Quote from: Trip2Omaha on Today at 08:32:38 amHogs had some good young talent with 2020 class and look what those guys are doing now. The program should have had patience to redshirt instead of telling guys they couldn't play. Ethan Bates, Clayton Gray, Michael Brooks. All excelling and all they had to do was develop them and let them mature as players. Those three are going to get drafted this year and would be upgrades in the lineup. And don't say they can't play, we went after transfers (John Bolton, Wilmsmeyer, Wagner). All those guys that transferred away are good hitters and On base machines. More walks than K's, SLG %, OPS.

Maybe the recruits we had, we didn't have the patience to develop. Or maybe we don't think development is the way to go any longer. Either way, it is what it is hitting now.

Quote from: jst01 on Today at 08:56:50 amPlease name 3 minority African American baseball players that led a team in hitting stats on a sec team in the last decade.

Quote from: hawg1221 on Today at 08:15:27 amOh Auburn. I can only imagine how their fans are feeling after (what I think) letting go of the rope too early. I watched this game and it sure looked like they relaxed so much in the bottom of the 14th inning that they lost concentration.

QuoteLSU softball is still alive at the SEC Tournament, winning a thrilling Wednesday game against Alabama in extra innings.

That game against Alabama started with a 2-0 lead for the Crimson Tide. Kali Heivilin drove in 2 runs in the top of the 1st for an early lead, and the game stood that way until the 6th

LSU would tie the game in the bottom of the 6th inning, driving in the tying runs without registering a hit. Maci Bergeron walked in a run and then a hit by pitch to Kelley Lynch tied the game.

After that, the game would roll into extra innings and stand locked at 2-all through the 13th inning. The game still included some drama with LSU's Ali Newland laying out in the 11th inning for a run-saving catch.

That diving grab near the sideline kept things all knotted up:

@SECNetwork
OMG ALI NEWLAND 😱😱 #SCtop10

@LSUSoftball

The game would not be decided until the 14th inning, setting the SEC Tournament record for longest game played (by innings). Taylor Pleasants eventually sent the Tigers to the walk-off win with a long drive to center.

Sydney Berzon turned in a remarkable game pitching for the Tigers. She covered all 14 innings, including 13 shutout frames after the top of the 1st, while throwing 208 pitches.

With the win, LSU will advance to Thursday's action with a matchup against Tennessee. The Lady Vols were the regular-season champions of the SEC and the No. 1 overall seed.

Quote from: East TN HAWG on Today at 08:47:17 amThey did not win a title.   They were a top 5 program at the time.

Quote from: Johnnie5 on Today at 08:38:48 amSaw a rumor on Twitter that Cal might be going after a internsti9nal wing. 6'6 Hugo Gonzalez I think. Great scorer inside the arc, can finish with either hand, nice 3 point shot. Nba draft room had him as a potential 1st rounder in 25 or 26. He wouod be the wing we need for sure.

QuoteThere's a time and place for what Brian Kelly said. Or rather, what Kelly tried to say.

Let's back up for a minute because proper context is needed to dissect why the LSU coach made headlines for what would previously be considered a standard cliché coach quote in early May.

On the heels of missing out on coveted transfer portal defensive tackles Damonic Williams (he picked Oklahoma) and Simeon Barrow Jr. (he picked Miami), Kelly did an interview with WAFB's Jacques Doucet in which the soundbite that made the rounds was "we're not going to go out and buy players."

In 2024, that was not the time or place to say that.

Obviously, there was more than that single line. Here is the full sequence from the interview with Doucet:

Doucet: "So the interior D-linemen, where are you right now with that?"

Kelly: "Well, I think I made it pretty clear in a number of the press conferences I had that we were in the market in recruiting in the transfer portal looking for defensive linemen. It hasn't fared very well quite frankly because we're selling something a little bit differently. And that is, we want to recruit, we want to engage, we want to build relationships, we want to develop, retain and have success. We're not in the market of buying players. And unfortunately, right now, that's what some guys are looking for. They want to be bought.

"Look. I understand that NIL is part of this, and we have an incredible collective. We have very, very generous opportunities around the greater Baton Rouge area for NIL opportunities. They are here. But we're not gonna go out and buy players. That's not what this is about. This was never about that. We will develop you, we will get you ready for the next step, as we did with Jayden Daniels, as we did with Malik Nabers, as we did with Brian Thomas. We developed 3 defensive linemen that all got drafted this year, and we'll do that again.

"But if you're just looking to get paid, you're looking in the wrong place. If you like all the things we do here, and developing our players, bringing you into a championship program, playing in front of the best fan base in America, playing for championships and having an opportunity for NIL, you should be a Tiger. But if you just want to get paid, it's not the place for ya."

There's a lot to break down in that.

For starters, yes, LSU whiffed in a key area of need in the portal.

That doesn't mean Kelly is failing at his job or that he's destined to get fired in a couple of years. Kelly gutted his entire defensive staff. He poached Mizzou defensive coordinator Blake Baker to make him the highest-paid assistant in America and also brought highly regarded Texas defensive line coach Bo Davis back to Baton Rouge. Those changes should still be a net positive coming from a coach who understands that defensive improvements are paramount.

It should, however, frustrate a fan base to hear Kelly speak about roster shortcomings like that, much like last year when preseason All-American Harold Perkins unsuccessfully got his feet wet at a new position in a season-opening game with major Playoff implications.

Buying players is the world we live in. Adapt or die.

Quote from: Dr. Starcs on Yesterday at 04:08:08 pmAgree on the scholarship aspect. But what about nil?

Quote from: ChitownHawg on Yesterday at 10:50:15 pmIgnore the word "scholarship" as some of you are getting hung up on that word. Which is my fault for using it.

The better question to discuss is how many top players do you sign? According to the video head coaches are  leaning to 11. The remainder don't expect to see any playing time.