Dejounte Murray is happy to be in New Orleans after the Pelicans sent five players and two future first round picks to Atlanta to get the point guard to New Orleans. Murray met with the media on Tuesday and says he feels at home with the Pels because everyone matches his level of competitiveness…
cut 17 (18) “….as a person”
Murray says he’s looking forward to playing with Zion Williamson.

The NBA has reportedly finalized new TV contracts with new partners, NBC and Amazon. ESPN will also continue to broadcast NBA games as part of the new 11-year, 76-billion dollar contract. TNT sports is out, but they could attempt to match. Analysts say they could try to outbid Amazon.

The 2024 ESPY Awards are tomorrow night. Former Saints standout Steve Gleason will receive the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels is up for Best Male College Athlete, Haleigh Bryant for Best Female Athlete. The Pelicans Zion Williamson is a nominee for Best Comeback Athlete.

64 Analytics ranks LSU’s transfer portal class as the best in the nation and the latest addition is Daniel Dickinson, who had two standout seasons at Utah Valley University. This past season Dickinson hit .367 with 18 home runs and 53 RBIs. He also set the school’s single season record with 32 stolen bases.

LSU has also announced the baseball team will participate in the Frisco College Baseball Classic in Frisco, Texas from February 28th to March 2nd. The other three teams at the tournament are Nebraska, Kansas State and Sam Houston. The games will be played at the Texas Rangers Double-A ballpark and tickets can be purchased at Frisco-classic-dot-com.

LSU continued to add to its highly thought of transfer portal class by adding one of the top hitters in college baseball. Utah Valley University second baseman Daniel Dickinson committed to the Tigers on Tuesday after hitting .367 with 18 home runs and 53 RBIs in 2024. He set the Wolverines single season stolen base record with 32. In two seasons at UVU, Dickinson slugged .631 which is the highest career slugging percentage in school history. He’s currently playing this summer for the U.S. Collegiate National Team and could be a first round pick in the 2025 M-L-B Draft.

Former LSU Tiger Alex Bregman homered for the 11th time last night and drove in three runs as the Astros edged the Florida Marlins four to three. Houston has won 14 of its last 18.

Former LSU Tiger Josh Smith also homered last night and had three hits as the Rangers topped the Los Angeles Angels five to four. Smith’s average is now up .296.

The Pelicans brass are very excited about the acquisition of Dejounte Murray. The one-time All-Star averaged 22 points, six assists and five rebounds a game last season for the Atlanta Hawks.

Head Coach Willie Green says he’s always admired Murray’s performance on- and off-court. He believes Murray has a role to play for the Pels as a point guard and as a mentor, and he says what Murray brings is good for the team’s play, conduct, and bond.
Cut 18 (10) “…whole career.”
In exchange for Murray, the Pelicans gave Atlanta Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell, Larry Nance Jr., Cody Zeller, and two future first-round picks.

The McNeese and U-L Lafayette men’s basketball teams are playing in the U-S Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. McNeese will play Illinois State on November 22nd, while the Cajuns will take on Liberty. There’s a chance the Cowboys and Cajuns can play each other on the final day of the tournament on November 25th.

LSU baseball has landed a commitment from a player out of the transfer portal that could be a high draft pick in the 2025 Major League Baseball draft. Utah Valley second baseman Daniel Dickinson put up huge numbers for the Wolverines last season, hitting .367 with 18 home runs and he set a U-V-U record for 32 stolen bases in a season. He played for two seasons for the Wolverines and leaves the program as the all-time leader in slugging percentage at .631.

The Louisiana Sports Writers Association named LSU third baseman Tommy White as the collegiate hitter of the year in Louisiana in 2024. LSU right-hander Luke Holman the pitcher of the year, LSU second baseman Steven Milam is the freshman of the year and LSU-Eunice’s Jeff Willis is the coach of the Year. The Bengals won their eighth division two national junior college championship.

Former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels has been named the SEC Male Athlete of the Year. Former Tiger Dylan Crews won the award last year. Joe Burrow, Xavier Carter, Walter Davis and Shaquille O’ Neal are other past winners from LSU.

Louisiana Tech has announced the hiring of Jake Wells as a new assistant coach for the Bulldogs baseball team. Wells will be the Diamond Dogs hitting coach and recruiting coordinator. He previously coached at Tech in 2015 and 2016 and also spent five seasons as a U-L Lafayette assistant.

U-S Senator John Kennedy’s office announced today that McNeese State has been awarded one-point-two million dollars in FEMA grant money to help pay for lighting at Cowboy Stadium. McNeese had to replace its lights after Hurricane Laura.

The McNeese and U-L Lafayette men’s basketball teams are playing in the U-S Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Bracket. It was announced today that McNeese will play Illinois State on November 22nd, while the Cajuns will take on Liberty. There’s a chance the Cowboys and Cajuns play each other on the final day of the tournament on November 25th.

LSU superstar gymnast Olivia Dunne has announced she’s coming back for her fifth and final season with the Tigers in 2025. Dunne makes millions of dollars through her NIL deals, but wanted to spend one more season wearing a purple and gold leotard…
cut 20 (20) “….Dunne yet”
Dunne suffered through injuries in 2023, but was healthy in 2024 and was a contributor on floor and bars for the national champion Tigers.

SEC football media days are next week and the Tigers have announced who will join Brian Kelly in Dallas. They are quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, linebacker Harold Perkins and tight end Mason Smith. LSU will be the first team featured at SEC Media days on Monday morning.

Westgate football star Jaboree Antonie will announce on July 20th his commitment. Antoine is considered one of the top cornerbacks in the country and his three finalists are LSU, Florida State and Miami. Antoine recently decommitted from LSU, leaving the Tigers with zero defensive backs for its 2025 class.

Grambling State right-handed pitcher Jeremiah Newman has entered the transfer portal. Newman had one of his better performances in the season against Texas A-and-M in the Regional.

The Pelicans need big guys that can play center and the team has reportedly signed 32-year-old Daniel Theis (Tice) to a one year deal. Theis averaged six points and four rebounds in 59 games for the Los Angeles Clippers. He will compete for Germany in the upcoming Summer Olympics.

LSU gymnast Haleigh Bryant has been named as the top female amateur athlete in Louisiana by the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Bryant won the NCAA individual all-around title in April, becoming the second LSU gymnast to ever do so and her score of 39.7125 helped LSU win a national title.

He’s only ten starts into his Major League Baseball career, but former LSU star Paul Skenes is already an M-L-B All Star. The big right-hander for the Pirates learned of the achievement after yesterday’s game against the Mets…
cut 16 (09) “…guys”
Former Northwestern State All-American David Fry is also headed to the M-L-B All-star game. Fry is enjoying a breakout season with the Guardians as he’s hitting .305 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs.

Shreveport native Seth Lugo is going to the All-Star game for the first time. The 34-year-old is 11-3 with a 2.21 ERA for the Kansas City Royals this season.

And Skenes’s girlfriend, Olivia Dunne, has announced she’s returning for her final season at LSU. Dunne competed on bars and floor for the Tigers national championship squad last season. Dunne is also one of the highest NIL earners in college athletics.

Next week is SEC Football Media Days. Coach Brian Kelly along with Garrett Nussmeier, Harold Perkins and Mason Taylor will help kick-off the four day even in Dallas on Monday. The Tigers will report for training camp July 31st. September first is the season opener against USC.

The Pelicans need big men and they signed one today. Daniel Theis (Tice) has signed a one year deal with the Pels after playing in 59 games for the Clippers as a backup last season. The 32-year-old averated six points and four rebounds a game and he’ll play for Germany in the Olympics.

Pelicans guard Jose Alvardo helped Puerto Rico clinch a spot in the Olympics. He scored 23 points in a 79-68 win over Lithuania yesterday. It’s the first time the Puerto Rico men’s basketball team has qualified for the Olympics since 2004.

And former LSU basketball player Duop Reath will once again play for team Australia. Reath played for Australia, which won a Bronze medal in 2021.

Three baseball players with ties to Louisiana have been named Major League Baseball All-Stars. Former LSU All-America Paul Skenes has made just ten starts with the Pirates, but he’s been dominant in every one of them and is a National League All-Star team. Shreveport native Seth Lugo is also an All-Star. The veteran right-hander is having the best season of his career in Kansas City. Former Northwestern State All-American David Fry is also headed to the All-Star game. Fry is hitting .305 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs for the Cleveland Guardians.

Edge rusher Damien Shanklin from Indianapolis announced his commitment to the LSU Tigers over the Fourth of July weekend. 2-4-7-sports has Shanklin ranked as the 48th best player in the country out of Warren Central High School. Shanklin chose the Tigers over Alabama and Ohio State. LSU’s 2025 class now features two of the top edge rushers in the country, Shanklin and Jesse Harrold from Tampa.

Former LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese continues to make W-N-B-A history. She collected her 13th straight double-double last night, passing Hall of Famer Candace Parker for most consecutive double-doubles in W-N-B-A history. The Bayou Barbie had 17 points and 14 rebounds in the Chicago Sky’s 84-71 loss to the Seattle Storm.

Four former Ragin Cajun softball players have made the decision to follow Garry Glasco to Texas Tech. They are the 2024 Sun Belt Player of the Year Mihyia Davis, second-team All Sun Selection Chloe Riassetto, Lauren Allred and Victoria Valdez.

The Pelicans have reportedly signed free agent center Daniel Thies (Tice). The 32-year-old has seven years of NBA experience and last season averaged six points and four rebounds a game for the Clippers. He’ll play for Germany in the Summer Olympics.

Pelicans guard Jose Alvardo has helped Puerto Rico clinch a spot in the Olympics. He scored 23 points in a 79-68 win over Lithuania. It’s the first time Puerto Rico has had a men’s basketball team in the Olympics since 2004.

Former LSU All-American pitcher Paul Skenes has been in the Major Leagues for only eight weeks and he’s already an M-L-B All-Star. Skenes was named to the National League All-Star team despite only ten career starts.

Skenes’ becomes the first player to be selected number one overall in the MLB draft and make the All-Star team the following season. He’s 5-0 on the year with a 2.12 ERA and has 78 strikeouts in 59.1 innings pitched.

Skenes has at least seven strikeouts in nine of his first ten starts, which is a Major League Record.

Shreveport native Seth Lugo is also a Major League Baseball All-Star. The veteran right-hander is having the best season of his career in his first season in Kansas City. He’s 11-3 with a 2.21 ERA.

Former Northwestern State All-American David Fry is also headed to the Major League Baseball All-STar game. Fry is hitting .305 with eight home runs and 33 RBIs for the Cleveland Guardians.

A former LSU Eunice pitcher has committed to LSU. Connor Benge was 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA at Dallas Baptist this past season. He struck out 35 in 33 innings. In 2023, Benge was a third-team All-American at LSU-E as he had a 2.82 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 70.1 innings pitched.

Former LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese continues to make W-N-B-A history. She collected her 13th straight double-double last night, passing Hall of Famer Candace Parker for most consecutive double-doubles in W-N-B-A history. The Bayou Barbie had 17 points and 14 rebounds in the Chicago Sky’s 84-71 loss to the Seattle Storm.

The Pelicans officially announced the trade that sends Dejounte Murray to New Orleans from Atlanta in exchange for Dyson Daniels, E-J Liddell, Larry Nance Junior, Cody Zeller and two first round picks. Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations David Griffen calls Murray one of the best two-way guards in the NBA.

Friday was a very productive day on the recruiting trail for the LSU football program as they landed two recruits, including a Top 100 player from Indianapolis.

Edge rusher Damien Shanklin announced his commitment to the Tigers on Friday afternoon. 2-4-7-sports has Shanklin ranked as the 48th best player in the country out of Warren Central High School. He’s ranked as the top player in Indiana. He’s six-foot-four, 230 pounds and he chose the Tigers over Alabama and Ohio State.

LSU’s 2025 class now features two of the top edge rushers in the country, Shanklin and Jesse Harrold from Tampa.

LSU also received a commitment yesterday from defensive tackle Brandon Brown. Brown was a Texas commitment. On-3-dot-com and Rivals-dot-com both have Brown ranked as a four star recruit.

The verbal pledges from Shanklin and Brown pushed LSU past Georgia for fourth place in the on-3 dot-com national rankings.
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Another dominating pitching performance last night from former LSU star Paul Skenes. Skenes threw seven innings, allowed four hits, two runs and struck out eight in the Pirates 14 to 2 win over the Mets. Skenes is now 5-and-0 with a 2-point-1-2 E-R-A. That’s now ten career starts without a loss. Skenes also set a Major League Baseball record with at least seven strikeouts in nine of his first ten starts.

Also last night, Alex Bregman drove in three runs as the Astros held on to beat the Twins 13 to 12.

Houston remains two games back of Seattle for first place in the American League West. The Mariners topped the Toronto Blue Jays two to one last night. Former LSU pitcher Kevin Gausman was the tough luck loser as he suffered the loss despite striking out ten over six innings.

LSU’s Steven Milam, U-L Lafayette’s Chase Morgan and Grambling’s Kyle Walker were all named freshman all-americans by D-1 baseball dot-com.

For the second straight day, LSU football has landed a verbal pledge from a four-star defensive tackle. Yesterday it was Zion Williams from Lufkin, Texas. Williams is massive at six-foot-three, 330 pounds.

Today, four-star defensive tackle Brandon Brown flipped his commitment from Texas to LSU. Brown is from Melbourne, Florida. He’s six-foot-one 285 pounds.

First-year defensive line coach Bo Davis was recruiting both of these players when he was at Texas, but now that he is at LSU, Davis convinced these two to come to LSU.

LSU is up to 14 commitments for the Class of 2025 and On3.com ranks the Tigers 2025 class as the fifth best in the nation.

Former LSU commit and the nation’s number one wide receiver in the 2025 recruiting class, Dakorien Moore from Duncanville, Texas, has committed to Oregon. Last August, Moore committed to the Tigers, but announced his decommitment last May. It’s a bit of a surprise he didn’t sign with Texas.

The number one prospect in the college baseball transfer portal is headed to Tennessee. Louisville Shortstop Gavin Kilen made his announcement on his Instagram Page. He chose the national champion Volunteers over LSU and Florida.

D-1 Baseball dot-com’s baseball writers have made their way too early picks on who they think will make the College World Series. All ten staff writers chose the LSU Tigers. LSU is the only school where all ten staff writers picked LSU. Nine of the staffers have Florida heading to Omaha next year, while seven had Clemson and Texas A-and-M in the College World Series.

In the NBA….the Golden State Warriors have found a replacement for Klay Thompson, who is now with the Dallas Mavericks. Former Pelican Buddy Heild will replace Thompson. Hield is a 40-percent three-point shooter and averaged 12 points, three rebounds and three assists last season.

The LSU football program landed a commitment from a four-star defensive tackle on the fourth of July. Zion Williams is six-foot-three, 330 pounds from Lufkin, Texas. He’s the first defensive tackle in the Tigers Class of 2025 that’s ranked fourth in the country according to on3-dot-com.

Former LSU commit and the nation’s number one wide receiver in the 2025 recruiting class, Dakorien Moore from Duncanville, Texas, has committed to Oregon. Last August, Moore committed to the Tigers, but announced his decommitment last May.

LSU football could pick up two more commitments today. Four-star Texas defensive tackle Brandon Brown will announce his verbal pledge at two PM. And later on this afternoon, Four-star weakside defensive end Damien Shanklin from Indianapolis will also announce his decision. He’s been seriously considering LSU, Alabama and Ohio State.

The number one prospect in the college baseball transfer portal is headed to Tennessee. Shortstop Gavin Kilen made his announcement on his Instagram Page. He chose the national champion Volunteers over LSU and Florida. Last season he hit .339 with nine home runs and 22 doubles for the Louisville Cardinals.

In case you missed it, LSU landed a power bat with a commitment from Dalton Beck, who led the Southland Conference in slugging percentage, hits, RBIS and home runs during his junior year. Beck belted 18 home runs for UIW and he was named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year.

Northwestern State needs a new softball coach. Lacy Prejean has resigned and we’ll see if she ends up back at U-L Lafayette. Prejean was an assistant coach at U-L Lafayette for five seasons before taking the job at Northwestern State. She played for new Cajuns head coach Alyson Habetz at Alabama.