I noticed twice this year AJ Watts has been named offensive scout player of the week. He is not listed on the roster.

There is an AJ Watts from Akron who entered the transfer portal in January. He was a cornerback at Akron. Is this the same guy? Rubbernecker?

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ULM.........54
A&M.........87

25.9% from the field
10.5 from beyond the arc.

We missed 4 uncontested layups that I saw and I wasn't watching that closely.

66°
Rain: 34%
WSW 13 mph
Partly cloudy early followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers later in the day. High 66F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

• Humidity87%
• UV Index3 of 10
• Sunrise7:06 am
• Sunset5:35 pm

Looks like Derrick Gore is being signed by the Saints.

Looks like Derrick Gore is being signed by the Saints.

According to the Sun Belt message board and Jeff Goodman, the MAC and the Sun Belt will commence a basketball challenge in 2023-2024. 12 schools from each conference will participate, which means annually 2 SBC schools will have to sit out.

Participation and matchups will be based upon NET rankings. 2 games will be played by each participating school each season under the challenge.

According to a poster, based upon last year’s NET rankings, ULM and USM would be excluded this season if the challenge were to have taken place. If ULM's NET after this season is bad, we may be excluded when it actually does start.

This will force ULM to either improve its basketball programs or become a useless part of the conference.

First line for the game came out at -14, down to -13.5 for Georgia State. Don’t have much of a reason to suspect a good outcome here. Last time we beat Georgia State was at home in 2019. We’re 1-4 against them the last five years including 2018 when they only had one won and still whipped us 46-14 to finish their season at 2-10. This feels like one of the schools (like Arkansas state) that just has our number. Lots of credit for fighting back and winning on Saturday but given the team’s road woes under TB, it feels like this one could be rough.

Both have games tonight- W have Louisiana Christain and M have Texas A&M. Both are on ESPN+. I'm sure the W's game wont prove anything. The M will have it tough but we'll be able to see how they mince with one another and perform.

How do we stand with Rodney Groce, Kareem Harden, and Isaiah Walker? I would sign these guys. That will give us 14 commits. For remaining scholarships, we must sign high school seniors. Furthermore, no more local players for the purpose of doing so. Bossier City/Shreveport has possibilities.

Message board is Really Really slow. Looks like the weather is going to be good. Will the team?!

Bowden
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Tyrone & CR
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First line I’ve seen come out has this game as a pick’em. Can’t say that’s surprising given the Army game.

Five years ago today we beat App 52-45. That year we had some high scoring games- but still went 4-8!! Beat USL 56-50; Beat Coastal 51-43; Beat Texas State 45-27; Lost to Ark. State as usual 67-50! Lost to Ga. State 47-37.

App Stare and Coastal on ESPN. Lots of offense.

Just got back from the game against Millsaps College.

So, the good: I like the JUCO PG we picked up (Olivia Knight). She is fast and actually looks like she knows what she is doing handling the ball. Her problem is she is 5'3". Could be a bright spot. Also, the Freshman C from West Monroe (Sha'Miya Butler) looks pretty good around the basket but you can tell she is a freshman and gonna be tough on her when she faces D1 talent. There is some potential there but she needs to lose about 20 pounds so she can have stamina and improve her quickness. That's about it for the good.

The Bad: Everyone else played the same BS ball they played last year. Bad mistakes like driving against 2-3 defenders. Missing close in shots. Players who think they are much better than what they truly are and it feels like they saw someone make some move so they are going to try it.

The real bad: Coach is coaching just like last year. You have Brooks and Butler on the bench and she wants to run basically 5 guards. Even when she had the centers in the game, we ran mostly a perimeter game. Once she hits a team with D1 talent, her substitution patterns will totally change the offense and we don't have the talent to make those switches. We pressed all night but the game hovered around a 17-20 lead until late when we hit several 3s and they turned the ball over a good bit. She did the same thing last year but then hardly ever pressed the rest of the season. Pressing inferior talent in an exhibition does no good if you aren't going to be a press team all season. Work on setting your defense and running what you intend to run.

The Kansas transfer didn't play (Emma Merriweather 6'5"). Not sure when she will be playing. I have no clue how Brooks plans on using her.

This looks to be a long and brutal season. Outside of the 4 wins we should get (Millsap, Centenary, Louisiana Christian and Champion Christian) I am not sure if we get another win.

Now, for the F*CKED UP: Aramark has raised prices and a friggin' coke costs $4 and a bag of popcorn costs $4. It was bad enough last year dropping $6. Now, it is $8. Sorry, but I will do without. LOL

Sat 05 | Day​

72°
Rain-24%
WSW 5 mph
Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High 72F. Winds light and variable.

Sat 05 | Night​

Rain-20%
54°
SE 2 mph
Clear to partly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds light and variable.

Since it’s been quiet all week, I figured I’d ask: what does success look like for the rest of this season? I’m not expecting bowl eligibility (I think we get blasted by Georgia state to give us our 7th loss) but I would like us to at least match last year’s win total. We should be closer to that total already but we gagged away two winnable games away because of coaching decisions. I’d like to see those coaching issues corrected, because if they are I think we can get to 4 wins, maybe 5 if the Troy game breaks our way. If the coaching issues don’t get fixed, maybe we can win one more game, but I’m not even sure about that. If we go 2-10 or 3-9, especially with how we’ve lost some winnable games, it’ll feel like yet another “we’ll turn the corner next year!” and we know how that’s gone for us historically.

Home hawks. Should be well rested, even though Texas State can say the same. Noticed Texas State has been playing very good defensively lately. I could see this as a close lower scoring game.

ULM - 21
Texas St - 20

Seems to be headed for a solid season in the SBC. Currently, they are 9-1-1. The lone loss was to App. State. The tie was to Alcorn State. On Thursday, they beat a pretty decent Southern Miss squad. Keep a lookout for these ladies.