the first tournament game I have been interested in watching in probably 10 years. Geaux Cowboys

Joe Dumars is proud today

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Interesting take here…but great listen!!
According to Chris Sims…Malik and BTJ are the top 2 WRs on the board🔥🔥
I might be a little biased but I don’t find anything wrong about his take 😎😉

Though imo I probably would take Harrison Jr over BTJ

What’s yall thoughts about it?

From National recruiting analyst Brandon Howard

In full transparency I'd like to make a couple of site announcements to keep you guys updated with what's going on here at Death Valley Insider.

Kenny Van Doren has decided to pursue MLB media full time and has taken a position with MLB Pipeline. So, I am in the process of finding a replacement Recruiting Analyst for the site. We will be brining on a replacement, and they'll be expected to deliver the same outstanding coverage and content that Kenny provided during his time with us at Rivals. We wish Kenny the best of luck with his future endeavors.

Intern Logan Pounds has decided to shift her majors and is no longer enrolled at LSU or participating in our internship program.

For anyone that may have missed it, we do have a new intern in Carter Chandler who will be working with us and has already stepped in with some baseball coverage.

I know a lot of times with staff changes it can cause concern and worry among subscribers. Hopefully you guys have enjoyed the coverage we've been brining you and we will maintain that coverage and look for ways to improve as well. I am not going anywhere anytime soon; I am committed to building this site back to what it was in its hay day, and we'll keep working toward that goal.

If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns feel free to shoot me an email or reach out to me here.

@Luke Hubbard previews LSU's weekend series with Florida.

This weekend is shaping up to be another solid recruiting weekend with plenty of big names on campus to check out spring practice. I'm going to start posting the names as they get confirmed and will update leading into the weekend.


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One of the headliners of the group is current five-star and FSU commit Solomon Thomas.

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Another big name expected in is Prichard (AL) four-star OL Micah Debose. Debose will be worth monitoring this weekend, been a lot of buzz around LSU and Debose. Wouldn't be surprised to see LSU close the deal this weekend.

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Delane is expected to make the trip from Maryland, he's one of LSU's top safety targets for the class of 2025.

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Fegans is another top safety prospect for LSU that will be on campus this weekend. Fegans has recently taken notice of LSU's surging 2025 and has been recruited by several of LSU's current 2025 commits including Dakorien Moore and Bryce Underwood.

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The current LSU commit is expected in this weekend and will likely have his recruiting hat on.

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LSU continues to recruit the tight end position for 2025, Armstrong is one of LSU's top targets at TE.

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Geralds is one of the top prospects for the class of 2026. The Georgia product is currently ranked No. 23 overall and is expected to make the trip in from Suwanee, Georgia.

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Toodle kicks of a string of visits as he's expected in Baton Rouge this weekend. He's got future trips to Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia and Auburn and Georgia Tech planned as well.

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LSU tight ends coach Slade Nagle invited Daphne (AL) Bayside Academy TE Miles Uter to come check things out. He'll be on campus Friday, before heading to Oxford to visit Ole Miss on Saturday.

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LSU named as a dream school for 2026 four-star QB Bo Polston.

From @carterchandler0

LSU 9 - 1 Top 5th

Jared Jones HR RCF

Travinski HR over LF bleachers
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Coleman Out in 2nd ...then Herring & Moffat

The Tigers tip off the first round of the NIT in about 30 minutes. They face a North Texas team that they beat 66-62 in November. Check back here for live updates from the game and to share your thoughts on the action.

Matt McMahon

• Thought UNT played extremely well in the end of the first half, helped them build a big lead.
• Felt UNT's defense made it hard on them inside the arc, but felt they played well outside the arc.
• Thinks when you get to this point of the season, you are who you are as a team. They knew who UNT was as a team - a top three point shooting and offensive rebounding team - and they played to their strengths. Says their record is a bit deceiving because they had so many injuries.
• Felt UNT was just the better team tonight. Their physicality really bothered them at the rim.
• Thought they got off to a good start. They got some good looks and played good defense while holding them to one offensive board. After the 10ish minute mark in the 1H, UNT had six offensive boards in the final 10 min and they took a big lead.
• He's proud of what his team had accomplished this season. It was a tough season and they found themselves at 4-7 in SEC play with multiple one possession losses, but battled back to finish 9-9 with multiple ranked wins.
• The NIT is not the tournament they strive to play in at LSU, so he knows they need to get better and keep building the program. His goal for next year is reaching the NCAA Tournament.
• Thinks you need to have a hybrid model of transfer portal players and freshman/returning players. Likes the guys he has coming back next year.

Jordan Wright and Trae Hannibal

• Wright is excited for the future of this program, even though he's leaving this offseason. Didn't know what to expect this year, and thinks they went in and fought every game. It may not have finished they way they wanted, but they feel the program is going in an upward direction.
• Wright felt they had a chance late in the game to win this game. Thinks they had some opportunities late, but the ball didn't bounce their way.
• Hannibal said UNT's physicality sort of surprised them. Felt they won the game with a lot of second chance opportunities - UNT had 17 second chance points.
• Hannibal says you just need to want it in games like these, and UNT just wanted it more tonight.
• Wright says it doesn't come down to talent all the time, it comes down to toughness, and UNT played tougher than them for longer.

The 2026 class ranking has been expanded from 100 players to a full Rivals250: https://n.rivals.com/prospect_rankings/rivals250/2026

Ten highest debuts: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-rankings-week-ten-highest-ranked-debuts-in-the-rivals250

Adam Gorney goes position-by-position: https://n.rivals.com/news/tuesdays-with-gorney-new-2026-rivals250-released

Last year, Netflix released Quarterback, a documentary following four QB's lives as the navigate the NFL seasons. They are now going to release another football documentary series called Receiver, featuring some of the top wideouts in the league, one of which is Justin Jefferson.

Here are all the participants:
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a word on the Rivals' main board. On the other hand, Georgia has a 5 star visiting while ND lands Bettis, both the preceding are front and center on the Rivals' main board. SMH.
But Rivals isn't biased. LOL. Rivals is about as non-biased as an Islamic Jihadist.

@Luke Hubbard breaks down LSU's NIT matchup with North Texas.

Jay Clark

• Excited for the opportunity to win SEC's. Not the finale, but it's important for them to go and represent LSU well.
• Thinks the SEC Championship is extremely coveted in gymnastics. Doesn't think it should be minimized because it's the best conference battling against each other.
• Would like to see the regionals go to host sites and not on campus. Thinks the two-day regional format is the hardest thing they do.
• Thinks New Orleans provides everyone a great opportunity. It'll be a lot of LSU fans, but it's a destination city that fans will travel to in order to come. It was the most attended SEC Championship they've had to date in 2019.
• Doesn't think it really matters where you start, but starting on vault provides some familiarity and comfort. It's the first time they've been the 1 seed in a while, so he's excited to start on vault.
• Thinks last years run allowed them to learn the attributes they need to be champions.
• He gets irritated when KJ gets a score she doesn't deserve on vault. Feels she has one of the best routines, but gets robbed of higher scores.
• Likes their vault lineup and thinks they're as good as anybody on any given day on the event, but sometimes they miss their landings and can get off.
• Thinks ticket sales have been good so far. Hopes fans get out there and show up for the meet.

Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan

• Finnegan says they've been looking forward to SEC's since they learned it was in NOLA. Says all year is practice for this Saturday.
• Bryant thinks Kiya's injury last season sort of kick started this team. They wanted to play for her and the rest of the gymnasts who got injured and they battled their way to the championships.
• Bryant says she doesn't look at the stats too much, but still keeps her eyes on scores as they happen. She's trying to enjoy this year and not worry about the scores too much.
• Finnegan wants to help the team however she can, whether that's one event or four. It felt good to do the all-around last week, but she's going to do what she's asked.
• Bryant thinks their mindset is what's going to set them apart. They feel they can get to the finals again, but they want to win this time and they need to keep calm and just do their gymnastics instead of pressing.
• Finnegan says one of their No. 1 goals this season was winning the SEC, so even though it doesn't count for much come tournament time, they want to win SEC's.
• Think starting on vault is good for them because it'll make it feel even more like a home meet. It helps you get off to a fast start and allows them to finish the meet on floor.
• Finnegan thinks their biggest take away from last year is to just lean on each other when times are tough.

From @Luke Hubbard

Matt McMahon

• Excited to continue the season in the NIT against UNT and hopefully beyond.
• UNT has a top-40 defense and does a terrific job forcing turnovers. They also have a very efficient three point shooting offense.
• Thought their players are thankful and appreciative for the opportunity to continue playing this season.
• Isn't sure how much the familiarity with UNT helps. It's been 120 something days since they played and both teams have grown. Thinks UNT is a much better team from November.
• Says his players have respect for UNT because they know how tough and physical they play.
• Expects all the guys that normally play to be ready for tomorrow's game.
• Thinks it's important for them to have a good showing in the tournament. Thinks it's a great field and his team wants to continue to play, so they must win to keep their season alive.
• Their best performances have come when 4-5 guys are scoring double digits. Need to get guys like Jalen Reed and Tyrell Ward more involved.
• Can't speak for the teams who declined the invite, but thinks the NIT is a great opportunity for them. They basically didn't have a program 23 months ago, and now they're in a really good NIT field.
• They were disappointed after the Miss State loss. They had a seven point lead going into the break, but they left some points on the table. However, they saw State and A&M make a push for the NCAA Tournament so they felt good about their chances getting into the NIT.
• Says you don't come to LSU to go to the NIT, but thinks this is the next step in building this program back up.
• Says on Feb. 14th, they weren't close to making the NIT, so he's proud of the turnaround they had to make it to the NIT.
• UNT is the defending champs of the NIT, so playing them in the first round with a lot of the same players will be a tough matchup.
• Thought Will Baker and some of the bigs were effective, especially late in the game. Feels they can find some success in the front court tomorrow.

Ole Miss announced today that they will not play in the NIT or any other postseason play. With Miss State firmly in the NCAA Tournament and Ole Miss skipping the NIT, Texas A&M and LSU are firmly in control for the two automatic NIT invites for the two highest ranked SEC schools (in the NET) that didn’t make March Madness.

McMahon said earlier this year that making the NIT would be a big step up for this team, so expect to see the Tigers in the NIT as long as nothing unexpected (like Miss State somehow missing March Madness) happens.