some of the players could return, if they decide their game is not ready for the NBA. And Darius Days announced today that he is coming back for his sophomore season.

Saints Coach Sean Payton has had enough of the rumor that he will one day become the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. During an interview on WWL Radio, Payton said he’s got Fleur-de-lis tattoos that can’t be erased. Payton was an assistant head coach of the Cowboys from 2003 to 2005. Dallas head coach Jason Garrett is entering his final season.

The 8th ranked LSU baseball team begins another SEC Series on the road tonight when they take on the Missouri Tigers at 6:30 PM. Missouri has the top ERA in the SEC, but the Tigers could get one of their top hitters back . Daniel Cabrera has missed the last seven games with a wrist injury, but coach Paul Mainieri says Cabrera should be ready to go tonight.

Louisiana Tech brings an eight-game winning streak to Boca Raton, Florida when they face Conference USA leader Florida Atlantic. Bulldogs Coach Lane Burroughs is looking forward to see how his team battles the Owls…
cut 20 (20) “…quality opponent”
F-A-U is 11-and-1 in Conference, while Tech is 8-and-4. First pitch tonight is at 5:30 and it’s the first time the two teams will play each other since 2014.

Suspended basketball coach Will Wade will meet with LSU today for the first time since the transcript of an FBI wirtetap was published by Yahoo Sports that reportedly had Wade discussing a strong offer with a recruiting middleman. At first Wade declined to talk with LSU, because he was subpoenaed to testify in an upcoming college basketball corruption trial. But Wade might not have to testify now. Assistant Tiger Rag Editor Tyler Nunez says that’s good news for Wade…
cut 8 (09) “….happen”
Meanwhile, there are now five players from last season’s SEC Championship team that have declared from the NBA draft. Freshman guard Javonte Smart and freshman forward Emmit Williams made their intentions known. But rules allow these players to return to school, even if they hire an agent.

After scoring just two runs in a loss to Southern on Tuesday, the 8th ranked LSU baseball team begins a weekend series with Missouri tonight. Mizzou has the top ERA in the SEC. Right fielder Antoine Duplantis says they have swung the bats well in SEC play and he hopes that continues in the Show Me State…
cut 17 (17) “..this weekend”