The offense had its best day of spring practice on Thursday at Yulman Stadium, picking up where it left off at the end of Tuesday's workout. I'll get to that in a bit, but the biggest news today was the absence of punter Will Karoll, who has become the third significant player to leave the team either right before the start of drills (Rayshawn Pleasant) or during them (Jesus Machado and now Karoll). This pretty much came out of nowhere--Karoll was at last Saturday's scrimmage--and Jon Sumrall suspects tampering from another school, although there is nothing he can do about it. I noticed Karoll was not out there today after watching Patrick Durkin struggle on field goals for the first time and realizing his holder was Jesuit alum William Hudlow instead of Karoll. I asked Sumrall about Karoll after practice, and this is what he said:

"He's leaving. He's decided to move on. It's the world we live in. We talked and I'm not going to say everything that was said. You never know who's been talking to him. I think he probably already knows his destination. I'll just say that."

I pointed out Australians like Karoll were placed at schools by the agency representing them--Karoll told me as much when I wrote a feature on him.

"He's sort of changed the group he's with," Sumrall said. "He's not with the group he came over with. It's one of those things. I'm for Will. I like Will. I hate that he's gone. We have to go get a punter now, probably. It was very out of the blue. It was fine until it wasn't. I'm not real smart, but I've been doing this long enough to know there's some foul play. There's some backdoor things that are outside of our control. I wish him well and hope it goes well wherever he ends up."

Hudlow was the No. 2 punter, but Tulane definitely will need to find its punter from the portal.

Back to the practice. I did not write down a ton of the play-by-play because I was focused on depth chart info on the defensive line, but in 7 on 7, Kadin Semonza, whose last name pronunciation is Semahnza when I had been thinking Semoanza all spring, hit well-covered tight end Anthony Miller in the hands deep downfield, but Miller dropped it. It was not an easy catch, but it was one he should have made. Semonza then threw over the head of Bryce Bohanon deep when Bohanon had a step. He then went underneath to Sidney Mbanasor for back-to-back completions, nearly threw an interception on a deflected pass and hit Jamauri McClure for a 40-yard touchdown on a wheel route when the defense forgot about McClure. Kevin Adams was the closest defender, but I don't think it was his responsibility.

Donovan Leary took over and finished his drive with a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide open tight end Guiseann Mirtil, who made his second big play in as many days after being invisible since returning from a serious knee he sustained in the middle of 2024 spring drills as an early-enrolling freshman. Leary's next drive ended in a 39-yard field goal attempt that Durkin sent wide left for his second miss in a row, prompting me to notice Hudlow as holder.

After a break for individual work, they finished practice with an 11-on-11 2-minute drill in shoulder pads but with no tackling to the ground. Leary got first crack and threw deep for Shaun Nicholas, who stopped his route when he realized he was not open and got chewed out for not finishing the play. The drive ended with a nice touchdown run by Maurice Turner, who would be the starting running back if the season started Saturday. Sumrall has offered nothing but praise for Turner, a big-play threat who also can be tough as a runner when needed.

When Semonza got his chance, he hit Kellen Tasby on the play of the day-- a jump ball on a deep pass down the sideline in which Tasby leaped to make the grab over Adams, drawing loud cheers from the offense. The drive ended with no points when Semonza threw the ball into the stands because no one was open on third down before Jayden Lewis broke up a pass for Tasby in the corner of the end zone, sticking his hand in there just as the ball arrived.

Leary went back in and hit Zycarl Lewis on a deep out, threw a short pass to Garrett Mmahat, hit Lewis before Lewis slipped to the turf making a cut and fumbled a snap, recovering it himself. He then hit Anthony Brown-Stephens over the middle of the field to move the offense within field goal range, waited for the clock to run down before spiking the ball and watching as Durkin made a 37-yard field goal. The whistle blew ending practice at 10:02.

DEFENSIVE LINE DEPTH

I continually wrote down the front four while they rotated guys in and out. The first group I saw was Mo Westmoreland at bandit, Santana Hopper and Elijah Champaigne inside and Kam Hamilton, who is back to wearing No. 70, at end. Jah'Rie Garner roated in for Hopper quickly, and Deshaun Batiste replaced Hamilton. A little later, the D-line was Garner, Geordan Guidry, Derrick Sheppard and Jordan Norman. Then it was Gerrod Henderson, Drammeh, Nik Alston and Ty Cooper. A little later, it was walk-on Michael Guruli, Guidry, Sheppard and Norman. Then it was Batiste, Tre'Von McAlpine, Eliyt Nairne and Garner. The last grouping I wrote down was Garner, Guidry, Sheppard and McAlpine. My best guess for a starting unit y would be Henderson, Hopper, Adonis Friloux (who is out for the rest of spring) and Hamilton, but guys will rotate in and out on the deep unit.

INJURY

During the 11-on-11 work, Elijah Baker went down screaming with a knee injury that did not appear as severe a couple minutes later as he made it look at first. Although they moved the scrimmage away from him while a trainer examined him and stretched his leg, he walked off mostly on his own power while favoring his left leg. We will see how that pans out.

PHYSICAL DRILL

They did another version of Oklahoma kickoff drill they ran before the first scrimmage today, but with only two players competing at a time and no returner. One player lined up at the 15 and another lined up at the 20. They started toward the goal line, and the player in front had to turn around and try to prevent the other one from getting to a tackling dummy at the 3. Chris Rodgers beat Dallas Winner-Johnson comfortably, getting around him and slamming into the dummy. The others were more of a wash.

Sorry Guerry, have to ask bc the reports are few and far between.

After conducting a regular practice, Tulane scrimmaged from 9:45 to 10:17 on Saturday morning at Yulman Stadium. Instead of having an Oklahoma-like kickoff coverage drill right before the start, they had three one-on-one races between offensive and defensive players. They lined up at the 45-yard line, ran around a cushion at the other 45 and race back to dive across the 45. The first two were so close that the offense and defense claimed victory, with Jamauri McClure going against Kevin Adams and a pair of numbers I didn't catch in the second one. The last one had Zycarl Lewis against Armani Cargo, and Cargo won.

Several players were held out of the scrimmage. On defense, Sam Howard, Dickson Agu, Kam Hamilton, Javion White and Adonis Friloux were notable absences. On offense, Arnold Barnes and LaRon Husbands (knee, crutches) sat out while Derrick Graham and Shadre Hurst got eight reps before heading to the sideline to let other gets needed work. TJ Finley of course was not there. Darion Reed continued to be unavailable with a minor injury, wearing his jersey but not having his helmet. Antwaun Parham is out with an injury, too, joining Omari Hayes.

The scrimmage started with the offense backed up to its 1-yard line. On the first play, there was a botched exchange between Jack Hollifield and Kadin Semonza. The ball went forward, and Jack Tchienchou picked it up for an easy scoop and score. Donovan Leary went in and nearly threw a pick-six, with Chris Rodgers reading the out pass, stepping in front of it but failing to hold on to the ball.

Next, they did a third-and-one drill from the offense's 20. Leary threw incomplete under heavy pressure, then the offense was called for holding on a nice run by Zuberi Mobley, Mobley picked up a first down by inches and Semonza sneaked for 2 yards.

The regular portion of the scrimmage started with the ball at the offense's 20. After Leary threw incomplete, a penalty backed the offense up to the 19 and McClure busted a 21-yard power run where he ran through tackles. A quick out to Shazz Preston picked up 4 yards--he was unable to break free as he did twice in the first scrimmage--and Maurice Turner powered his way for 8 yards. Leary hit Preston for 25 yards on an inside route before Turner gained 2 yards and McClure gained 9 yards on a powerful run to make it first down at the defense's 12. Leary kept for a 3-yard loss (the whistle of course blew before any contact with the quarterbacks), and McClure was met in the backfield by a host of tacklers, breaking two of them but still ending up with a 2-yard loss. Leary then threw late to the outside for Justyn Reed on a pass that was not close. Patrick Durkin kicked a 35-yard field goal to finish the drive.

Semonza was next and started with three straight incomplete passes--including an overshot and another that was broken up by Jah'Rie Garner. They started over and Turner was stuffed for a 5-yard loss before breaking loose on second down for 22-yard gain down the sideline. He fumbled at the end, but the ball went ouf of bounds. Rodgers, who is having a good spring, tackled Anthony Miller for a 2-yard reception on the next play, and Shaun Nicholas beat KC Eziomume for 10 yards to move the ball to the defense's 44. Joshua Moore blitzed for a 6-yard "sack," Turner picked up 6 yards and Semonza scrambled on third down before the whistle blew for a sack.

Leary got the next turn and found Anthony Brown-Stephens wide open on a crosser for 24 yards to the 49. McClure was cut down for 1-yard gain, failing to break a tackle for the first time in four runs and looking a little dinged up as teammates pulled him up, and Leary overshot McClure on a simple pass in the flat where McClure did not appear totally ready. On third-and-9, Leary held the ball a little too long and when he threw, it went right to bandit Ty Cooper for an easy interception.

Leary got another possession and threw a quick out to Garrett Mmahat for 3 yards. Javin Gordon bounced outside for 5 yards but got popped hard near the sideline. McClure, still not looking right, tried to run wide to his left on third-and-1 and lost 3 yards. Leary tried to throw a quick pass on fourth-and-4 and Adams jumped it for an interception.

Leary got a third consecutive series, this time from the offense's 40, and started with a beautiful pass to Nicholas down the sideline for 20 yards. Moore sacked him for 5 yards on the next play before Mobley gained 4 yards. Turner tried to bounce outside on a surprise third-and-11 run call but gained only 5 yards. On fourth and 6, Leary overthrew an open Lewis on a deep ball to the end zone. They still allowed Durkin to attempt a 52-yard field goal, and he nailed it with a couple of yards to spare. The last time a Tulane kicker made one of 50 yards or longer in a game was Cairo Santos in 2013, which is insane.

Semonza went back in and handed off to McClure, who looked recovered from his early ding, gained 8 yards but fumbled at the end. The offense recovered it. An incomplete pass followed before Oliver Mitchell caught a 4-yard pass and slipped. A quick throw to Gordon netted 9 yards, and he then broke a tackle on a 17-yard power run to the 22. After a throwaway, Turner gained 14 yards up the middle on a play that ended in a fight between two players whose numbers I did not catch (an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman). On first-and-goal from the 8, Semonza overshot Reed in the corner of the end zone. He then hit Lewis on a quick out, but he was pushed out of bounds for no gain. Deshaun Batiste had a sack on third down, leading to a 32-yard field goal by Durkin.

They went to red zone work next, and Semonza was not clsoe on a pass for Bryce Bohanon. Mobley ran through a big hole for 11 yards to move the ball to the 9, and I thought McClure scored on the next play. The offense celebrated as if it were a touchdown, but the ball was marked just inside the 1. A Semonzs sneak was ugly as he went too low, and McClure was hit for a 2-yard loss on third-and-goal from the 1. A TD pass to Reid, who ran into the end zone and simply turned around, was wiped out by a penalty before Semonza connected with Bohanon on an out route in the back of the end zone, floating it in nicely. over Chase Green. Durkin converted the extra point.

The scrimmage ended with one red zone possession for walk-on Dagan Bruno. He found Brown-Stephens for 18 yars on the first play. A 1-yard run on first-and-goal set up Turner for a 1-yard TD plunge, and Zach Marini made the extra point.

DEPTH CHARTS

The starting O-line from left to right was Derrick Graham, Shadre Hurst, Hollifield, John Bock and Reese Baker. The No. 2 line was Tristen Fortenberry, Landry Cannon, Elijah Baker, Robbie Pizzolato and Dominic Steward. Anthony Miller was the first-team tight end, backed up by Reid. McClure was the first running back, with Turner next, then Gordon, then Mobley. The starting wideouts were Bohanon, Mbanasor and Preston. The No. 2 wideouts were Nicholas, Brown-Stephens and Lewis. Kellen Tasby and Mmahat got in the rotation, too.

The starting D-line was Gerrod Henderson, Tre'Von McAlpine, Santana Hopper and Jah'Rie Garner, with Deshaun Batiste, Elijah Champaigne, Eliyt Nairne and Mo Westmoreland getting plenty of work inthe rotation along with Cooper, PaLanding Drammeh, Geordan Guidry. They rotate in and out so much it is hard to get a read on the order. I did not see Nik Alston but might have missed him.

The linebacker were Rodgers and Dallas Winner-Johnson, with Jean Claude Joseph and Makai Williams getting work.

The nickelbacks were Eziomume and Jayden Lewis. The cornerbacks were Jahiem Johnson and E'Zaiah Shine together at the sart, with Armani Cargo rotating in and Isaiah Wadsworht getting backup reps.

The starting safeties were Tchienchou and Despanie, with Adams and Moore behind them and Green rotating in at times.

They had the first basketball interviews today since the day Tulane lost in the AAC tourney, and there is a lot of news. For one, Mari Jordan was back at practice after missing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (the Wave did not practice Thursday), and Ron Hunter said Jordan had taken his name out of the portal. Second, Kam Williams committed to Kentucky, an indication of how high his reputation is. Third, Rowan Brumbaugh, who is more of an open book than any player I have ever covered, refused to commit to returning next year. Here is his full interview today, where he was brutally honest about everything he was asked.

On Mari Jordan being back and how significant that is:

"It's great news. Obviously he was a big part of this year, but at the end of the day we gotta go do it. We came in fourth place in the conference, like, that's cool and all, but we have a lot of stuff to do. Just having one player, we have to continue to build a good culture."

On the significance of the College Basketball Crown:

"I mean it's tough because we don't have a full roster. It's almost like a bowl game. It's a great idea. It should be fun, but going into next year I wouldn't expect this tournament to represent anything honestly."

On if he is over what happened against Memphis:

"Yeah, I'm over that. It's God's will at the end of the day. It's something to learn from. We'll be back."

On how comfortable he is with staying next year:

"I haven't made an official decision or anything like that, but I love it here. It's a great system. It works for me. It works for the team, so I just hope we can get some more guys."

On the deciding factors of staying or leaving:

"I love it here. There's nothing more from a people perspective, basketball school perspective. Honestly it would be more of a financial thing at the end of the day. When you look back five years from now, do you regret not taking a big opportunity? That's where I'm at for me. I'm always going to be an open book. I love it here. There's nothing more Tulane can do now at the end of the day."

On how much team needs to improve to get to NCAA tournament:

"A ton. You had one year of decent success, but we still came in fourth place in the American Conference. I don't even know if it was a top-10 conference this year (it was 11th), so we had success, but now is the time of year where everyone is told how good they are and people are told they are way better than they are. We literally came in fourth place in conference. We aren't that good. We don't have to keep getting so hyped up. We have tons of work to do. I'm just excited to get back in the gym. I love just working out and stuff because at the end of the day you have to guard the dude in front of you. You have to beat the team in front of you. It doesn't matter how much money you make, what school you go to, who thinks you're so good, who told you you're so good because you're not. I'm under an audience of one, and that's God."

Tulane reached the midpoint of spring drills in the middle of Thursday morning's practice. The eighth session of the spring lasted two hours on a windy, humid day, and soon after I realized TJ Finley was not there, the news popped about his arrest. I missed a few minutes of the practice while I downloaded the police report and tried to reach his lawyer (unsuccessfully on the latter part), but it appears Tulane's quarterback race is down to two in the spring with the possibility of another one added in the summer portal period if neither Kadin Semonza nor Donovan Leary convinces the coaches he can lead this team to a championship. Forget about Kellen Tasby. He practiced at wide receiver today as the staff looks for more height at the position.

My concern with Semonza is he has missed more throws than I expected considering accuracy is his calling card. My spies tell me he picked up the offensive system in about a week after arriving and has the mind to be a successful QB. The question is whether he has the skill set. Leary's skill set is not in question. He has a cannon for an arm, but so did Kai Horton, who lacked the leadership qualities and the consistency to be a solid performer. Both quarterbacks are ahead of the pace any of the three set last spring, but Darian Mensah made a heck of a jump from there, and it remains to be seen if either one of these guys will do that.

I looked at depth charts at the line of scrimmage today while they spent plenty of time in two different segments of 11-on-11 action. The first-team offensive line was Jack Hollifield at center, John Bock at right guard and Reese Baker at right tackle to go along with the two returning starters. The second-team line had Tristen Fortenberry, Landry Cannon, Elijah Baker, Robbie Pizzolato and Dominic Steward from left to right, with Jordan Hall (LT), Jayce Mitchell (LG) and Elijah Baker (C) rotating in. Bock later got some work at center and snapped one high and hard that went through Semonza's hands and forced him to retrieve it 20 yards behind the line.

The defensive line had Harvey Dyson, Ty Cooper and Jah'rie Carner rotating at bandit, Deshaun Batiste and Gerrod Henderson getting the work at end and Eliyt Nairne, Derrick Shepard and Elijah Champaigne getting most of the work inside. Kam Hamilton remains out with an injury. Freshman Nik Alston caught my eye when he deflected a pass from Semonza as he tried to throw on the run.

I have seen a few too many fumbles during the spring. Today, the culprits were Anthony Brown-Stephens on an end around and Zuberi Mobley on an run near the goal line. Mobley got chewed out by a coach for putting the ball on the ground. Neither he nor fellow FAU transfer Omari Hayes, who has been out with an leg injury since day 2, have made much of an impact.

Wide receiver Antwaun Parham suffered a knee injury during practice and was walking off the field toward the locker room with a trainer.

Leary had a good stretch in a 7-on-7 red zone session, hitting Seth Gale in the back corner of the end zone, finding Bryce Bohanon in the back of the end zone and connecting with Oliver Mitchell on back-to-back-to-back touchdown passes.

Maurice Turner makes a highlight play every day, and he looked good again on a quick screen to the outside, taking it a long way. Sumrall absolutely loves him.

A cornerback who has flashed is Isaiah Wadsworth, the senior transfer from Wofford. He blanketed Turner on a pass from Leary in the end zone from the 5.

Jamauri McClure, who has not done much outside of Saturday's scrimmage, got stuffed for a loss by Henderson after catching a quick throw behind the line.

Linebacker Dallas Winner-Johnson continued to make plays, breaking up a throw by Semonza. Kevin Adams made a nice tackle of Mitchell after a short reception.

The first Thursday of the NCAA tournament is my Holy Day, so I did not have a write-up yesterday after attending the morning practice, but here it is. I asked Jon Sumrall about Trey Tuggle, and he is indeed no longer on the team.

"Trey already had graduated, is working on his master's and he has decider to be done playing football, Sumrall said. "It's something that when the injury happened and you get an older guy like that who already has his degree in hand, they have decisions to make. We support Trey fully. Great guy. Would have loved to have had him back. Was not anything like we're like, hey, you need to leave. Love Trey. Mississippi guy. Great kid. Had his degree in hand and was wrapping up his master's so just felt like it was in his heart to move on and go do life as opposed to keep playing football, which no judgment in that al all."

Tuggle is a loss because he was slated to start last year at left tackle before his ACL injury near the end of spring drills. That spot is no longer open because of Derrick Graham, but Tuggle certainly could have been in the mix at right tackle. His departure leaves Tulane with two linemen who have significant experience in Green Wave uniforms--Graham and Shadre Hurst. The other 15 practicing in the spring are either young or transfers.

It was chilly and very windy Thursday morning, but the practice was much more lively than Tuesday's, which was a little flat. This one had the typical Sumrall-coached energy, and the defense made a lot of big plays. Safety Jack Tchienchou jumped a route for a pick six against TJ Finley in 11-on-11, and cornerback E'Zaiah Shine recovered a fumble for a score after a botched exchange between Finley and a running back whose number I did not catch. Finley immediately dropped down to do push-ups after the interception, but it was a really good play by Tchienchou, whom I believe will be an All-AAC player in the fall. There also was a touchdown in 7-on7 when Jahiem Johnson stepped in front of a pass from walk-on Jakson Judge and ran to the end zone. Johnson has looked good in the first week, and he is a guy that was healthy all last spring and still ended up being outplayed by Rishi Rattan. He's not the same player now. It's too early to get a handle on the depth chart as guys rotate in and out, but Johnson and Pleasant would be my first-team cornerbacks at the moment with Shine, Armani Cargo and Wofford transfer Isaiah Wadsworth in the picture. The nickelbacks--spears in this staff's terminology--are Javion White, Jaydon Lewis and East Central University transfer Tavare Smith. The starting safeties are Tchienchou and Bailey Despanie, with Kevin Adams, Joshua Moore and Chase Green competing for roles.

Jesus Machado and Chris Rodgers were playing together at linebacker Thursday, and later Jean Claude Joseph joined Machado. Even though he has been 100-percent cleared and even could have come back at the end of last season, I'm not sure Machado really feels 100 percent. We talked to him after practice, but he never has been a good talker, so it was hard to get a read. Obviously Sam Howard and Dickson Agu will play big roles there, too. The tallest linebacker out there is Missouri State transfer Dallas Winner-Johnson, who is listed at 6-5, 230. I can't recall seeing a Tulane linebacker that tall.

The offensive linemen on the same unit as Graham and Hurst were Elijah Baker at center, Landry Cannon at guard and Reese Baker at right tackle. Another unit from left to right was Liberty transfer Jordan Hall, who strangely is listed as a Georgia transfer on the roster we were given, Appalachian State transfer Jack Hollifield, FIU transfer John Bock at center, Nicholls transfer Robbie Pizzolato and Indiana State transfer Jude McCoskey. I also saw Hollifield at center some unless I wrote it down wrong.

Bryce Bohanon has not done much on the field in his Tulane career, but he has looked a lot better in the first week. He made a nice cut to get open for a pass in 1-on-1 drills and had a long catch-and-run on a throw from Donovan Leary. Getting separation has been his problem, but it looks like he will have a better chance of making an impact in the fall. Kentucky transfer Anthony Brown-Stephens has a nice catch on a deep out, and Louisville transfer Jimmy Calloway scored on a pass from Finley. Zycarl Lewis left Smith on the ground with a sharp move. The throw of the day came from Leary to Shazz Preston on a fade when he had only a half-step of separation and the ball hit him in the hands running full speed in the corner of the end zone. Kadin Semonza talked about the chip on his shoulder Tuesday trying to prove doubters wrong because of his short stature, but Leary came across as the guy with the real chip on his shoulder. He felt like he should have earned more playing time at Illinois than he received.

Sidney Mbanasor, who looked good Tuesday, dropped a TD pass Thursday, then pulled up as he tried to run under a deep throw later, allowing a defender to knock it down and walking a little gingerly after the play. That bears watching. Oliver Mitchell, the freshman from Karr, got open for catches a few times.

The quarterbacks, who have been generally sharp, missed a few throws in 7-on-7. The wind, which was gusting to 25 miles per hour, likely affected some throws. Finley threw low for an open Lewis and Semonza missed badly low for tight end LeRon Husbands before completing a touchdown pass to Preston. I do not have a pecking order in my head for the QBs yet. It's too early.

The highlight in 11 on 11 was when Leary scrambled to his right a la Darian Mensah, except Mensah more often drifted to his left, and hit Lewis on the sideline with little room. Semonza hit Garrett Mmahat, whom I hesitate to say has been productive over the first two practice. I hesitate because he has impressed me a lot in practice over the past two years, and Sumrall even singled him out as a ball player early in camp last fall, but like Rattan in the past on defense, it never has translated into a game for the former quarterback who never had played wideout until he switched in fall camp of 2023. Finely threw through traffic to complete a pass to Mitchell before Leary hit Lewis over the middle. I have no idea how the receiving depth chart is going to shape out. Sumrall singled it as his biggest concern entering spring drills, with no truly proven guy but a lot of candidates vying to be starters.

When the pads aren't on, it is hard to judge running backs, but early-enrolling freshman Javin Gordo has popped out in the first week. He looks quick and decisive. I really haven't noticed Jamauri McClure much through two practices, which is a little surprising and I expect will not be the case for much longer.

Former Tulane OL coach Cody Kennedy stopped by practice to catch up with new passing game coordinator Will Hall, who brought him to Tulane when he was hired as offensive coordinator after the 2018 season. I had a great relationship with both of them when they were on staff, so Kennedy and I talked for several minutes. He said the talent on this roster is so much better than the group he and Hall inherited in 2019, saying Tulane is getting the guys that Houston and UCF used to get when they dominated the AAC, adding the only AAC team that compared to Tulane in talent now was Memphis.

Dontae Fleming is out of eligibility, but he has hung around practice both days to watch.

Three injured players were doing exercises in the stands when I arrived, and a fourth was on the sideline with a boot on his right foot. The guys in the stands were walk-on tight end DJ Cicero, Albany transfer DB KC Eziomume and No. 61`, who is not listed on the roster. The player with the boot was FAU wide receiver transfer Omari Hayes.

I was wrong about being the only media guy there Thursday. Three of the four local TV stations were represented, with WDSU the exception. Sumrall, Machado and Arnold Barnes spoke after practice, and I will have their transcriptions up at some point today.

I realized during last Friday's scrimmage that a lot of the numbers on the roster we were given were wrong or have been changed, making it extremely difficult to keep an accurate depth chart with all of the new players on the roster. I got some answers today, which will help down the road, but hopefully we will get an accurate numerical roster by the weekend with spring drills having reached the midpoint with practice 7 today and practice 8 on Thursday. Notable number changes are Kam Hamilton to 6 from 70, Kevin Adams to 7 from 23 and Dickson Agu to 2 from 28, with transfer bandit Harvey Dyson (Texas Tech) wearing 23 instead of the 6 we were given. There are others I still haven't figured out, like who is wearing No. 12 on defense at cornerback.

Jon Sumrall has been praising his defensive line since the start of spring drills, and the first-team guys today were Gerrod Henderson at end, a guy I have listed as Santana Hopper at defensive tackle (but Hopper is a 265-pound end transfer from Appalachian State), Tre'Von McAlpine at the nose and Dyson at joker. The second-teamers were DeShaun Batiste at end, Elyte Nairne at tackle, Elijah Champaigne at the nose and Mo Westmoreland at bandit. I did not see Adonis Friloux, and he was declared unavailable for interviews after someone requested him. There definitely is plenty of depth up front, but with so many new guys (the only returning starter is Hamilton, and I did not see him practicing), it is a wide-open competition for playing time.

The first-team linebackers were Sam Howard and Chris Rodgers, and I expect that to be the case when the season starts with Dickson Agu, who is sidelined with a minor injury right now, also in the mix. Howard is a no-brainer, and Rodgers is a playmaker. Speaking of playmakers, Missouri State transfer Dallas Winner-Johnson made some today, getting an interception of Donovan Leary on fourth down in an 11-on-11 drill and making a "tackle" in the backfield earlier. He was the first player I noticed on day 1 because of his unusual height (6-5) for a linebacker, but now I'm noticing him for his ability.

"He was a productive player at the FCS level," Sumrall said. "He's got great length and can run. Sometimes those long guys need to continue to work on staying low and playing with leverage is a challenge. Every room you like having guys that have different strengths. We didn't have a ton of length at linebacker on the roster. We don't have any tiny guys, but he definitely presents a different element. If the offense wants to get in three detached to the field and he's playing in the apex, that stick throw to No. 3 is a little bit more tricky because he can stick an arm out and it's like go-go gadget arms. He sticks it out and keeps going. He's very talented. He has a lot of development left. He has a really high ceiling. Some guys have high floors and low ceilings. That was me. I didn't have very much to go talent-wise but I was going to be pretty good. He's a guy that has a really high ceiling. He can be really, really special with time."

I asked him about Winner-Johnson's difficulty with leverage considering his size.

"It's hard," he said. "When you're taking on blocks, that's the biggest time it affects you at linebacker, if a guard or a tackle is getting up on you and while you're length can help keep people off of you, you also can play too high and lose your center of gravity and base. That's something he's having to continue to focus on. I've seen improvement in the spring and he will continue to grow, but he's flashed. What bodes well for him is he's flashed in the periods of live football. In the normal practice setting he's looked all right, but when we're just playing the game is when he flashes and makes a play."

Johnson and Jean Claude Joseph were on the second team. Jesus Machado, of course, is gone, but he was not working with the first team in the first two weeks of spring drills, and I believe that is what convinced him to enter the portal. I asked Sumrall about that.

"When I got here, Zeus was contemplating the portal in December of '23," Sumrall said. "We got to the end of conversations and he decided to stay. He had the ACL injury in the bowl game against Virginia Tech, very unfortunate, and then last year rehab focus was the main thing. His recovery at the start of last year was a little slow. He lacked confidence getting back into the swing of things. He and I met last week and he wanted to talk. I'm for Zeus, love him to death, grateful for what he's done for Tulane football, hate to see guys leave, but at the same time when they ask you questions about where am I, what's my role, I deal in truths. like, hey, you've got to earn it. No one's given anything. I coached the guy that owns the NCAA record for most tackles in a college career (Carlton Marshall at Troy) and I told him like every year you have to earn your job. I'm not going to give you anything. I don't care who you are. I think sometimes you feel like you need to look somewhere else. I hate it. I love Zeus. I wish him well, but we have to move on. He's working back into being confident with his knee. I told him I don't care if he's played one snap for me or 100 or 1,000, for as long as I live I'll help you the rest of my life even if I don't like the fact you're leaving. That's a different deal. Four years ago this transfer portal stuff right when I became a head coach, I probably lost my mind on some things when guys left. Now I'm like, hey, man, I'll help you. What do we need to do? I was communicating with a couple of schools last night trying to help him that had questions on him."

Carlton Marshall was a walk-on at Troy when Sumrall was the linebackers coach. By the time Sumrall returned as head coach, he became Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, making 22 tackles against Army and 18 against Marshall on his way to 577 for his career.

"When I took the job and he had one year of eligibility left, people were trying to get him to transfer," Sumrall said. "I said, hey, you've got to earn your job again. I know you and you should earn it, but you have to earn it."

The centers had problems with snaps today as guys rotated to the spot, including Shadre Hurst. My sources tell me Hurst is still going to play guard but they want to give him some work at the position he would have to play in the NFL. Elijah Baker began as the first-team center today, with Jack Hollifield on the second team. Landry Cannon and Reese Baker continued to work with the first unit on the right side, ahead of the multitude of transfers. The second-team line had, from left to right, Tristen Fortenberry, John Bock, Hollifield, Dominic Steward and Jayce Mitchell. That leaves Robbie Pizzolato (Nicholls) and Jude McCoskey (Indiana State). I need to find out the status of Liberty transfer Jordan Hal, who was not around when I wrote down all the numbers for individual drills before Friday's scrimmage.

Bryce Bohanon turned in the play of the day, catching a short pass from Donovan Leary and juking a DB ( I did not catch the number) out of his shoes on his way to the end zone as the offensive players on the sideline stormed behind him to celebrate. That is not the type of play Bohanon was known for in the past, but he is serious about making a major contribution as a receiver this year. He, Shazz Preston and Anthony Brown-Stephens have stood out the most to me through the first seven practices at wideout, but Bohanon is the most consistent. Preston needs to bring it every day.

Tight end LeRon Husbands went down during the 11-on-11 work and they had to move the action downfield while trainers looked at his left knee. It could be a serious injury, or it might not, but his absence would leave Tulane with Anthony Miller and Justyn Reid as the only healthy scholarship tight ends. I did not see Guisean Mirtil, who missed all but a couple of practices last spring with an ACL injury as an early enrollee from high school.

The prettiest pass of the day was an unlikely combination of Kadin Semonza to walk-on Trevor Evans, who caught pass inside the 10 on a deep out and turned upfield to cross the goal line for a touchdown. I don't have a handle on the three quarterbacks yet. I'd say TJ Finley has been the most consistent, but my concern with him is he apparently always has been a good practice player. He won the job at Texas State two years ago, but at the end of the year, they aggressively recruited his replacement from the transfer portal, prompting him to leave. Then he won the Western Kentucky job last year before suffering a season-ending injury early, which is impressive considering that program throws the ball around as much as any in the country. But he has not found a home at any of his four previous stops as the guy they trusted going forward. He's a heck of a lot better than Keon Howard, who turned out to be a stiff, but the similarity is Howard twice won the job at Southern Miss and again at Tulane with his practice play. It will be interesting to see how the current three-way battle plays out.

It's a very busy day for me with the basketball news on top of the scrimmage, but I will have the full report at some point. There were two fights near the end of the scrimmage that forced Sumrall to stop it and have the players do punishment sprints, but he admitted he was not really upset about the intensity. The three top QBs took turns operating from their own 25 and then in a red zone drill, with Kellen Tasby and one of the walk-on QBs getting in at the end of the 10-series affair.

The full update will come in this thread.

Tulane had a spirited 11-on-11 session at the end of a a 90-minute practice on Thursday morning in preparation for Friday morning's scrimmage, which has been moved from Saturday because of the possibility of bad weather early Saturday. I did not realize the workout was ending early, so I caught only the last 40 minutes or so. A couple of times guys were tackled to the ground in what was supposed to be a non-tackling session, but Jon Sumrall prefers over-aggressiveness to under-aggressiveness and had no problem with the enthusiasm. The first thing I saw was a big run by Louisville transfer Maurice Turner on a cutback. He and freshman Javin Gordon have been the standouts of the spring at running back, but I will be very interested to see what Jamauri McClure does tomorrow. Although he has been quiet to this point, he excelled in every scrimmage last preseason. So far, Turner has been the home run threat and Gordon, who is built like Duda Barnes, has been Mr. Consistent, picking up the playbook quickly as an early enroller.

My spies said Cadin Semonza was not as sharp today as in other practices, but he completed three in a row during a 7-on-7 drill right before the 11-on-11 work. He started by going underneath to Gordo, then hit Sydney Mbanasor deep with a bit of a wobbly pass before throwing a dart to walk-on Walker Davis for about 20 yards.

When the 11-on-11 drill started, T.J. Finley let an inaccurate snap by Elijah Baker go through his hands on the first play. He followed with completions to Barnes underneath and Shaun Nicholas underneath around a draw by McClure.

Donovan Leary was next, and he completed a quick pass to Jimmy Calloway, who reversed field immediately and tried to cross to the other side, where linebacker Jean Clause Joseph met him and stripped him for a fumble the defense recovered. Leary then scrambled to his right and made a nice throw to Mbanasor, who received encouragement/motivation from wideouts coach Carter Sheridan all day. Leary was "sacked" on the next play, I believe by Geordan Guidry. Gordon caught a pass underneath on the last play.

Third was Semonza, who began by scrambing. He overthrew walk-on Trevor Evans on a deep route by a good margin before hitting tight end Anthony Miller for a dcent gain and throwing behind Nicholas on a slant.

Kellen Tasby got a turn and started off with a perfect pass deep down the middle to Bryce Bohanon. For a second I wondered if he could create a four-way competition, but his next throw went right to walk-on safety Carson Klein for an easy, inexplicable interception, I'm not sure who he was trying to hit. The day finished with a pass to LeRon Husbands underneath.

At one point, they had the two true freshman defensive linemen out there together--tackle PaLanding Drammeh and end Nik Alston--with rush endTy Cooper and Guidry. The top cornerbacks were Jahiem Jojhnson and Armani Cargo--I did not see Rayshawn Pleasant--but they are mixing and matching the defense a lot and I will get a better handle of the early depth chart tomorrow.

I still don't have a pecking order at QB. If I had to wager right now, I would put it at Finley/Semonza/Leary but with little separation. Your guess is as good as mine at receiver even though you have not watched practice. A bunch of them have made plays, but none of them have been consistently productive in the four practices I have seen. It will be interesting to see which guys make plays in the scrimmage. I would put Bryce Bohanon, who has not been a significant factor in the passing game, at the top of the list to this point, with no clear order behind him. Jon Sumrall says it is the position that concerns him the most and one he might have to address after the spring in the portal.

The scrimmage will be at the end of tomorrow's practice, which will be a normal one until the tackling portion to finish off the week.

Sumrall, Will Hall and Javin Gordon talked after practice. I do not have time to transcribe them right now, but will get those quotes later.

We've seen no evidence that is going to happen, but Tulane's best hope is to dominate the AAC in the standings, starting this weekend at South Florida, which inexplicably has by far the league's highest RPI at 43. It will require a different team than the one that has played the first 25 games.

The sole encouraging thing about last night's 7-6 loss to UNO was Wes Burton's lights-out performance from the bullpen. It's not just that he struck out seven of the nine batters he faced in three perfect innings. It was how he looked doing it, going to a 2-0 count only once while showing total command and punching out some quality hitters. The 6-foot-8 grad transfer from Santa Monica, Calif., who appeared ticketed for a big role last season before tearing his UCL in the Fall Ball World Series, is a great interview. Here is what he said today.

On how confidence he is that he can replicate that performance:

"I've always believed in myself. I've obviously been through a lot in my career. I'm really grateful for the coaching staff and them giving me the opportunity to be here and continue to progress and continue to work with me. Just more than anything I'm really grateful for that opportunity and for that support. I'm starting to feel like myself again out there coming off the injury. That's really exciting, and I hope to keep it rolling."

On recovery process from Tommy John surgery:

"It was definitely a challenge, and my career as a whole has not gone exactly the way that I drew it up coming out of high school, but I've learned a lot of lessons in that journey and picked up a lot of different things along the way. Probably the biggest thing that I've learned has just been the power of perseverance and that failure isn't final and you're not locked into whatever position you're at. It's something coach Jay says a lot, it's never as bad as you think it is and it's never as good as you think it is, so the temptation is to think that I threw really well last night and I'm on top of the world, or when it's not going your way, which obviously I've spent a lot of time in that position, the temptation is to be woe is me and think it will never turn around, but it's just having that belief in the coaching staff and really just belief in myself that I can get where I want to."

On when he got hurt and when he had surgery:

"It was November 16th or Nov. 17 of 2023. It was our second game of the Fall World Series. I had the surgery Dec. 6 of 2023. I haven't had any other major injuries, but the elbow was always a nagging thing. It was something that I had initially injured my senior year of high school, and we evaluated some different options, got a couple of opinions, a couple that recommended surgery, and then by the time I was able to get an appointment with Dr. (Neal) ElAttrache, who at the time I wanted to have do the surgery and eventually did the surgery when I had it in 2023, my elbow didn't hurt. His instructions were give it another couple of weeks and then try throwing and see how it goes. I managed it the five years of my career and had gotten here and thrown really well my first fall and got to the end of the fall and reached back for a 3-2 fastball to Michael Lombardi. Struck him out for the record, so we went out on a win, but I felt it and I knew what I was dealing with at that point, and even my whole career I'd known I was going to need it at some point. It was kind of a management process, but the little thread that was still hanging on finally went."

On taking advantage of his last chance:

"It's a huge motivation. I've been around the block in my career and seen a thing or two. I don't think I've ultimately accomplished what I've wanted to accomplish. I've gotten to be a part of some really good teams and experienced some really cool things and am incredibly grateful for that, but there's still more I want to achieve and am excited to be a part of. I love my teammates and I love the group and I love the coaching staff that we have here and I'm really excited to play whatever role I can in helping us reach our goals."

On his role at Indiana in 2023:

"I was kind of a mid-relief guy. We made it to a regional and lost. I got hot in the bullpen about 17 times that weekend but didn't end up going in, which if you compared my career stats to how many innings I threw in the bullpen warming up, it's very different."

On success of teams at Ole Miss and Indiana:

"I have watched a lot of winning. That is true. I've been in the clubhouse for a lot of winning."

On Ole Miss years:

"I had a great experience there and I'm super grateful for my time there. I don't think it went the way that I or coach Bianco or any of the staff there necessarily had envisioned it when they were recruiting me out of high school. Consistency and executing multiple pitches in the strike zone, the game just didn't always shake out the way you want it to. I still have a tremendous relationship with everybody there and left on great terms. When we had our ring ceremony to get the national championship team back together, I went and gave everybody hugs. The plan all along was for me to be there for three years. The hope was that I would get drafted and move on, but I graduated from there."

On how he ended up at Ole Miss:

"I wasn't really looking at the SEC coming from California. I had grown up going to UCLA games. That was what I knew of college baseball. Watched some great baseball growing up. The standard Friday night in the Burton household was to go to Jackie Robinson Stadium and watch some baseball, but I was looking more at the high academic institutions, the Dukes and the Stanfords and places like that. Ole Miss saw a video of me on Twitter and they happened to be going to play Long Beach State two weeks later. They came and saw me throw a bullpen at 7 in the morning at an empty facility and recruited me off of that. Then I went down there and fell in love with the place. I'm so grateful for my time there. It was an amazing experience that I'm incredibly lucky to have had."

On Ole Miss going from mediocrity in season to College World Series champion in 2022:

"Absolutely. If there's one thing I can emphasize, I'm so grateful for the various lessons I've learned along my journey and things I hope I can help this team with that I've seen in my career before I got to Tulane. If I had to signal something from that experience, it would just be the perseverance piece where things weren't going our way but we knew we were a good ball club, we knew we had the talent, we knew we had the pieces to get where we wanted to go. I feel the exact same way about this team. We have all the talent in the world. We have all the pieces to get where we want to go. It's just a matter of getting everything lined up and executing on a day-in, day-out basis. I have no doubt that we'll get there and do that."

On what he does best on the mound:

"I'm dominating the strike zone with my best stuff and executing three pitches for strikes. Something coach Izzio and I have worked on a lot in the last three weeks was I came into college as a fastball-curveball guy and got away from that. I don't think in a Division I game I'd thrown a curveball before three weeks ago. so after my first outing against Nicholls this season, we were relying almost exclusively on my fastball, and he and I met the next morning and talked about adding a curveball. I was like I threw one back in the day, and he said I think that will help with the way my fastball plays. We can create a tunnel off of that with the downward, hard breaking ball. We got to work with that. Frankie Niemann as well has been a huge help with that, and that's really been a focus of developing that so we have something to keep guys off of my fastball. It's kind of a rising tide lifts all boats. You add something else to the arsenal and it takes them off my fastball. Now my fastball looks better even though it's the same fastball it was. Now they're not hunting just that. The development of that has been huge for me, and I have to credit coach Izzio with that. We've incorporated my changeup more and continued to work on that, refining that and having that be something that we can lean on really. That's been the biggest development for me over the last couple of weeks. I've gone from really a one-pitch pitcher, which I think I've thrown 90-percent fastballs in my career, and had some decent success doing it."

On fastball speed:

"It's been up to 95, but it's probably more 92, 94 than anything else. It's really more the peripheral metrics that make it as good a pitch as it is, but hitters at this level are so talented that if you're only throwing one pitch at them, regardless of the velocity, regardless of the induced vertical break, they can get to it, but now if you can force them to respect two or three pitches, it makes it a lot more difficult especially when you have the low-mid 90s in your back pocket. Now it gets up on you a little bit quicker."

On grad degree:

"I'm getting a master's in sports studies.:

On being two-time Academic All-SEC at Ole Miss:

"One thing my mama always emphasized, that was the deal we made was all right, if you're going to go to Ole Miss, you better get good grades. You're going to graduate in three years and if baseball doesn't work out, you can go to grad school. I was just excited to play baseball forever. I'm going to play college baseball forever."

We all know that Lombardi has been excellent this year, but his strikeout rate is unbelievable. In 13 innings, he has fanned 28 batters for an incredible 19.4 strikeouts per 9 innings. I’ve never heard of such a thing! Montiel is also spectacular, but his 15.4 Ks per 9 innings pales by comparison.

Speaking of our bullpen, thanks largely to Lombardi and Montiel, our relievers are striking out 12.1 batters per 9 innings while our starters only 9.3. Opponents are also batting .281 against our starters and only .220 against our relievers. The ERA’s for our starters is 5.42 and relievers is 4.49. Relievers are harmed by poor control walking or hitting 7.2 per 9 innings while our starters are walking or hitting 5.3— better, but still not particularly good. We need 4 starters and 4 relievers we can trust. We are far, far short of that.

Among our starters, Fladda has been either very good or very bad. His first, third, and fifth starts were good. His second, fourth, and sixth were bad. In his “good” starts, his ERA is 2.37. In his “bad” starts, it’s 10.95. If he is truly good every other start, we should see the “good” Fladda this Friday.

Cehajic has been much the same. During his first, third, and fifth starts, his ERA is 6.92. In his second and fourth starts, it’s 0.82. His next “even numbered’ start should be this weekend. Can we look forward to a “good” performance?

As to the seven other guys who have started a game, none have gone more than 3.1 innings and, as a group, have a 6.82 ERA as starters.

Over to the hitting side, although he’s still hitting .329 on the season, Mathias Haas is only 2 for his last 16. We need him to turn it around.

Like much of the team, Tanner Chun has struggled recently (3 for his last 24), but two of those four hits were HR’s.

Rasmussen, on the other hand, is on a terrific hot streak, Over the past twelve games, while the rest of the team has hit .221, he’s batted .400, to raise his already solid batting average to .366.

Everyone recognizes that Jackson Linn is having a terrible time at bat, but examining his season to date is interesting. He’s struck out 21 of his 48 official times at bat (44%), which is quite a lot. But he’s got 2 doubles and 2 HR’s among his seven hits, which suggest (with very little data) that when he hits it, it goes a long way. But, oddly enough, while the team as a group is hitting .341 when putting the ball in play (hits divided by at-bats minus strikeouts), Linn is only hitting .259 when he puts the ball in play. That is a very low success rate. So, strikeouts aren’t his only problem. Even putting the ball in play isn’t resulting in base hits.

Defense is harder to quantify but anyone who watches us play realizes our defense is bad. Coach rushes defensive replacements onto the field at four to five positions in almost every game to minimize the problem. But our .964 fielding average is the only well documented, though flawed, recognition of our ineptitude. It’s been several years since we fell below .970. Even our opponents, no great shakes either, are fielding at .971. But our inability to make simple plays, missing the cut-off man, and throwing to the wrong base is hard to quantify. Not getting to balls that should be outs is also a problem.

Anyhow, those are some stats that I found interesting. Let’s add some better ones.

Roll Wave!!!

We’re 21 games into the regular season and the conference season starts this evening against Wichita State. Even Tulane fans like me, who don’t see much chance at getting an at-large bid to the NCAA baseball regionals, want Tulane to succeed. Most of us root fervently for the team. But, gaining a regional bid is a long putt at this point. Warren Nolan predicts us to have a 37-19 final record and an RPI of 90. Boyd’s World is more pessimistic and has us going 31-25 with an RPI of 128. I personally think Nolan is closer and I wouldn’t be shocked if we won 40 regular season games but, due to strength of schedule, would probably not be enough for an at-large bid. To reach 40 wins would mean winning at the same clip as we have done so far, 71.4%. But that won’t be easy. We’ve played an incredibly weak schedule so far. Our opponents have won only 38.3% of their games. As of today, future opponents have won 54.7% of their games. And we’ll be playing many more tougher away games than we have to date. Some thoughts:

We’re hitting OK but with very little power. Rasmussen, Haas, and the freshmen, Chun and Wachs, are doing better than expected, but Jackson Linn’s drop off has been devastating. Others are performing about as expected, though with a reduction in HR’s.

On the mound, Cehajic, Lombardi, and Montiel have been consistently good. Fladda, Wilcenski, and Clements have both good and bad appearances. Most of the rest have not been very good. To get an at large bid, we probably need four starters and four or more relievers who can be counted on.

What can be said about our defense that is positive? We make too many errors, don’t make simple plays, throw to the wrong base, and continuously miss cut-off men. Over recent years, our fielding average has never fallen below .970, but this year it’s at .962. That’s quite bad.

The next dozen games continue the trend of weak opposition where we must “make hay while the sun shines.” The latter part of the schedule is much tougher. Let’s sweep Wichita State.

Roll Wave!!!

Kam Williams is confirmed in the transfer portal and is not coming back.

Sources tell me Kaleb Banks, Mari Jordan and little-used reserves Spencer Ellliot and Michael Eley skipped the first College Basketball Crown practice today and are expected to enter the portal.

Of the relevant players, Rowan Brumbaugh and Asher Woods practiced along with Gregg Glenn and Percy Daniels. Glenn announced publicly last week he was returning.

With Pro Day coming up tomorrow, the stars were out to watch Tulane's Saturday morning practice. Michael Pratt, who may be in town to throw to the receivers tomorrow, was there along with Parry Nickerson, Lorenzo Doss, Mario Williams and Josh Remetich for the shorts and shoulder pads workout that featured the first significant contact of the spring. When I got there, the linebackers and safeties were doing a tackling technique drill hitting cushions at full speed under the direction of linebackers coach Tayler Polk. It's still too early for me to get a read on individual players, but it is very easy to see the difference in size and speed of the entire roster compared to five years ago. Tulane will have lot to overcome in the fall with so few returning starters on both sides of the ball--likely among the fewest in Division I--but the guys stepping into roles will be talented. On Thursday, I noticed how abnormally tall Middle Tennessee transfer Dallas Winner-Johnson was for a linebacker. Saturday it was early-enrolling freshman wide receiver Antwaun Parham, who is 6-4. Whether he develops into a big contributor remains to be seen--the Wave is still waiting on the 6-5 Sidney Mbanasor--but he looks the part of the big, skilled receiver Willie Fritz never was able to find. Having said that, the first play I saw him involved him was one where the ball skipped off his hands on a fade route in the end zone.

Some of the numbers on the roster we were given on day 1 are inaccurate, so hopefully that issue will get fixed. There was a No. 12 playing cornerback on Saturday and I did not know who he was, as well as a No. 33 playing nickel. In seven-on-seven drills, Kadin Semonza made a nice pass to Garrett Mmahat, who continues to produce in practice but has not proven he is game-ready at receiver. TJ Finley hit Zycarl Lewis deep a little later. Kellen Tasby dropped a snap, bringing up memories of his rough mop-up series against Temple last year when he had to be replaced for not knowing the plays, but he did respond with a TD pass to Parham over the top.

When they went to a spirited 11-on-11 at the end of practice, Finley showed off his big arm strength by overthrowing Shazz Preston by about 10 yards on a deep ball. There was nothing Preston could do there, but he had a rough day. Finley then had a bullet pass deflect off the hands of Bryce Bohanon on a crossing pattern. My concern with Finley is how hard he throws all of his passes. He needs to dial it down on some of them, although the gun is a nice tool to have when necessary, as when he hit Bohanon through a tight window past Kevin Adams for a big gain to kickstart a long drive that started inside the 20. He then hit Zycarl Lewis over the middle and Mmahat on a quick out before Preston dropped a hard throw on the corner in the red zone. A quick pass in the backfield to Maurice Turner did not produce much, and the drive ended when Finley eas ruled to be sacked by DeShaun Batiste. Finley who stepped up in the pocket when Batiste got close to him, disagreed with the call.

Donovan Leary was next, and he looked to have a long completion to Anthony Brown-Stephens down the sideline, but Jahiem Johnson, who had a strong first week, got back to knock it down. Leary threw wide of Anthony Miller on the short sideline. Preston then caught a short pass and slipped on his cut with room to run. Bohanon caught a short pass and juked a defender to get extra yards. Shaun Nicholas got open on an out pattern against E'Zaiah Shine before Leary threw over the top to a wide open Brown-Stephens for about a 35-yard touchdown. Safety Chase Green got lost in coverage, and the offense celebrated wildly on the sideline behind the end zone, mobbing Brown-Stephens. And when I say celebrated wildly, I have never seen a practice celebration that intense by the offense in the 16 years I have covered practice at Tulane.

I did not catch the full series from Semonza, but Preston dropped a pass in the end zone before he completed a short scoring toss to running back Zuberi Mobley.

The starting offensive line at the moment appears to be no-brainers Derrick Graham and Shadre Hurst on the left side, with Elijah Baker at center, Landry Cannon at right guard and Reese Baker at left tackle.

Injured guys who did not practice included wide receivers Omari Hayes and Oliver Mitchell and defensive back KC Eziomume.

Before I got there, Ty Thompson went down with a knee injury that could keep him out a while. Observers who were there said it did not look good at first, but they added he was walking under his own power. More importantly, Jon Sumrall gave a relatively positive diagnosis.

"Ty tweaked his knee a little. It's nothing major. We'll image it either today or tomorrow. It doesn't look like a several month type thing. It may be a lateral meniscus, which I'd like to inject (him with a pain-killer) and get him through some of spring and then even if we had to shut him down at the end of spring with a week left, because he's been doing some really good things quite honestly."

The practice tomorrow will not be open to reporters because it will be earlier in the morning and Sumrall will head to the Saints facility for Pro Day, which I will attend.

Here is the rest of Sumrall after practice plus our Thursday interviews with Jesus Machado and Arnold Barnes.

No practice report today because they practiced early in the morning so players and Sumrall could attend Pro Day at the Saints indoor facility. I was there, and it looks like Adin Huntington helped himself. he's been projected as a potential seventh-round pick despite having only an OK season as a senior transfer, but his measurables are really good for his position as an edge rusher. He apparently had a 38-inch vertical jump and a 10.6 broad jump. I did not get many times or numbers, but that's impressive. For example, Caleb Ransom's outstanding numbers at the NFL combine in addition to his insane 4.33 40 times were a 40-inch vertical and a 10.9 broad jump, and he's a DB where the numbers are a lot better in general.

Tyler Grubbs did not participate today because of a pulled groin. Also absent were Phat Watts and Jacob Barnes and Thomas Peterson among eligible seniors, but the other 17 performed in front of scouts from all 32 NFL teams.

The full list:

Terrell Allen
Reggie Brown
Yulkeith Brown
Javon Carter
Johnathan Edwards
Dontae Fleming
Jalen Geiger
Rashad Green
Eric Hicks
Ethan Hudak
Huntington
Patrick Jenkins
Vincent Murphy
Ransaw
Josh Remetich
Micah Robinson
Mario Williams

The three receivers all looked fast and probably helped themselves, but none of them are going to get drafted. Mario Williams, whose parents I met today, should be able to get into someone's camp.

Other than Ransaw, who definitely will get drafted, Huntington, Jenkins and Edwards are the next best bets, with all of them hoping to go at the end of the draft. Everyone else will be undrafted and simply hoping to get into a camp somewhere. I

After the players lifted weights, did the vertical and standing broad jump, two reps of the 40-yard dash and a shuttle run, they broke into individual position work. TJ Finley was the quarterback throwing passes to those guys, which surprised me because I did not realize players still in college could do that. Apparently Kai Horton served in that role two years ago in the Pro Day I skipped.

For the first time, the players had a cheering section, with various Tulane staffers and a bunch of players who arrived after practice ended whooping and hollering for the guys they thought ran well.

Robinson ran a 4.39 40 I heard, helping himself, too, but I don't see him getting drafted even though he played in front of Edwards at cornerback.

I had a short 1-on-1 interview with Ransaw before the media as a group interviewed Sumrall, Jenkins and Remetich as well as Ransaw, who did not say anything he did not give me. Ransaw did not run the 40 today because there was no reason to after his performance at the combine, but he did the shuttle run and the individual drills.

SUMRALL

"Excited to watch our guys work. Really good group. Proud of what they did at Tulane and really proud of the product they put out there on the field today. Fast times, and you could tell whether guys are prepared or not, and our guys looked prepared today, which is cool to see that everybody showed up ready to go and put their best foot forward. It was really cool for our current team to be able to get here and watch them go through this process, and hopefully we'll have some guys follow in their footsteps."

On having all 32 NFL teams or close to it have someone attending:

"It didn't hurt that you have a top-end guy like Caleb who ran the 40 at the combine, so that doesn't hurt them when he's going to do drill work. It's nice to have a top-end-of-the-draft marquee type guy that can maybe get other guys a look or attention, but then the depth of this team. You look at both cornerbacks today, Johnathan and Micah both ran really good times. All the receivers represented themselves well. Pat Jenkins looked really good. I think there was a lot of interest in different guys having a fit at the next level, so that's a positive. Any time you can get 31 or 32, that's a positive."

On Ransaw at next level:

"It's been fun to see him grown. He's from my hometown basically. I grew up in Huntsville, and he's from Harvest, which is out in the sticks a little bit more. I'm a city boy compared to him, but I remember watching Caleb in high school. What he is going to bring to an NFL team is he's got five-position DB physical ability. He can go outside and play corner. He did that for us in '22 at Troy. In '23 he played in the slot and in '24 here he played in the slot. His long-term position could be safety, which is what he played in the Senior Bowl. He's got the physical ability to be a five-position DB. More impressive is he's got the mental makeup. He is a football junkie. He had an illness about a year ago and I went to visit him when he was in the hospital, and he was in the hospital bed watching PFF (Pro Football Focus) and other DBs in this year's class that he thought he could compare to. He loves the game. He's a football junkie. High character, competitive, really a good representation of what all our guys that are here today are, but I think he's got a really bright future. As he's gone through the draft process, he's elevated. He's helped himself out at every step of the process so far."

On Johnathan Edwards getting invite to Senior Bowl and proceeding from there:

"Johnathan's a cool story. He came to us from Indiana State, got here in June last year. He's big and fast. You can't teach his size and speed. When we got him, it was like getting the ball in play, a guy we were able to teach a lot and him learning a lot. He's a sponge. He got the late call-up to the Senior Bowl game. His response was is that a good thing to be invited to that game, and I'm like, yeah, it's a pretty good thing, you need to get there. Well, what if I don't have a ride? I was like, I'll drive you. His ceiling is really high. He has a lot of development left. His best football is not just a year in front of him. It could be four, five or six years out in front of him potentially because of the type of athlete he is."

On the two plays last year where he ran down guys who were in open field headed for touchdowns:

"Yeah, the Louisiana-Lafayette one where he ran the running back down, that was the first glimpse where we all like, whoa. We knew in summer workouts he could run well, but that's the first time you really saw it translate on the field. He made another one at UAB. He's got such great speed, he can recover from a bad movement if that makes sense. At the Senior Bowl he was in a one-on-one period in a rep that he was not clean at the line of scrimmage, but he was able to recover because he's got such great athleticism and speed, and he's got length that helps with that, too. Just a gifted kid with a bright future, and I look forward to seeing where he lands because he's got a lot of development."

I believe all tournaments are irrelevant other than the NCAA tournament, which Tulane came oh-so-close to reaching this year (after watching Yaxel Lendeborg doubled over in exhaustion for most of the second half against Memphis yesterday, I'm pretty sure Tulane would have beaten UAB), but getting a postseason bid is a nice reward for a team that played top-level basketball in Fort Worth. It also is a better opportunity than a first-round road game at a mid-major would have been in the NIT because Tulane will have a real shot to advance and beat a major conference school (USC) in a neutral-site affair.

That said, other than Boise State being in the field--a team I had pegged for an NCAA tournament berth--the field is very weak. There are five teams with losing records, including DePaul and Colorado, which were terrible from start to finish this year before each pulled an upset in the first round of their conference tournaments.

USC, with a NET of 70, gives Tulane a shot to notch its first top-100 victory of the year. The Trojans (16-17) are one of the teams in the field below .500, but they are better than the record indicates and nearly beat Purdue in the second round of the Big Ten tourney.

With the transfer portal opening March 24, it's anybody's guess who will be playing for the teams in the field, but Ron Hunter told me today he expects 80 to 90 percent participation from his players. The winning team will split $350,000 in NIL money.

Here is the bracket. The tournament starts March 31 and Tulane-USC play at 10 p.m. on April 1.

Bracket

It's very easy to tell Tulane's three transfer quarterback prospects apart, with TJ Finley a giant at 6-7, Donovan Leary mid-sided at 6-2 and Kadin Semonza a tiny 5-11. When they began competing for the starting job on a beautiful, cool Tuesday morning to open spring practice, though, it was harder to differentiate them. All of them had good moments and looked better than any of the three quarterbacks last year did on day 1 as the Green Wave adjusted to a new coaching staff. My first impression has Finely and Semonza, the two with starting experience, ahead of Leary, who barely played at Illinois as freshamn, but it it far too early to make any concrete judgments.

Finley threw a strike to Garrett Mmahat soon after I arrived around 8:30 (practice started at 8 and ended at 10) and was very decisive with his decisions. As Jon Sumrall points out, he knows how to win starting jobs, having done it at LSU, Auburn, Texas State and Western Kentucky before making Tulane his fifth and final college stop. He later had back-to-back completions to Shaun Nicholas and Mmahat and was making accurate throws with zip.

Semonza does not have the arm of Finley or Leary, but he already is showing good command of the offense and made all of the necessary throws today. He has been out to prove people wrong who said he as too short to be a starting college QB, and he did a pretty good job in a hopeless situation as the starter for Ball State a year ago under former Tulane assistant Mike Neu, who was on the same Curtis Johnson staff as Sumrall in 2012 and 2013.

Leary, who threw five passes against Eastern Illinois as a freshman at Illinois last year but did not have another attempt for the rest of the year, had one bad patch today when he
threw behind FAU transfer Omari Hayes, causing a deflection that was almost intercepted on the rebound, and hit the turf with a short-hop throw seconds later on a simple quick out. All three believe they can win the job and will be given ample opportunity to prove it this spring in an open competition, with redshirt freshman holdover Kellen Tasby also in the picture but a long shot.

In what is the new reality of the transfer portal era, Jon Sumrall said 33 players who arrived in January practiced today, which is more than a third of the listed spring roster of 97. There are 27 transfers and six early enrollees from the 2025 class, including walk-on long snapper Jason Arrendondo, whom I interviewed over the phone last August when his parents contacted me about his preferred walk-on status. I don't think I ever posted it here for some reason, but I will today because I still have the transcript. I kept a running list of the transfer portal guys in this thread on the site but never added No. 27, edge rusher Harvey Dyson of Texas Tech, who signed Jan. 12 after making 12 tackles with two sacks and two pass breakups as a third-year sophomore.

Receiver is an unknown quantity for Tulane this spring with the loss of Mario Williams, Dontae Fleming, Yulkeith Brown and tight end Alex Bauman, who accounted for 146 of Tulane's 209 catches last season. One of the most impressive guys out there today was Ty Thompson, who has been converted to tight end from quarterback and looked like a natural in jersey No. 13, albeit in shorts without full pads with no blocking required. As a route-runner and pass-catcher, he looked very smooth, and as you will see in the post-practice interview, he has added 20 pounds to get up to 235 and looks the part. He had a nice TD catch when he split a zone (I missed the number of the QB who threw it) and another good one on a seam route later in practice.

Early on Sidney Mbanasor, who I thought would do more after watching him in camp last fall, outfought cornerback Jaheim Johnson for a touchdown grab and celebrated wildly. The next time they were matched up, Johnson broke up the pass and received big congratulations from DBs coach JJ McCleskey. It was a good mano y mano competition.

FAU transfer wideout Omari Hayes is only 5-9, but an insider tells me he is an elite punt returner, as in hand him the job now. Tulane was very mediocre in that department last year, so he could be a difference maker there. He only had 71 yards on 13 returns a year ago for FAU but did have a 43-yarder mixed in there, but Tulane plans to take full advantage of his skills.

Shaun Nicholas made some plays today but also dropped a pass that turned into an Armani Cargo interception. Maryland tight end transfer LeRon Husbands had an early drop. Freshman running back Javin Gordon is a sturdy 5-10, 200 pounds and looked good. Wideout Bryce Bohanon, one of the only true veterans on the roster, had some good plays, as did Karr freshman Oliver Mitchell.

Justin Ibieta has stuck around as a volunteer coach.

Pro Day, which will not draw nearly as much attention as last year, will be next Tuesday at the Saints indoor practice facility.

Sumrall, the three transfer QBs and Thompson talked after practice. I will have their full quotes later today.

When Jason Arredondo committed to Tulane last fall, his mother emailed me wanting to know if I would like to interview. I did but did not transcribe it for about two months, and I don't think I ever posted it here. Now that he is on the spring roster, the interview is relevant.

JASON ARREDONDO

On why chose Tulane:

“It was influenced by several factors. Tulane obviously has top notch education. The student-athletes obviously have to excel on the field and in the classroom, and that’s something that I’ve had to do all four years at Bishop Gorman and definitely something I’m looking forward to continuing my next four years at Tulane. It’s an environment I can’t wait to be a part of as far as top education and successful football program.

On winning at Bishop Gorman:

"Obviously Gorman is known for winning and winning is behind the name. Definitely we have a target on our backs this year coming out and being national champions last year. We came out in the preseason ranked No. 2 this year, so we’re definitely hungry. I just want that same environment, and I feel like coach Jon Sumrall has obviously won previously. He’s up there with some of the coaches that win at the biggest levels. That’s just something I can’t wait to be a part of and something I’ve been a part of the past three years and definitely looking forward to continuing that at Tulane."

On when recruited:

“It was this past summer. I reached out to coach Hudspeth about attending their football camp, and we figured out a date that works because I went to probably 14 college football camps. Tulane definitely stuck with me there. I got to talk to coach Sumrall when I went down there to the camp."

On time of camp:

"Late June I believe."

On being ready for heat because he lives in Vegas:

"We’re practicing right now. I just got out of practice. We start at 3:10 and we got to 6:30. I’ve definitely been prepared at Bishop Gorman. I know humidity definitely kicks up at Tulane, but I’m looking forward to it. Similar temperature, different type of climate. Definitely looking forward to grinding in the heat and sweating it all off."

On scholarship possibility:

“I’m going into the spring with hopes of earning a scholarship by the fall. Obviously I’ll be competing for that starting spot. That’s something I’ve been trained to do so far my four years. I compete every single day. I’m getting some reps on the O-line competing with the best 5-star commits we have going to Oregon and all those guys. Competition is definitely no fear for me. I’m ready to go in and show what I’ve got for Tulane football and all the fans."

On the opening at the position:

"It was great that they wanted me coming in in the spring. They believe that I have what it takes, and I obviously believe in myself that I can get the job done. I want to work hard. I’m fully committed to doing so. I want to be able to show my skills. I definitely shine as far as accuracy and speed goes on the snaps. I give my everything every single day at Bishop Gorman and want to continue that at Tulane."

On when knew long snapping was his thing:

"I actually started snapping in eighth grade working with guy who went to Nebraska and who now plays in the USL (United Soccer League), Jordan Ober. He was the one who initially trained me to start snapping, and I’ve obviously had different coaches since then. I realized when my head coach, Brent Browner, isolated me at the position. He really wanted me to long snap for all four years. I’ve started four years."

On other schools considered:

"I held offers to Tulane and Columbia."

On height and weight:

"5-11, 240."

On camps:

"I went to 14 camps. That’s probably combined with the college camps and the ranking camps. I’m a 5-star on all services as far as long snapping goes. It was definitely tedious work but definitely worth it. All the work’s worth it."

On snapping success:

"That’s something I pride myself on. I’ve never missed a snap in my high school career. I did the numbers on it. I had four punt snaps last year against 110 field goal and extra point snaps."

On if he had been to New Orleans:

"I haven’t. I went out there and obviously a big music scene, great energy and something that I look forward to seeing in Yulman Stadium, everything like that. I can’t wait to see all the tradition. It’s definitely a tradition-packed city. Culture is very big, and it’s something that I’m excited for. Big city to big city and New Orleans is definitely a city I can’t wait to experience."

I changed my flight back to New Orleans from early tomorrow morning to tonight after Tulane got totally hosed by the refs in the final 26 seconds. First, they reversed a goal-tending call that would have given Tulane a one-point lead, and I have not gotten clarification on the rule there. Cisse definitely contacted Brumbaugh's lay-up attempt before it reached the backboard, but his hand was still on the ball when it got pinned on the backboard, and the rule says simultaneous contact with the backboard while the hand is on the ball constitutes goal-tending, but it does not specify whether you have to have taken your hand off the ball before it makes contact with the backboard. If that's OK, the reversal was right, but if it's not, the reversal was wrong.

The next call was even more egregious. After having the ball poked away from him, Brumbaugh had it before Haggerty fell on top of him (after already hitting his arms going for the ball) and inadvertently kicked him in the head as well as he gained control of the ball and called timeout, which was awarded. There was a point of emphasis this year to call a foul in that exact situation, but the referee swallowed his whistle. A foul would have sent Brumbaugh, an 82-percent free throw shooter, to the line for a 1-and-1 with a one-point deficit and 20 seconds left. There's no way to know whether he would have made both free throws or whether Memphis would have scored in response, but what a gutting way to lose. I booked my original flight back to New Orleans for Monday because I knew Tulane had an excellent shot to reach the final, and I believe today's game against UAB would have been 50-50. You can throw out the result from last Sunday when UAB went through the motions in the second half, but the way Tulane is playing right now, it is good as any team in the league and matches up better with the Blazers than with North Texas, whose defense really bothers guys like Kaleb Banks and Kam Williams.

Having said all this, I'm really not into the fan conspiracy theories about the NCAA (or, even stranger, the AAC) not wanting Memphis to lose. It's absurd on every level. The biggest mistake people make is mistaking incompetence for malevolence. Ron Hunter, as he almost always does, handled the controversy with class, and so did Brumbaugh and Asher Woods, the two players Tulane brought to the podium. I also talked with Hunter for a few minutes afterward--some on the record and some off the record.

The key moving forward is retaining as many players as possible in the NIL transfer portal era. My sources say Brumbaugh and Glenn will return, but the two to worry about are Banks and Williams. Recent history says it will be incredibly hard to keep them, but we will see what Tulane's NIL people can do. Their losses would be huge, but keeping Brumbaugh would be massive. In my opinion, he is the best player Hunter has had at Tulane because he's a winner whose work ethic and want-to infects his teammates. He absolutely loves it at Tulane. I never say never, though, because money talks, and if other guys leave, you never know what his thought process would be.

I will post quotes shortly.

That was a gutty win by Tulane yesterday and one Hunter's previous teams would have lost. Tulane could not make a lay-up in the first 10 minutes, could not stop FAU's 7-0 center from controlling the paint on both ends of the floor and got in all kinds of fall trouble but showed the toughness to take control at the end with the huge assist of the center fouling out. Tulane went on a 12-0 run to end the first half and n 11-2 run to end the game. It was the tougher team.

Beating Memphis today will require making a high percentage of 3-point shots and doing a better job defensively in the interior, when the defense was overmatched for one of the only times all year against FAU. Tulane is capable of doing much better there. It held Yaxel Lendeborg to 13 points and 5 rebounds last Sunday, and he exploded for 30 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals and 4 blocked shots in a performance for the ages yesterday against East Carolina. Most Memphis games are tight headed into the final media timeout, but the Tigers usually make winning plays from there. Their defense can be suffocating at times, and Rowan Brumbaugh will have to find a way not to get worn down by the pressure down the stretch.

On another note, my two preview stories for basketball and baseball in The Advocate could not have proven more wrong. I wrote about Kam Williams being the key factor in the tournament and he missed all three of his 3s, scored 2 points and got replaced for stretches by Mari Jordan and Tulane still won. My lead item in my baseball notebook was about Jacob Moore returning to form, and he walked three guys out of the four batters he faced yesterday and had to be pulled again for Lombardi. Moore now has walked nine guys through less than four weeks after walking 10 all of last year.

Hunter, Brumbaugh and Gregg Glenn were sent to the podium yesterday after the game, and I asked a question to FAU's coach, too.

HUNTER

"Well you get to this time of year, every game is hard. This is a team that doesn't have a senior, and this is a lot of these guys' first conference game, and I'm so proud of them the way they handled it. I thought we were a little nervous the first four or five minutes because I know how much they want this but they hadn't been there. We knew we were playing a good team. I've got a really good team, but Mari Jordan was the difference for us today. What he did was incredibly, absolutely incredible. A lot of thing that you look at on the stat sheet won't even show up. He was absolutely terrific today."

On overcoming a lot of adversity to win:

"We've been winning like that all year. As a matter of fact, I think there was 6 and a half to go, we were talking in the timeout this is our kind of game. We've won a lot of games like this this year. We executed at the end of the game with our defense. We made free throws when we needed to, and then Asher (Woods) hit a clutch shot to make it a two-possession game. It felt like a Tulane basketball game with how we've played the last six weeks."

On having so many guys who can step up:

"It's huge, especially when you've got seven freshmen. We knew that someone would have to step up, and Mari was big, but we held them to 9 of 33 from the 3-point line and they are one of the better 3-point shooting teams, not only in our league but in the country. When our 3-point defense is there, we know we've got a chance. We didn't give up a ton of 3s. We won that battle, but I'm just really proud of these young men because no one thought we'd be what we are all year. It's awesome what these guys have done."

On closing halves with huge runs:

"It's funny. I've been talking about how young we are and being the only team in the country without a senior, but it felt like I had nine or 10 seniors today. They never cracked. Early in the year teams would jump on us and we'd kind of fade back. We've been through so many battles, and people wrote us off in November, and these guys just grinded it out. There's nothing that's going to happen in this tournament that we haven't seen. We're not freshmen anymore. We still look on paper like the youngest team in the country, but right now these guys are hungry and they are confident."

On playing Memphis:

"I'll worry about that tonight. I even brought my worn Penny Hardaway shoes. I might wear them again. Just out of respect for my brother I may wear some Penny Hardaway shoes in the game tomorrow. Maybe that will give us a little luck."

GLENN

On huge rebound to tie it with a little more than two minutes left:

"I gave all I got to win the game. I gave all I got."

On what made FAU freshman center so difficult to deal with:

"It wasn't necessarily him. It was just us being a little nervous. Like you said the first four minutes were tough, but the rest of the game we did what we do best."

BRUMBAUGH

On feeling like they would win:

"We just played every possession. Teams are going to go on runs. It doesn't matter what they do. We just have to focus on what we do."

FAU COACH JOHN JAKUS

On retaining his freshmen:

"There couldn't be two more people we want back more than these two. Everybody we recruited with the attention they would come back. Some people think we were crazy for doing that. Some people think we're crazy for doing that and some think that's impossible in today's college basketball culture, but we rolled the dice. I think we've separated ourself in player development, and we're going to spend the next two weeks selling that the next two weeks to keep these guys because if they stay we're going to be just fine."

On how Tulane can give itself a chance against Memphis:

"The 3-point line probably helps in these tournament games if you look at so-called upsets, and then the free throw line will matter. If they keep them off the line and get to the line like they did today and then they are going to have to control pace. I think it will be a good one."

I am in Forth Worth (or actually Dallas at the moment) to cover Tulane in the AAC tournament. My rule is I go when the Wave does not play until the quarterfinals, and so far they are 2-0 in that scenario, winning in 2022 and 2023. We will see if they can make it a third time today. FAU is a 3.5-point favorite despite being the lower seed, despite losing to Tulane by 15 at Devlin in January and despite being 0-7 against the top five seeds in the tournament while Tulane is 2-3. I have no idea what is going to happen today because Tulane has been a bad road team, going 4-5 in the league and getting very lucky that UTSA spit the bit in the last two minutes to prevent that record from being 3-6. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's a question of whether Tulane only struggles in opposing team's buildings because of the crowd or whether it needs the comfort factor of playing at home to reach its top level. If it's the former, this team is very capable of beating anyone in the field. All five starters have scored 20 points in one of the last six games, which is very rare in college basketball, and these guys are committed to winning and competing much more than their predecessors.

FAU is a very tall team but hardly dominant inside offensively. If Tulane closes out on the 3-point shooters like it has at home but has not done away from home recently, it will be hard for FAU to win. Oppnents have hit more 3s against Tulane in conference games than anyone else in the league, but are hitting them at the third-lowest percentage, which is literally the concept behind the matchup zone--to force teams to settle for low-percentage shots. The biggest concern is FAU leads the league in blocked shots, and Tulane has three guys who do damage close to the rim-Rowan Brumbaugh on drives, Gregg Glenn off the dribble in the post, and Kaleb Banks when he is feeling confident--and all of them could be affected by the shot blockers.

If Tulane gets past FAU, it likely will play Memphis in the semis, but not definitely. Wichita State, which plays Memphis in less than two hours, was one of two league teams to beat the Tigers and gave them a tough fight in Memphis the first time they met. I don't like Tulane's chances to beat Memphis in the semis because the Tigers have experienced players who know how to win, but if Wichita State did the Wave a solid, I'd very much like the Wave's chances against the Shockers.

I talked to Ron Hunter, Kam Williams and Brumbaugh Wednesday.

HUNTER

On being excited about chances:

"I think since I've been here this is probably the best opportunity in regards to the defense teams we're bringing, and we don't have to play the No. 1 team in the country (Houston). We've been ousted by them a couple of times (in 2021 and 2022), but we know it's still going to be tough. There are a lot of good teams playing good basketball. I think there are going to be some serious upsets in this tournament just because from top to bottom anybody can beat anybody on any given day, but I feel good where I am with this young group. They've had a great year and the confidence is there. That's what I like."

On Kam Williams needing to be aggressive:

"He has to be aggressive early. There is only so much we can do. We run things for him and he's not going to be open for very long. That's what he's got to understand. In high school you can be open for a long time. Here he's not going to open for a long time, but it's going to be a collective effort of a lot of guys. What I love about this group is I don't have to rely on one guy to have a great game. We've had different guys step up at different times of the year, and I like that about this group, and I also know the fact that we can defend. I'm really excited about it, but the hardest one to win is the first one. Everybody thinks it's the last one. The first one is the hardest to win."

On being 2-0 in AAC quarterfinals coming off a bye:

"I love your numbers. They scare me sometimes, but no, my philosophy is that you've got to win the first one, and I put everything into that first game because after that, everybody is the same. We don't know who we play (they practiced Wednesday as if the opponent was FAU, which it is), but we have to be ready to play, and that's the key."

On five starters who can score:

"We haven't had that, and what I also love is that we've had great bench play. It's the best bench play we've had since I've been here, so I'm not afraid to play some of those guys in tournament play when every possession means something. There are eight or nine guys that I have problem playing and know that they can come in and help us out."

On Brumbaugh averaging more than 37 minutes in conference play:

"I'm probably going to cut him to about 39.9 for the tournament. We'll give him about a five-second rest. He can rest in the summer. Right now we want to play three great basketball days. That's what I keep telling these guys."

BRUMBAUGH

On importance of Kam Williams being aggressive:

"It's super important. When he gets in the paint and he's getting downhill it opens up the whole game because everyone plays him as a really good shooter, so they try to run him off the line. If he can get in the paint and start creating because he has a great feel, it just opens up our offense so much."

On Williams as deadeye shooter:

"It's not like it's just in games. He does it in practice every day. Even when he misses a shot in games, I always think the next one's going in just because he's always working. He probably makes 85 to 90 percent of the shots he shoots in practice."

On confidence of whole team going into tournament:

"We're very confident, but we have to make sure that we stay even keel, too, because they can go on one early run in the game and you can lose all your confidence. You've just got to keep playing the game like it's our last, which it literally could be."

On not having road crowds to deal with being beneficial:

"Definitely. We struggled early on neutral sites, but we are different team right now 100 percent. How we closed out the conference, us being picked so low, we've got a lot of external motivation. We obviously all love each other and we love coach Hunter, so we have a lot of internal motivation, too."

WILLIAMS

On how he developed his shot:

"That's the main thing thing I was working on growing up. My dad always used to say that if you could shoot, you could space the floor for others, so that was the first skill that I worked on."

On best part of his shot:

"I I just know I put in a lot of work when nobody's around so I have the form, release and everything."

On why he chose Tulane:

"Honestly when I came on a visit I already knew I was coming here because the coaching staff was good, the people were good, the facilities."

On confidence entering tournament:

"We're very confident. We trust our work. We work on a lot of different things in practice--defense to offense, transition, everything. It doesn't matter who we are matched up against. We just know that we trust our defense against theirs and our work ethic is going to be better than them."

On road struggles maybe not being the same at neutral site:

"You could say that a little bit. When you are at home, the fans play a critical part in the energy that you bring, so now it's neutral. Nobody really has X amount of fans more than the others, so now it just comes down to the people on the court."

On importance of him being aggressive offensively:

"It's critical just because when I'm aggressive, it gives them a new look. Teams mainly focus on Rowan and Kaleb, but if I'm being aggressive, too, it gives them another driving lane because they're not going to help (defensively) if I'm the corner."

On why he is good defensively:

"I would just say the I.Q. and the reads I get of an offensive player. If they come off a screen, I know he's probably going to throw a skip pass, so I get a hand up to get a deflection. It's really just knowing the game."

On significance of winning tourney:

"It would mean a lot. We had a lot of doubters at the beginning of the conference season and now we're top four. We already beat the odds in that case, but we are not done yet. We still have to win three more games."

Tulane put it all together yesterday against UAB, getting terrific shooting from Kam Williams and Asher Woods, outstanding passing from Rowan Brumbaugh, good offense and defense from Gregg Glenn and athleticism from Kaleb Banks, who blocked three shots despite struggling from 3-point range. It is a talented starting five that meshes well. and if can take that home cooking to Fort Worth, it will have a legitimate shot to win three games and get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 30 years.

Tulane has not been a good road team, but there's a difference between playing on someone else's home court and in the sterile, empty environment all teams will face at Dickies Arena. Some teams simply cannot play well away from home regardless of the venue, but for others the problem is hostile environments rather than not being at home. We will find out which is the case for Tulane, which had the biggest home/road disparity in the AAC according to the metrics.

As for the Wave's path, I hesitate to predict easy or difficult ones based on the history of conference tournaments. For example, Chattanooga lost to Furman in the SoCon semis yesterday after sweeping Furman in the regular season. SIUE beat Southeast Missouri by 21 in the Ohio Valley final after losing by 15 and 16 during the regular season.

I will say this. It's a good thing Tulane is being coached by Ron Hunter rather than Perry Clark in his prime. Clark, for whatever reason, was abysmal in conference tournaments, going 3-11 in his Tulane tenure. (Hunter is 3-5). The Wave almost certainly would have gotten a bid to the 1997 NCAA tourney if it had won its first-round game in CUSA and might have made it in 1996 with a first-round win. Hunter has won four tournaments, although at a lower level than even what the AAC has become. Tulane likely will play FAU in the quarterfinals, and Hunter is 2-0 in quarters with the Wave. FAU would be a slight favorite by the point spread in that matchup. A matchup with Memphis in the semis would be tough because although the Tigers seem to play to the level of their competition no matter the level, they usually make the necessary plays to win at the end, but it is not out of the question that Wichita State would upset Memphis in the quarters if it gets past USF on Thursday. They split their meetings this year and Wichita State had a real chance to win at Memphis, too.

Tulane has not reached a conference tournament final since 1992 and did it only one other time, in 1983, since leaving the SEC, when it lost to Kentucky in the championship game twice. It has never won a conference tournament.

The most likely outcome this week is a semifinal loss to Memphis, but Tulane can beat anyone in the league (and also lose to almost anyone). If Williams and Banks are aggressive in Fort Worth and Glenn does not counterbalance his unique talent with bonehead plays, winning three in a row is possible.

For anyone wondering, Hunter's four tourney titles came when IUPUI finished tied for second in the Mid-Continent at 10-4 in 2003 and when Georgia State won the Sun Belt at 15-5 in 2015, finished second at 12-6 in the Sun Belt in 2018 and finished first at 13-5 in the Sun Belt in 2019.

Hunter, Williams and Woods talked after the game. I also had a brief interview with UAB coach Andy Kennedy, who was not in a great mood.

HUNTER

"I thought we were pretty good today. Defensively we played with an edge for most of the game. We came out of the gate really well, something we hadn't done in the past couple of games. I keep saying I wish we could play every game in this building because we're just a different team in this building than we are when we go play on the road. A lot of that is just maturity. We'll be better a year from now when we play on the road, but right now I just love what these kids have done. What a great year for these guys. Predicted almost last in the league and finished fourth. We didn't want to back in. Florida Atlantic won, so we were able to back in, but we wanted this thing outright. That was personal for us, and the other thing that was personal was we hadn't lost back-to-back conference games all year. We didn't want that to happen. Now the new season starts. Doesn't matter what your record is. We have to be ready to play on Friday. I'm really happy that we don't have to play until Friday."

On having 40 minutes of top level after seeing signs of it in spurts all conference season:

"It's great. Also what's great is UAB is the only (top) team really that we got a chance to play at home other than Memphis (I agree with this. I think UAB, North Texas, Temple with a healthy Jamal Mashburn and Wichita State are the most talented teams in the AAC other than Memphis and Tulane played each of them on the road with no return trip until facing UAB). We haven't had many of them, so we took advantage of it today. But again, at some point we'll pause and reflect, but I can't say how proud enough I am of these guys. There were probably a lot of people that gave up on us in November, and we talked about that, the bandwagon was going to grow and grow by the time we got to the end of the year. These guys stayed focus and showed how good they can be."

On Kam Williams being aggressive:

"He played great today. When he's aggressive, he knows it, he's a really good player. Like most really good players, when they see the ball go in they can't wait to get that next one. He saw one go in early and he stayed patient, and then we were were able to get our transition 3s. We haven't been able to get a lot of those lately, but today we got them. We usually get those here. We just can't seem to get them when they're on the road."

On Asher Woods:

"Asher has been steady really all year. It's almost to the point where it's expected. He's one of our older guys. He made some clutch shots today. His attitude that we weren't going to lose this game showed on all the other guys today. He was great defensively. He talked and showed his leadership. I don't know if a guard drove by him at all. He was really good defensively today."

On closing it out in second half:

"We game planned for Yaxel (Lendeborg). He's a really good player. Probably the most impressive thing we did was he only got five attempts, and for a guy like that, we really wanted to take him away and let the other guys become volume shooters. Again, it was really the defense. The defense kind of led, and it's done that all year. There were three out of four possessions where we had blocked shots at the other end of the floor. It looked like they were facing seven or eight guys. We were just swarming everything."

On how this creates momentum going into conference tournament:

"Well you always want to feel good about going into it. We finished the season off strong and beat one of the better teams at our place. We'll have confidence. There's no question about that. We've been waiting for this all year. As I told the guys, we are not even supposed to be in this situation, so we'll go down and play relaxed and we're going to try to bring our defense with us and see what happens."

On how confidence he is that this team can make a run in tournament:

"I've taken multiple teams to the NCAA tournament. The most important thing is what this team has that none of the teams had is this team can defend for 40 minutes. If you can do that in a tournament atmosphere, it gives you a chance every single night. That's what really affects me. I've had more explosive teams, but I haven't teams that for 40 minutes can compete. These guys (UAB) were averaging almost 80 points, and we shut them down. That just shows that this defense can do a lot in the tournament."

Tulane gets one more crack at one of the top three teams in the AAC tomorrow, and this is by far the Green Wave's best chance to win. Although UAB is not a top-100 team in the NET due to an incredibly poor non-conference performance, the Blazers have NCAA tournament caliber talent and were the preseason pick of the coaches to win the league over Memphis. Tulane lost to Memphis at home, lost to North Texas on the road and gets UAB at home, where it will be a slight underdog with the point spread. I know this much. UAB is not as good a team on the road as ECU is at home, so Tulane's predictable and annual loss in Greenville, N.C. won't have much bearing tomorrow.

Tulane has yet to lose two conference games in a row, so something's gotta give. A win clinches the 4 seed, and if FAU wins at home against ECU in a game that starts an hour before this one, the Wave will lock up the double bye before its game is over.

I talked to Ron Hunter, Rowan Brumbaugh and Asher Woods today before practice:

HUNTER

On importance of winning for confidence entering AAC tourney:

"We need that. We know we play well in this building. We also know we're playing a really good team in this building also, but right now I want to make sure the message they understand is, hey, we've had a great year, and one of the things we've done is finish games well for the most part; let's finish the season the same way. That's the message to them.--you know what, finish the season the way we started in conference play and let's finish it well."

On key to beating UAB:

"We can't do what we did the other day. We can't turn the ball over early. When you turn the ball over and take quick shots against these guys, they turn them into points at the other end. They've probably got the most talented player in the league sitting there, so we've got our work cut out for us, but we played well when we played them the first time. That was our third game in the league, and we're a much different team now, and so are they. They are all seniors for the most part, but we have another energy in this building. I hope we save our best for last in this building for this season."

On Yaxel Lendeborg:

"We just have to make sure, I thought for the most part we rebounded well against them (in the first meeting), but you just have to take care of the ball and have good shot selection. You can't let them just race up and down the floor with 3s and dunks. They just feed off that energy, and they are really good when that happens."

On Kam Williams taking one shot against ECU and not starting the second half:

"He does (need to be more aggressive), but for a guy like Kam that's a lot of pressure for a freshman. It's one of the reasons why I don't play freshmen because of the ups and the downs. Like most young people, not just our freshmen, they play much better at home than they do on the road. It's something he'll learn. He'll be much better at it a year from now, but just learning how to be able to go to that next level and find the next part of your game. When they take this away, you've got to be able to do this, and all of the hoopla that goes with being a good player, he's learning how to handle all that. We're trying to protect him, but there's only so much protecting you can do."

BRUMBAUGH

On importance of playing well Sunday heading into AAC tourney:

"It's very important just for momentum standpoint. You don't want to come into the tournament with back-to-back losses. We didn't play the way we should have at ECU. It's a big game. I don't think we've lost two in a row in conference, so just to keep that going and be able to return the next day and be better than you were the previous day is very important."

On what went wrong at ECU:

"We got rattled and got away from our game plan offensively and defensively. The crowd was definitely an advantage for them. Our home crowd isn't that great, so when we get those crowds, sometimes we get sped up, and I think that's what happened again."

On potential:

"You see our potential. We lost to UAB. We lost to Memphis. We lost to North Texas, all teams we feel are beatable. We are in fourth place right now. We have the talent. If we have a great game plan and we buy in and we take every possession one at a time and make every possession about winning, I think we can beat any team in this league."

WOODS

On importance of this game:

"It's huge. It wouldn't matter if we had three games left. It's always about the next game. and focusing on that. We've just got to go in and prepare today and be ready to play tomorrow. Everything's in front of us. We've got a huge opportunity to come out and get a win and control what we can control and get it done."

On tourney potential:

"We've got a good group of guys willing to fight and willing to compete and we know that. We know we're right there. We're maturing game by game, practice by practice, day by day. If we get ourselves in a good spot and we come out and compete, there's a lot of wonderful things we can get done when it's conference play."

On key against UAB:

"It's just about heart, intensity. We've got to come out with our foot on the gas and ready to play because we haven't done the best job of starting, so we have to focus on that and coming out and starting well. It's just about the details. We've got to be where we need to be on defense and we have to convert on offense. At the end of the day it's about that competitive spirit."

Let's be honest, Pepperdine is not a good team. Still, while many of our fans treated this weekend as a sure sweep for the Wave (not the Waves), I had some concerns. Clearly, the Pepperdine team has little offense based on its season so far, but I was concerned about their best pitchers. Going into the Tulane series, their three weekend starters and two key relievers had a combined ERA of 2.97. The rest of the team compiled a 10.01 ERA. Unfortunately, we’ve only seen two of their starters and their best two relievers. They’ve dominated us and only allowed two runs in 18 innings (1.00 ERA). We’ve been unable to get to the weak part of their staff. Hopefully today will be different. Their starter has a 2.89 ERA through 9.1 innings but hasn’t gone beyond 4 innings in any of his two starts and one relief appearances. We need to knock him out early and get to their bullpen. While I think the pitching we’ve seen so far has been good, our hitting has dropped off the cliff this weekend. Gotta turn that around and also get a good pitching performance from our guys. Back to my first sentence, Pepperdine is NOT a good team. Losing two out of three to them, let alone the possibility of being swept, is totally unacceptable.

Roll Wave!!!