BATON ROUGE — LSU coach Nick Saban welcomed 104 players to campus on Tuesday as LSU opened August camp with a series of strength and conditioning tests.
On Tuesday, the Tigers were issued equipment, had a physical and did a strength test in addition to running 10 40’s as the first part of their conditioning test.
The Tigers will practice in two shifts on Wednesday with the varsity practicing at 3 p.m. followed by the freshmen with a 7:30 p.m. workout. The team will also go through a compliance meeting on Wednesday morning followed by the second part of the conditioning test.
“We are obviously happy and excited to get started today,” Saban said. “It is good to see the squad in total. We had physicals, issued equipment, and a strength test today and we are getting ready for meetings tonight and our first practice tomorrow.
“My general feeling is that the spirit of the team is good. I am sure we have a few guys a little bit overweight and maybe not in the kind of shape we would like for them to be. I certainly didn’t see a lot of guys in poor shape. I did see a couple of guys in fantastic shape.”
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| LSU newcomers (l to r) Darius Ingram, Kenneth Hollis and Patrick Fisher were the first to report Tuesday morning |
Saban announced that defensive back Jeff Cook has decided to transfer to Louisiana-Lafayette to play baseball, while defensive back Troy Hankton and quarterback Michael Harrison are no longer physically able to compete and will take a medical hardship. Saban also said that senior holder Blain Bech did not report to camp as he continues to have headaches, which keep him from competition at this time.
Saban also noted that the Tigers had 25 freshmen qualify and that Daryl Johnson’s status is still pending with the NCAA Clearinghouse. Tim Washington also came up short in gaining his eligibility as a freshman, Saban said.
“We had 25 qualified players and we still have Daryl Johnson, who is pending the (NCAA) clearinghouse so he is not here because of that,” Saban said. “Tim Washington, who is very close to qualifying, did not qualify. We kind of have him on the ‘Justin Vincent plan’ right now. Hopefully, he can make just a few more points on the test. We do have 85 scholarship players plus the 25 freshman and a few selected guys making that 104 with the exception of Blain Bech. We may add a player at some point in time, but right now we will just operate with where we are.”
Members of LSUsports.tv will have access to audio from coach Saban’s press conference at approximately 6:30 p.m. Check the homepage of LSUsports.net at that time for a link under “Upcoming Events.”