Craig Loper
WAFB Sports Reporter
Baton Rouge, La.
Craig Loper came to WAFB in September of 2016. Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, he graduated from the University of Oregon in June of 2013 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism. During his time in college, Craig interned at KOLD-TV in Tucson, Arizona as well as Fox Sports in Los Angeles learning what it’s like to work in a sports office, write stories, edit video and publish content.
After graduation, he worked for his hometown station in Eugene, KVAL, for almost two years covering Oregon and Oregon State athletics along with prep sports and local stories. His fondest memory of his time in Oregon is traveling with the Beaver football team to various Pac-12 stadiums covering games on Saturdays.
After his time at KVAL, he moved to Los Angeles where he turned his passion for health into a career, working as a personal trainer and health coach in the city that spawned the healthy, active lifestyle movement.
An itch to get back into the broadcast business in September of 2016 brought him to Baton Rouge. Since then, he has loved learning more about southern culture and sports.
In his position at WAFB, Craig primarily covers the Southern University football team, the LSU Gymnastics team and the LSU softball team along with prep athletics. His most memorable trips at WAFB have been working in Omaha for 13 days while covering the Tigers run to the College World Series Championship game and working in Oregon for 12 days for the Corvallis Regional and the final NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field. Day to day, you can find him at the gym in the mornings and out at sporting events in the evenings. His favorite part of his job is working on a new story every day and telling the stories of people in the community.
His passions include exercise, food prepping, movies and enjoying time with friends while having a good meal out to eat.
Contact Craig via email at cloper@wafb.com.
LSU cornerbacks coach/recruiting coordinator Corey Raymond has reportedly been offered the secondary coach position at the University of Texas under new head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Marcus Freeman, who has been the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bearcats for the past four seasons, wrapped up a two-day interview process for LSU's vacant defensive coordinator position.
The Saints’ defensive unit believes it has been battle-tested enough to earn the cliche’, “defense wins championships.” It finished the regular season ranked in the top five of every major statistical category.
LSU will face No. 5 Texas A&M in College Station on Saturday and although LSU is on the outside looking in this season when it comes to the SEC title game or the College Football Playoff, there’s still plenty to play for and many would say it is mainly pride.
The Saints would love to stay atop the NFC the rest of the season, lock up the No. 1 seed as soon as possible, and get some rest before the playoff run, and if the defense keeps playing the way it has been recently, it certainly provides them with the best chance to do so.
The year 2020 has been crazy enough and no one thought LSU would be in the position of having to play a true freshman quarterback for much of the shortened season but that’s the Tigers’ reality right now with TJ Finley taking the snaps.
In order to do pull out a win in College Station, the Tigers will have to build on the good from the Arkansas win and eliminate the bad. Speaking on his teleconference Wednesday, Coach O talked about some specifics on defense that’ll help for an upset bid.
Fresh off a week where it was below the NCAA scholarship player threshold of 53, LSU is now ready to get back to playing football with a trip to Arkansas, whose head coach called the leader of the Tigers earlier this week.
It was Tigers vs. Tigers when LSU faced Auburn on “The Plains” on Halloween 2020 and the game was all trick and no treat as the Bayou Bengals fell in a way that can only be described as forgettable, spooky, and downright scary.
LSU is making its final preparations before facing Auburn on the road in the last game before the SEC’s built-in COVID-19 open date.
The Saints were able to mount a comeback after trailing by 17 points against the Chargers and get the win in overtime but players know there are still things to work on for this team to be elite.
Being without arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL is never easy but the Saints have adjusted to life without Michael Thomas, whose return is still unknown.
Going into week four, the message in the Saints locker room is simple: discipline. They have to clean up their act or else it’s going to be a long season for everyone.
Fans will be back in Tiger Stadium on Saturday, as the SEC gets play underway but it still isn’t known exactly what the season will look like during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The LSU Tigers are finally kicking off their 2020 season against Mississippi State in Tiger Stadium and they sit as a 16.5-point favorite to beat the Bulldogs for the 19th time in 21 meetings.
Family and friends are mourning the loss of a beloved high schooler who collapsed at football practice on Tuesday.
Several football players with connections to Louisiana were waived by NFL teams on Saturday, September 5.
A teammate of Cecilia native Ramsey Dardar (No. 98) from the Charlie Mac and Jerry Stovall eras, Lyman White, says a GoFundMe account has been set up for Dardar, who lost his house in Lake Charles to Hurricane Laura the day after moving into it.
LSU junior wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has chosen to opt out of the 2020 college football season and begin preparations for the 2021 NFL Draft.
The day after the LSU football team skipped practice to march through the campus to fight for social justice, senior safety JaCoby Stevens and some of his teammates were doing their part to help those impacted by Hurricane Laura.
Myles Brennan finds himself in a situation where he is a college student during a global pandemic but he is also the starting quarterback at LSU with all eyes on him ahead of his first year as a starter.
Perhaps no player will have to make more of an adjustment under new defensive coordinator Bo Pelini's scheme than senior safety JaCoby Stevens.
Former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow continues to work on getting better to try to help get the Cincinnati Bengals out of the basement of the NFL.
The New Orleans Saints are trying to function as normal as possible in this bizarre training camp and putting on the gear should help the players feel like they are actually playing football again.
A lot of fans won’t get to see the Drew Brees vs. Tom Brady week one duel in person like they had hoped. The team will have to be even more locked in without “dome field advantage” and the noise factor.
As for who the next head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans will be, David Griffin, the executive vice president of basketball operations, said that process won’t be quick.
Episcopal quarterback Dylan Mehrotra committed to UAB on Friday, August 15. He announced the decision on his Twitter account.
In some ways, safety Marcus Williams elevated his game in 2019 but tackling remains one of his flaws. He will now have veteran Malcolm Jenkins to learn from to elevate his play even more.
Kenneth Miles, a former assistant vice chancellor and executive director of the Academic Center for Student-Athletes at LSU, has passed away. Miles was 50 years old. He spent 11 years at LSU.
The Central Wildcats were hard at work on their practice field next to campus on Thursday, August 13, but down the road at Wildcat Stadium, the team has some fancy new “digs.”
Catholic Point Coupee’s Matthew Langlois has committed to Kansas State. Langlois sent out the tweet on Sunday, August 9, to announce his commitment.
Before this year, the 1980s were the last times Bennett’s Tri Lakes water ski facility in Zachary hosted the US national championships.
A sort of exhibition baseball game for Baton Rouge-area high schoolers, current college student-athletes, and post-college players to help them stay sharp on the diamond was held at Goldsby Field.
The East Iberville Tigers and new head coach Justin Joseph are stop No. 48 for Sportsline Summer Camp.
Stop No. 45 for Sportsline Summer Camp is with the Silliman Wildcats, which play in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS).
According to multiple reports, the New York Jets are trading All-Pro safety Jamal Adams to the Seattle Seahawks.
Stop No. 39 for Sportsline Summer Camp is with the Livonia Wildcats and new head coach Josh Laborde, the former defensive coordinator at West Feliciana.
The Ascension Christian Lions are stop No. 38 for Sportsline Summer Camp. Head coach Josh Puryear is entering his eighth season at the helm of the program.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Council of Presidents and Chancellors held a meeting via Zoom and has decided to postpone the fall sports schedule until spring.
The West Feliciana Saints are stop No. 35 for Sportsline Summer Camp. It’s a new era in St. Francisville as Hudson Fuller takes over as the team’s head coach.
Through his foundation, former Parkview and LSU star linebacker Darry Beckwith is bringing support to south Louisiana high school student-athletes.
The Donaldsonville Tigers are stop No. 33 for Sportsline Summer Camp. The Tigers are a consistent playoff team but working to take the next step as a program.
The McKinley Panthers football program is shutting down summer workouts for 10 days after a player new to the team tested positive for COVID-19.
The Walker Wildcats are stop No. 23 for Sportsline Summer Camp. Head coach Chad Mahaffey is in his second season with the team.
St. Amant is stop No. 22 Sportsline Summer Camp as the Gators kick off week four of our tour around south Louisiana high school football.
Zachary wide receiver Chris Hilton said he's had LSU on his mind since having a Zoom call about a month ago with Tigers' wide receivers/asst. head coach Mickey Joseph.
The Scotlandville Hornets are stop No. 18 for Sportsline Summer Camp. It’s year two of the Lester Ricard era.
The No. 16 stop for the Sportsline Summer Camp tour around high school football was with the McKinley Panthers. The coaching staff is entering its second season.
Stop No. 15 for Sportsline Summer Camp was with the Live Oak Eagles. There was nothing but good vibes in Watson, as the Eagles are under new leadership in first-year head coach Blane Westmoreland.
More than 20 years after Jonathan “JT” Terrell competed for Nicholls State as a student-athlete, he’s returned to his alma mater as its new athletic director.
