| Friday morning started with some good news for the LSU faithful: Kim Mulkey got a commitment from a four-star guard out of Illinois. You can read about this high school senior-to-be, who has already scored 1,000 career points in three seasons. As for the rest of Friday’s news … well, if you’re an LSU fan, it was probably less than uplifting. As expected, Tari Eason announced via social media he intends to go pro after one season with the LSU men’s basketball program, during which he rose to potential NBA first-round status. Eason joined senior guard Xavier Pinson and freshman Brandon Murray, who both entered the NCAA transfer portal Thursday. And in case you missed it: Kevin Nickelberry, who led the Tigers as interim coach after Will Wade was fired, is leaving for home. The Washington native and former Howard coach will join Patrick Ewing’s staff at Georgetown. Elsewhere … baseball. Ah, baseball. Yes, LSU is off to a rough start in Southeastern Conference play under first-year coach Jay Johnson. On Friday night in Gainesville, Florida, the Tigers ran into a buzzsaw in left-hander Hunter Barco, who threw a gem in the Gators’ 7-2 win. As our Leah Vann reported earlier, LSU has struggled against elite pitching so far — and particularly against lefties. Here’s more on LSU’s second game in Gainesville on Saturday night. Finally, some slightly more encouraging news: LSU track is still LSU track. The Tigers (and athletes from several state schools) had productive days Friday on Day 2 of the 94th Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. Also: Spring football is here. And there’s plenty more to come as Brian Kelly gets up and running at LSU. FINALLY: HERE’S A GREAT DEAL Baseball, basketball, gymnastics, track, softball, beach volleyball, football … folks, springtime is busy time at LSU. No one covers the Tigers like we do. We will keep you up to date on the latest news on campus (and elsewhere). Our sportswriters are insightful, hard-working and generally nice people (most of the time). Support their work, and stay on top of everything. If you’re not a subscriber, come join us. Thank you for reading. | 
