MORE CLIPPINGS
A look at some of my best work from The Reveille, The Advocate and SB Nation
'I'M READY TO GO TO WAR WITH HIM': JOE BURROW PREPARED TO LEAD LSU IN 2019
At an LSU Coaches Caravan stop in June, new passing game coordinator Joe Brady said that he would run through a brick wall for senior quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow’s teammates would have no problem running through a wall for him either.
That wasn’t always the case, however.
This time a year ago, Burrow had just won a four-man quarterback battle that ended in two transfers and fractured locker room days before the season started.
Read the full story here.
LIVING THE DREAM IN THE DOME: LOUISIANA NATIVES FULFILL DREAMS PLAYING FOR CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE SUPERDOME
During Rashard Lawrence’s recruiting, Coach Ed Orgeron, then LSU’s defensive line coach, sat in the defensive lineman’s living room and told Lawrence he would be a team captain on a national championship team.
It’s common for coaches to say things like that during recruiting. Let the players know all the things they can accomplish at any particular school. But three games into Lawrence’s freshman season, former head coach Les Miles was fired and in his sophomore season the Tigers lost to the Sun Belt’s Troy. It looked like LSU might not reach the highest peak of college football.
Read the full story here.
'IT GIVES THE COMMUNITY HOPE': BLACK GYMNASTS BECOMING MORE PREVALENT BOTH AT LSU, ON NATIONAL SCALE
LSU assistant gymnastics coach Ashleigh Clare-Kearney counts them out on her fingers — Kennedi Edney, Kiya Johnson, Kai Rivers, Lexie Nibbs. The four black gymnasts on LSU’s 2020 team. That representation matters.
For people of color, seeing people that look like you in prominent positions makes a difference, and Clare-Kearney knows that all too well. She said it has taken time within the black community to recognize that you can be a positive light or role model.
Read the full story here.
TIGERS SAFETY JACOBY STEVENS IS FROM NASHVILLE, BUT HE'S MADE LSU 'A SECOND HOME'
When LSU last played in Vanderbilt Stadium, a 27-2 Tigers victory in 2010, JaCoby Stevens looked to his mom, Dionne, and said, “Mom if I go to LSU, I’ll be able to come back and play at Vanderbilt.”
Nine years later, the LSU junior safety and Nashville native is returning home as the Tigers face Vanderbilt to open Southeastern Conference play in his hometown.
“Tennessee’s finest going home,” Stevens joked to the media Thursday.
Read the full story here.
KIA NURSE IS BECOMING THE FACE OF CANADIAN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Kia Nurse always builds her outfits around her sneakers, especially on New York Liberty gamedays. Because tunnel walks into the arena have become social media phenomena, Nurse knows her selection of kicks will be on display.
The former Nike athlete switched over to Jordan Brand in May, following fellow UConn alumna Maya Moore as the second hooper to sign with the company. When a Nike Canada rep called her to propose the deal, Nurse thought they mistook her for someone else.
“Are you talking to the right person?” Nurse asked the rep.
Make no mistake, Jordan Brand knew exactly who they were talking to.
Read the full story here.
AYANA MITCHELL A LEADER FOR LSU ON THE COURT, 'MAMMA YA' OFF IT
Ayana Mitchell fired up her stove.
On this June evening, Mitchell made spaghetti for herself and fellow LSU women’s basketball player Khayla Pointer as the two watched former LSU men’s guard Tremont Waters get drafted.
This is a common scene at Mitchell's apartment — the Lady Tigers' star forward cooking for the rest of the team. The deal? Mitchell handles everything but purchasing the ingredients.
It’s not always spaghetti either, though that’s a common request. Sometimes it’s shrimp Alfredo. Other times it’s something more difficult like pork chops with a side of macaroni and cheese.
Read the full story here.
FROM HYPE LEADER TO ACHILLES INJURY TO FLOOR LINEUP STAPLE, OLIVIA GUNTER IS LIVING HER DREAM AT LSU
Olivia Gunter rarely finds herself speechless. The junior LSU gymnast has been among the loudest cheerleaders for her team over the past two years.
But now that she’s able to compete herself, she doesn’t have the words.
Instead, Gunter has one word: gratitude. After what she’s been through, she’s grateful to finally have the opportunity to contribute to her team’s success and everything that comes along with it.
Read the full story here.
'MORE THAN A MANAGER': FORMER LSU GYMNAST ASHLYN KIRBY TO BE HONORED AS MANAGER ON SENIOR DAY
One summer afternoon, LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux asked then-LSU gymnast Ashlyn Kirby if she could speak with her after practice.
Kirby was confused and felt like she was being called in the principal's office in elementary school. Was she in trouble? She wasn't taking any summer classes, so she knew she didn't get a bad grade. Kirby wasn't sure what it could be.
She wasn't in trouble though. Instead, Breaux offered Kirby the opportunity to fill a managing and coaching role left vacant by former graduate assistant Ashleigh Gnat, who left LSU for a coaching position at Penn State.
Read the full story here.
