Season tips off Nov. 12: The LSU men’s basketball team has released its schedule for the 2011-12 season. The Tigers will play 15 home games this season, including seven games against teams that made postseason play last year. The Tigers tip off the season Nov. 12 against Nicholls State, part of a basketball-football doubleheader. The football team will play its homecoming game against Western Kentucky that evening. At home in non-conference play, LSU will host South Alabama (Nov. 23), Boise State (Dec. 10), California-Irvine (Dec. 15), Marquette (Dec. 19), Grambling (Dec. 29) and Virginia (Jan. 2). The Tigers will travel to Coastal Carolina Nov. 15 then play at least two games in the Charleston Classic Nov. 17 and Nov. 18. Non-conference road games against Houston (Nov. 29), Rutgers (Dec. 3) and North Texas (Dec. 22) are also on tap. To see the full schedule, click here.
But controversial quarterback will be suspended for five games: Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor was declared eligible for Monday’s NFL supplemental draft but must sit out the first five games after he signs a contract. The NFL announced today he was eligible, along with five other players. Pryor gave up his final season with the Buckeyes following an NCAA investigation into the football team’s memorabilia-for-cash scandal. He would have had to sit out five games at Ohio State if he had chosen to return to school. The league informed clubs that Pryor “made decisions that undermine the integrity of the eligibility rules for the NFL draft.” Among those, the league said, was his failure to cooperate with the NCAA and his hiring an agent in violation of NCAA rules. Pryor may not practice or play until Week 6 of the regular season. Other players eligible for the supplemental draft are: defensive backs Torez Jones of Western Carolina and Tracy Wilson of Northern Illinois, defensive ends Keenan Mace of Lindenwood and Mike McAdoo of North Carolina, and running back Caleb King of Georgia. Drew Rosenhaus, Pryor’s agent, said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith worked together on the decision. Pryor will have a pro day Saturday in Pittsburgh for all 32 NFL teams, and he’ll work out, throw and take part in agility drills—similar to what he would do at the NFL combine.
Looking for redemption: Ryan Perrilloux, the highly touted LSU quarterback who ended up getting kicked off the squad, is trying to make the New York Giants’ roster. Perrilloux signed with the Giants in January, after a stint in the UFL. He told The New York Times that he can be an NFL starter. “I’m a changed person,” he says. “My life took a new route, and I’m focusing on being the best person and the best player I can be.” Read the profile of Perrilloux here.
