11/1/26 5:30 am CT

Good morning, Tiger Fans,

The calendar has flipped to November, and what a month it promises to be. LSU football will conclude its regular season with four games that could have major playoff implications, while both LSU basketball programs will begin promising seasons, with the women tipping off tomorrow and the men in just two days. And speaking of basketball, Will Wade just gave us some big news to begin this Sunday morning update…

BOOM! LSU landed another huge basketball commitment yesterday when 6-foot-10, five-star center Xavier Young announced his pledge to the Tigers. Young, a 16-year-old standout from the Dallas area, was ranked No. 11 nationally in the 2028 class and plans to reclassify to 2027. He chose LSU over Tennessee, Maryland, Michigan and TCU, giving Wade his second five-star commitment in just three days.

Young is a mobile, athletic big man who can finish around the basket, defend and contribute in the pick-and-roll game. He also helped Team USA capture gold at this summer’s FIBA U17 World Cup in Turkey, averaging 7.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Check out a few of Young’s video highlights from his World Cup action.

With Young joining Reese Alston, King Gibson and Ahmad Hudson, LSU now has four commitments rated as five-stars by at least one recruiting service. And get this: The Tigers currently hold the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for 2027 according to the major recruiting services.

You have to wonder how Wade is pulling all of this off. Whatever one thinks of his unconventional ways and some of the controversy that has followed him, the results he’s producing on the recruiting trail, at least on paper, are certainly turning heads. Whether all of this translates into wins remains to be seen, but there’s no denying that Wade has brought a renewed buzz to LSU basketball.

Now, turning to football, with the first College Football Playoff rankings coming out Tuesday and Alabama visiting Tiger Stadium next Saturday, things are about to get mighty interesting. In the meantime, there’s not a whole lot of LSU football news to pass along, but there were a few noteworthy results from yesterday’s games. Ole Miss bounced back from its loss to Texas with a convincing 45-15 win over Auburn, South Carolina pulled off a big upset, beating Oklahoma 42-25 in Norman, top-ranked Miami barely escaped with a win at North Carolina, and USC upset No. 2 Ohio State. Crazy season! For all of the weekend’s scores, see our College Football Scoreboard.

Earlier this week, we published a series looking at six areas where LSU can still improve as the Tigers prepare for a challenging November. We covered everything from guard play and linebacker performance to special teams, red-zone efficiency, the vertical passing game and turnover margin. If you missed any of it, or just want to revisit the discussion, we’ve combined all three installments into one convenient page:

👉 Six Areas Where LSU Can Improve Heading Into November

In football recruiting news, LSU is making a strong push for one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in the 2028 class, four-star Tristin Gaines of Waller, Texas. Gaines, who received an LSU offer earlier this month and made an unofficial visit to Baton Rouge, has made it clear that the Tigers are high on his list. “If I’m being honest, this is the offer I’ve been waiting for,” he told TigerBait. LSU quarterbacks coach Dane Stevens traveled to Texas Friday night to watch Gaines in action, and the talented signal-caller is expected to return the favor next Saturday when he visits LSU for the Alabama game. Gaines is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback who threw for 1,772 yards and 24 touchdowns without an interception through his first six games this season, while adding 479 yards rushing. LSU, SMU and Oregon are emerging as the three schools to watch in his recruitment, and it certainly sounds like the Tigers have put themselves in a good position.

Gaines is just one of several big-time prospects LSU is expected to host over the next two weekends for the Alabama and Texas games in Tiger Stadium. These include several from here in Louisiana, like safety Devin Lavalais of Marksville, who we told you about on Saturday, and running back Jayden Miles of Catholic High who is currently committed to Florida State.

Over on the baseball front, Jay Johnson’s Tigers put on quite a show in Biloxi yesterday, sweeping Samford in a pair of 7-inning exhibition games, 11-0 and 12-1. Three newcomers provided most of the fireworks in Game 1, starting with Tulane transfer and outfielder Jason Wachs, who blasted a two-run homer to put LSU ahead. Florida transfer and second baseman Cade Kurland followed with a two-run shot of his own, and Oregon transfer and right fielder Angel Laya broke things open with a grand slam. Not a bad showing for that trio of newcomers!

And the newcomers weren’t done yet. In Game 2, freshman outfielder Dominic Santarelli of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, blasted a three-run homer, and fellow freshman Dylan Minnatee, a first baseman from Elk Grove, California, added a grand slam. That’s five different newcomers with home runs in the two games. No wonder Jay Johnson has been so excited about this group!

As impressive as those offensive fireworks were, I was just as pleased to see LSU’s pitching surrender only one run in two games. In the first one, William Schmidt worked two hitless innings with four strikeouts, Landon Hood added three scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and Lucas Nawrocki contributed two more scoreless innings with five strikeouts. In Game 2, Cooper Sides, Danny Lachenmayer and Cooper Williams combined to allow just one hit and one unearned run while striking out eight. All told, LSU’s pitchers surrendered just three hits and struck out 20 batters across 14 innings.

The Tigers and Bulldogs are scheduled to square off in two more seven-inning exhibition games today, beginning at 1 p.m. in Biloxi.

And in baseball recruiting news, Johnson picked up another big commitment when highly touted 2028 shortstop Derek Vazquez of Charlotte Christian School in North Carolina pledged to LSU. The 6-foot-2 left-handed hitter is considered a potential early-round MLB Draft prospect, making him another impressive addition to LSU’s future recruiting class.

Jumping back to basketball, every year at this time, we publish a primer of sorts on both teams. And being the gentleman I am, we’ll start with the ladies. In this year’s piece, DandyDon contributor Jim Kleinpeter takes a look at a talented LSU team led by an experienced backcourt, some exciting young players and a few intriguing international additions. Depth is a concern, but there’s plenty of firepower on this roster, and Jim believes the Tigers have what it takes to make another Final Four run. We’ll get our first real look at this team tomorrow when Kim Mulkey’s Tigers open the season against Southeastern Louisiana.

👉 LSU Women’s Basketball 2026-27: Plenty of Firepower, but Depth Is a Concern

That’s it for today, but I invite you to send comments and questions for a potential Mail Call. Also, be sure to tune in tomorrow for our annual preview of the LSU men’s basketball team, which tips off its season Tuesday night against LSU New Orleans. 

For more good reads, see our Extra Points. And note that our Ticket Exchange has been updated with new listings.

Enjoy your Sunday, Tiger Fans.