He apparently got hurt in last nights game the same way he did last year sliding into a base. Can you please find out if it's anything major?

Has he fully recovered from his surgery? Any chance he starts tonight if he has? Otherwise I'm guessing Bates gets the call.

When a season goes awry, fans always cry for more playing time for the freshmen while coaches continue to try to win.

But Ron Hunter gave freshman R.J. McGee an opportunity against Wichita State. Although he did not play particularly well, the future is bright for the first player Hunter signed when he took the job. With little else to write about, I talked to McGee today about his development and got Hunter's and Christion Thompson's thoughts on him as well.

HUNTER

R.J. McGee got his first start against Wichita State. What did you think of his potential?

"I really do (like his potential). I even told him after the game I purposely threw him in that situation at Wichita State, the hardest place in the league to play, a team that's fighting to get into the NCAA tournament. I wanted to see how he would handle this, and I told him by the time you leave here, that's going to be us, and I want to get a taste of it. As we're building a foundation, I just wanted him to be able to learn from it. When you do little things like that, what happens in the offseason is you now know you have something you have to work at to achieve, I've got to make myself ready for that."

He had 10 points against Southern early in the season but has not come close to duplicating that. What does he need to do to help this team before the year is over?

"It's learning how to play at this level. Even in the last game, he was on the floor three or four times. You can't play basketball on the floor. He plays hard and he's got a great skill set. You can't learn by sitting. One of the things I'm doing now as we get down to this last part of the season is giving him an opportunity to do that. He's going to be a part of our core. He's really talented. As we finish the season up, I put Kevin (Zhang) back in the starting lineup and he's playing a lot better. Not to take anything away from the three seniors we've got, but I want to make sure that he has something he can take and say here's how I have to get better."

What attracted you to him out of the prep school in Florida (McGee graduated from high school in Chicago, then spent a year in Florida)?

"If you know anything about me, I love guys 6-4 to 6-6 and he fits right into that. If I had a whole team of Christion Thompsons, that's what I'd do. That's what we're striving to. We want to play a lot of guys that size. He's athletic. Now what he has to is get confidence in playing at this level. He's been playing about 13 to 14 minutes a game now. I really like what he's doing. Offensively, that's the last thing to come, but defensively I like what he's doing."

What position do you see him playing down the road?

"I'll be honest with you. I told him to watch what Christion does. I want him to do what Christion does. Think about what Christion did his freshman year up until what he's doing now, if we can get R.J. on that same trajectory and maybe get that for two or three years, that's what we're hoping. He can play the 1, 2, 3 and maybe sometimes the 4."

CHRISTION THOMPSON

What's your impression of R.J. McGee?

"R.J. has a lot of potential. He has a lot of upside, and I told him when you came into college you had what most freshman try to get, and that's a body. R.J. came in kind of muscular already and has put in a lot of work in the weight room already and you can see improvements on his body. He has a bigger body and he also has good touch on the ball, a good shot. I just tell him to stay in the gym. There's always ways to improve. As a freshman he always used to tell me that's not in my game. I'd tell him you can always put something in your game."

Where do you see him developing?

"He wants to be better. He listens and he actually works. Whenever I talk to him, he texts me or asks me what is it that I think he could have done better. It's good."

MCGEE

How do you feel you can build off of your first start?

"It was a rocky start for me, but it was a learning experience. I definitely learned a lot, like how to play in that atmosphere. I'm going to take that into the next game and into next season."

How can you help the team the most?

"I'm more of a 3 and D guy. I think this is what this team needs. I'm going to play as hard as I can on defense and hit open shots in the corner and then the top of the key when they pass the ball to me."

You actually have more rebounds per minute than anyone who plays in the rotation. Is that a strength?

"I definitely can do that and feel like I can do a little bit more, get some more assists and more steals. It's a learning process for me and I'm going to keep working."

How much better do you feel like you'll be next year?

"A lot better. This is a learning experience for me. I'm going to take everything I learn from this season, watch a whole bunch of film during the summer and just play way better my sophomore year."

How much did going to the prep school in Florida help you?

"That helped me out a lot, like off the court with my maturity. My coach down at the prep school helped me get a lot more physical, a lot smarter about the game and make better plays on the offensive and defensive game."

Why did you go to prep school?

"I didn't have other options. Coming out of high school, I only had one D3 offer (St. Benedictine), and my parents were like, we're not going to pay $15,000 for you to play college basketball. Coach Taylor (at the prep school) hit me up, and that's what happened there."

What schools recruited you besides Tulane?

"St. Bonaventure, Louisiana Monroe and Florida A&M."

Why Tulane?

"Coach Hunter and coach Ray (McCallum) had the right personalities. They told me exactly what I wanted to hear. They said they would help me develop my game and help me get to the next level, and that's all I want to hear from a coach. They said they'd give me al the opportunity I need to excel at this level."

What do you envision yourself doing as a full-time starter down the road?

"Just a guy that makes plays like Christion and Teshaun do, a guy that makes his teammates better and is just a vocal leader on the offensive end and the defensive end."

When did you develop your muscles?

"I kind of always had it. I never really lifted weights before I got here at Tulane. This summer really helped me out with (the strength and conditioning program). They had me in the weight room pretty much every day working on my shoulders, working on my core, working on my legs a lot. It really made a big difference coming into this first season."

Why did you not get more attention in high school?

"Because Chicago is so competitive. It's so political. During high school I averaged 18 points and six rebounds and my team went all the way to the Elite 8. We had a good year, but colleges had a whole bunch of knocks on me. Coming out of that grade, I had Talen Horton Tucker (who spent one year at Iowa State before getting drafted in the NBA), Xavier Castaneda (at USF), just a whole bunch of guys who already had D1 attention. For me to get to that level, it was already too late."

What were the knocks?

"They said they didn't like my motor and my defense. They said I didn't play hard enough on my defensive end, so going into my prep school that's what I focused on. I always had the offense. I just had to work on my defense, which is crazy because I came to Tulane and now I'm a defensive stopper."

Tulane tweeted it yesterday and coach Travis Jewett confirmed his weekend rotation against Florida Gulf Coast will be Braden Olthoff, left-hander Jack Aldrich and Donovan Benoit. Keagan Gillies will be the closer, with Connor Pellerin, Justin Campbell and Chris Holcomb the other guys out of the bullpen in late innings.

Here is Jewett on the decision to use Gillies as the closer:

"Not that he's not capable of doing the front, It's just more like those guys are, too, but we're just trying to shorten the game a little bit and add some weaponry down there."

I researched Gillies in the first inning of games last year. It's not totally analogous to a closer since a starter has to pace himself early, but Gillies gave up nine runs in the first innings of his 15 appearances (14 starts, one early relief). He allowed zero runs in 11 of them, one run in one, two runs in one and three runs in two. What the coaches would have been looking at is the 11 times out of 15 he was clean.

One thing is certain. Gillies was Tulane's most dominant pitcher in the fall and spring practice.

"When you watch a pitcher in the fall or early spring, they don't pitch seven innings," Jewett said. "They pitch one and two and that's even a starter's deal in fall ball and early spring. You're building up, and then I just kept watching the aggressiveness, the verocity of his pitches, the up velocity, the angle that he naturally presents with his height. You can't pitch in the bullpen if you can't do it more than once, and I think he can. He fields his position well for a big guy. He can hold guys. He understands changing rhythms. There's some believability."

Tulane's closer decisions have not worked once at the beginning of the year under Jewett. He went with hard-throwing Ted Andrews in 2017 and he gave up two runs in the ninth inning at UCSB in his second appearance to lose and never recovered, losing his role along the way as he finished with 27 walks in 16.1 innings. The softer tossing Christian Colletti took over and did the best job of any closer Jewett has had, finishing with 11 saves and a 2.79 ERA.

In 2018, Jewett went with hard-throwing Will McAffer. He earned a save in the opener and only one other, finishing with a 6.91 ERA and 26 walks in 28.2 innings. The Wave never found a reliable closer, with Pellerin having a team-high three saves but walking 40 in 44 innings.

Last year, Pellerin blew a save on opening day and eventually lost all self-belief, finishing with an 8.44 ERA and 31 walks in 26.2 innings. Again, they never found a closer, with Brendan Cellucci earning a team-high three saves but being totally unreliable. Justin Campbell was probably the best at it, but he was shaky as well and did not have closer stuff.

I do not know if the experiment with Gillies will work, but he throws strikes, something no Tulane closer since Colletti has done. I like the risk, and it it doesn't work out, he can always return to the rotation. No way would I trust Pellerin at the start of the year. He has to prove himself in middle relief and work his way into the closer role with consistent performances, something he has been incapable of to this point.

Still, Jewett likes Pellerin's development.

"You start talking about those two guys sitting out there at the back and it could be imposing," he said. "And then Holcolm the left-hander gives you a different look and Campbell at times was efficient last year. If I could have removed him when maybe we should have if we could have, then all of a sudden maybe he becomes a little bit more effective and a little bit more usable frequency wise. If you can use him as a little bit of a sandwich guy and an aggressive accelerator to a left-handed de-celerator (Holcomb) to back to an accelerator with different arm angles and different shapes of pitches, that would be good. We've got some nice right and some left out there."

Jewett told Gillies about the planned move two weeks ago.

"He smiled a little bit and he told me how he thought about me, which I will tell you is positive, and he said I trust you and I want to do whatever it is for the best of the team," Jewett said. "He can be easily pushed forward, too. He's trained that way. But if we do this now and at the end of the season we're still doing, it's good for everybody. He's been here as long as I have and he deserves victory and is willing to take a different role to try to make that a possibility."

Jewett said he had not made up his mind about the starting catcher. Luis Aviles has a hand injury he is trying to fight through. Parker Haskin has an arm issue but is feeling better. I would assume Frankie Niemann will start, but Jewett did not rule out the other JC transfer, Haydan Hastings. If Niemann does not start at catcher, he will be the DH. I was not sure about that since he hit only .250 (23 of 92) in the last 29 games last year, but Jewett said he was swinging the bat great.

"It's a close call," Jewett said. If he (Niemann) does (start at catcher), I would feel good, but if it's one of the other two guys (Hastings or Haskin), I would feel good, too. You are going to see Niemann in there somewhere. He's going to hit and catch or just hit."

The third outfielder will be either Luke Glancy or Logan Stevens. Glancy is the better hitter and Stevens has more range. Florida Gulf Coast is going with right-hander Hunter McGarry, a second-team All-A Sun pitcher with a 6-2 record and 3.05 ERA last year and a sinker/slider guy, tonight. Glancy and Stevens are left-handers. Ethan Groff, the third candidate to start, is right-handed. Florida Gulf Coast will go with another righty Saturday, Mason Studstill (5-2, 2.60), a first-team A-Sun pick who throws harder than McGarry.

David Bedgood will be on the bench if Niemann is the DH and will be the DH if Niemann catches.

There are only seven players from Louisiana with four stars in the updated Rivals 2021 rankings. That is awfully low. This year there ended up being 16 (2020). There were 19 in 2019, 15 in 2018 and 14 in 2017. Tulane has not gotten to the point where it has signed 4-star Louisiana recruits, but it has signed high 3 stars under Fritz and has made huge inroads in Louisiana. If this is a down year for Louisiana high school football prospect, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next class.

Here are the early 2021 4-star totals from other states:

Texas 41
Florida 35
Georgia 26
California 25
Maryland 13
Ohio 11
Michigan 11
North Carolina 11
Alabama 9
Pennsylvania 9
Tennessee 8
Virginia 7
New Jersey 6
Mississippi 5

The opener against Florida Gulf Coast is Friday. I have a feeling Tulane will go with a starting rotation of three Jucos with Keagan Gillies as the closer this weekend, but Travis Jewett did not commit to anything yesterday.

I talked to Jewett, Daniel Latham, Hudson Haskin and Connor Pellerin.

JEWETT

So give me all of your starters, the entire batting order, the weekend starting pitchers, your closer and the pecking order for middle relievers. You can do that, right? (I was joking because I knew he would not, based on past history)

"We haven't announced our rotation yet. We're holding on to it."

How do you feel with the opening approaching?

"I feel good. Obviously like any concerned parent, today, tomorrow and Thursday will be valuable, but we won't be trying to jam anything new into these three days. We'll just rehearse what we already put in and make sure that we're knowing and what I want to do this week is do that intentfully and make sure we're fresh mentally. The staff is ready to play against another shirt, but they're not here yet."

When you look at your lineup, you have three guys listed among the top 150 hitters in the country by D1Baseball.com (Hudson Haskin 14, Grant Mathews 99, Frankie Niemann 140). How good do you feel about the way you're going to be able to hit?

"I feel good. I do. There's this one variable that you have to insert, and that's the pitcher on the other team. It does matter, but I feel good. We've got a nice balance of some experience coming back and some right and some left. I've talked to you about how I feel Collin Burns, Logan Stevens and Ethan Groff have gotten better. They are playable, not that they weren't before, so that's good, and then having Ty (Johnson) back obviously has been a huge deal. And then we continue to watch the improvement of those old guys in Grant and Jonathon Artigues and Ty. I feel good about our offense. You never know going into a season. I didn't think last year we'd hit as many home runs as we did. That was just hitting the ball properly. I do feel like up and down we've got quite a few guys that could maybe pick that up a little bit and get us to that spot, but we can run and have some left and some right, so if our pitching can do what I anticipate it to do, then we can play the game in a different bunch of ways and stuff like that."

Are you set with your infield?

"I am. Collin at shortstop, Jonathon at second, Grant at first and (Trevor) Minder at third. Still a little bit up in the air on the weekend rotation and the plate and left field and DH. Probably what we decide to do out there and behind the plate is going to dictate a little bit about what the DH spot will be. I just need a couple more days to let them rehearse. Somebody will be good and we'll just go with it to start, and we'll have some nice options on the bench, too, so that's good."

Is Groff still in the running for a starting spot in the outfield?

"Absolutely. You know, he's such an athletic kid. He came here as a high school shortstop. We moved him to the outfield. He's very athletic. He can run. That kind of adds to our ability in the outfield. But (Luke) Glancy's done a nice job this spring and he gives us a left-handed weapon, so Logan (Stevens) and Groff and Glancy are going to be a tough decision, but we'll go with it. We feel like we're covered. The bench will be full and the defensive replacement if we need it will be full."

How much will it help your pitchers just to have a better outfield this year. Last year you gave up a lot of hits that could have been caught by a better outfielder?

"Yeah, they found the green of the field, which we want to try to eliminate those. I think it's big, especially in this ball park where there's not a lot of foul territory so the balls that do land on the green a little to your right and to your left and certainly in front, we'd like to turn those into outs just like you would a ground ball. I feel good about that. Those guys have done a good job."

Did you know Ty Johnson would return for his fifth year after his injury? Was it guaranteed?

"That was the anticipation. I felt pretty good about that. He's an energizer bunny. We have a thing in our program called positive life force, spirited energy. He is certainly that, so I can sit here today and tell you that I don't know if he's going to play right or left but he's going to lead off for sure. I filled three days of lineup cards and I put his name on the top. Other than that, the rest are blank, but I know for sure that's what we're going to do there."

How much did it affect the team not having him for almost all of last year after the thumb injury on opening day?

"The energy for one, and in a lot of different ways. He can be one of our better players just because of all the things that he can do--hit a line drive, double, run, steal some bases, he's got some home runs on his bat, too. He's just a whatever-it-takes kind of guy, so having that back will be big. We've had him in shrink wrap all spring, and so far everything is good. We've moved all the golf carts out of the way and all the obstacles that he would have no fear of just to make sure he's out there. He's going to let it rip, I know that, so I'm looking forward to seeing him out there for sure."

What's the scouting report on Florida Gulf Coast?

"They are good. They return some of their pitching and some of their key components offensively. I've been told they are projected to win the A Sun (actually the coaches picked them second behind Liberty; Florida Gulf Coast won the regular season title in 2019 and Liberty won the conference tourney). They are going to be good. I've spent a lot of times in the mornings trying to watch some of their returning pitching. They will be a very good test. You look at our schedule in general and there's a lot of tests on there. We've been studying and it's about time to take the first one. The weather's supposed to be good. I know the kids are fired up. It's one pitch at a time."

I notice on another site, a discussion of potential AAC expansion because we only have a couple years exemption as an 11 team conference to have a championship game. While the Big 12 (really 10) haven’t seemed to be bothered by this “inconvenience,” I have some thoughts.

First, from previous discussions on this topic, I agree with most on this site that adding another school for the sake of getting to 12 doesn’t make any sense. And the focus of most discussion seems to be to replace UCONN with a team from the East such as Appalachian State, Florida Atlantic, UMASS, Old Dominion, Army, or a number of other not very attractive options (at least not to me).

Boise State and San Diego State as a twosome have some merit with the difficulty of needing to eject a current member, or adding even one more to get to 14. And, even then, without moving teams from one side of the conference to the other, football divisions would be uneven. And, though it’s seldom mentioned, the cost of travel for sports other than football, especially the non-revenue sports, would be dramatically increased.

Frankly, I don’t have a solution that is at all likely. My personal preference would be to add BYU and shift Navy to the East, where they actually belong. BYU could join as a football-only school (similar to Navy) and retain its allegiance to the West Coast conference (as it does today) for all other sports. That solves the cost problem for non-revenue teams. We already have Wichita State as a non-football member, and though I don’t see the need, replacing UCONN with a non-football member within our geographic footprint might not be that difficult to swallow. A team from the Atlantic 10, such as VCU, George Mason, or St Louis could round out the conference, though, again, I really don’t see the need to add another non-football school.

To me, the problem with this scenario isn’t what BYU brings to the AAC, It’s what the AAC doesn’t bring to BYU. They’ve already got an excellent TV deal for football. They play several P5 schools each year including annual games against Utah. They also have a long term home and home against Boise State and they already draw more home attendance than any other school in the G5. Unless they are invited into a P5 conference, I don’t see the need from their perspective, to make a move.

So, I guess we stand pat until one or more AAC members gets the “golden” invite. I’m not holding my breath.

Roll Wave!!!

1) Willie Fritz and company did a really nice job filling holes with their last five signees.

Never mind that Tulane's recruiting ranking for the 2020 class is higher than for any since 2004. We already knew Willie Fritz was on the the right track in building a consistent winner at a program that has consistently lost for nearly 40 years save the two-year Tommy Bowden/RichRod nirvana.

What I really like is the quality and position of the last five gets--linebacker Jesus Machado, who committed and signed on the day of the earlier period, grad transfer linebacker Kevin Henry from Oklahoma State, grad transfer wide receiver Mykel Jones from Oklahoma, defensive tackle Adonis Frilous, who flipped from Houston, and offensive tackle Trey Tuggle.

Tulane really needed linebackers with only three scholarship guys returning to fill two spots, and by all accounts, Machado might be good enough to play as a freshman. And if he is not ready, Henry certainly is, giving the Wave a solid two deep along with Marvin Moody, Nick Anderson, Dorian Williams. Before those additions, lack of depth at linebacker was looking like it might be a killer for 2020. No more. I don't expect Henry to be a dominant linebacker--he rarely cracked the starting lineup at Oklahoma State--but at the very least he can contribute like Malik Lawal did on the defensive line this year and will be part of the rotation. It also helps that Machado and Henry will participate in spring practice. They need to be ready to play at the start of the season.

Jones could be a big-time receiver. I'm not 100-percent sure because I will fall back on what basketball coach Ron Hunter recently said about transfers, that all of them were broken in some way and need to be fixed. Jones had two catches last year, barely getting on the field at Oklahoma. Obviously the Sooners are incredibly talented at receiver, but his playing time went down rather than up in his final year there. Still, Jones looks the part, talks the part and could be a godsend for a receiving corps that lacks any proven performer. Maybe Sorrell Brown will stay healthy and show everyone why insiders were so excited about him two years ago. Maybe Jaetavian Toles makes a huge leap with the opportunity in front of him after not doing a whole heck of a lot last year. Maybe Jacob Robertson, who came on a bit at the end of the season, can become a solid role player. Maybe the Watts brothers, who put up small numbers at a run-first JUCO, will explode when given the opportunity under Will Hall. But there is a ton of uncertainty at the position. Jones appears to be the best bet to excel, and he is fast.

A team can never have enough good defensive linemen, and I really like the potential of Friloux. If he were a little taller, everyone would have been after him. His dominant high school numbers speak for themselves. He could be an impact player on the interior as a freshman and surely will be an impact player down the road even if he is not ready immediately. Guys like him are the difference between competing for championships and going 6-6.

As for Tuggle, my reservations about guys who waffle about signing already have been noted, but he completes an outstanding group of offensive lineman. Poor line play has hampered the program for the last 10 years, and offensive line coach Cody Kennedy set out to upgrade the unit dramatically in recruiting. He succeeded, bringing in five guys with the headliners likely being Josh Remetich, Rashad Green and Tuggle. Down the road, Tulane won't have to do it with smoke and mirrors up front, Kennedy and Hall were forced to camouflage a myriad of blocking weaknesses last year.

2) The basketball team absolutely, positively needs more from Jordan Walker and Teshaun Hightower

I look stupid for posting Tulane could go 10-8 in the AAC in a post here after its 2-2 start. Clearly, I did not see the crash and burn coming, and neither did Ron Hunter, who was talking about being maybe two games out of first place by mid-February and then making a push for the top as his team jelled. He is an excellent coach, as his track record and the much inferior track record of his successors at IUPUI and predecessors at Georgia State proved, but Tulane simply cannot put the ball in the basket or get quality possessions on offense.

So what happened? Obviously, there are a whole host of issues, but the biggest factors have been the disappearance of point guard Jordan Walker and the ineffectiveness of Teshaun Hightower. When Ray Ona Embo left the team early in the season, I naively thought it would not be a big deal because I never liked his game. I also thought Walker had proven himself as a clutch player who hit big shots late and could run the team. But since scoring 17 in the win against Temple, he has not reached double figures again, averaging 5.6 points and a little less than two assists. He played only eight minutes against ECU on Saturday as Tulane went without a point guard for most of the game. I expected long periods of dormancy from Kevin Zhang, but not Walker. A couple of weeks ago Hunter compared Walker to Zhang in terms of inconsistency, which was not a good sign.

Hightower, meanwhile, looked like he would be a second-team caliber All-AAC performer early in the year. Instead, he has struggled to overcome adversity, losing confidence in his outside shot as opponents played him for the drive and getting out of control as he tried to penetrate against tight defense anyway. Since the Temple game, he is shooting 33 percent, with 1 of 6, 1 of 7 and 1 of 9 clunkers in the mix. He has twice as many turnovers (26) as assists (13) in that span, although nine of the assists have come in the last two games as he has started passing more to combat all of the attention he is receiving. To win, Tulane needed Hightower to be great. Instead, we are seeing why he struggled to get consistent playing time at Georgia last season despite his ability.

Tulane always was going to struggle rebounding the ball this year. It always was going to struggle against big post players. It needed to overcome those deficiencies with an efficient offense and the ability to score in transition as it forced turnovers (in one positive sign, the Wave has forced more turnovers than it has allowed in 22 of 23 games). Neither happened, and Tulane is far too limited offensively while getting next to nothing from Walker and repeated rough shooting nights from Hightower.

3) To reach a regional this year, Tulane needs Daniel Latham to be a savior

The Advocate's lack of baseball coverage was ripped on another message board this week. That's fair criticism, and I am the one responsible. I do the weekly budgets for Tulane content and elected not to write much about the team, although I will have a notebook later today and we will have a full Tulane preview page Friday rather than the Wave sharing a page with UNO as happened last year.

I love baseball. From 1980 to 1986, before I went off to Florida for college, I attended almost every Tulane home game because I got in free on my father's faculty card. I would head straight to the diamond from middle school and high school on weekdays to catch the end of 2 p.m. single games and 1 p.m. doubleheaders (there were no lights at the stadium). I went to the Saturday and Sunday games religiously.

But with this Tulane baseball team, I'm not sure what to write in the preseason. Obviously, the pitching needs to be vastly improved, and on paper it isn't. That's where Latham comes in. The buzz has been good about Tulane's juco imports even though their numbers were not particularly impressive before they arrived. Positive buzz in recent years has not amounted to anything, but let's see if Latham can turn these guys into solid D1 pitchers. His numbers were outstanding as a pitching coach at Southeastern, and he was not exactly working with blue chip talent there, either. He'd never experienced anything remotely like the disaster that was Tulane pitching last year, when the ERA of 5.74 was higher than in the terrible two years under former pitching coach Tighe Dickinson. Unless the team ERA drops by more than a run per game, the Wave will go nowhere regardless of what it does at the plate. I'm taking a wait-and-see approach, but I do like Latham's history.

Warren Easton 2022 CB Jyaire Brown landed his first two offers from #Tulane + #HailState on Monday. Brown reacts to his first two offers, early conversations with the #LSU staff and already has a busy month of visits lined up


https://tulane.rivals.com/news/mississippi-state-is-the-first-sec-offer-for-2022-cbjyaire-brown

With the early optimism of basketball spinning into disappointing realism and the baseball season starting this weekend, spring football is also almost upon us. Coach Fritz has stated that practices will be open to the public so I hope some of the posters on this board get a chance to “have a look” and report back. Guerry does a great job reporting on these practices but his two eyes can’t see everything. Additional views and perspectives are greatly appreciated. Of course, like every team in the country we have plenty of question marks though quite a few won’t be answered until the fall and the beginning of the 2020 season. But some questions I have for the spring:

1. With graduations and transfer so far, we’ve lost 22 players from last year’s team. Are there any other changes to the roster? Is everyone back for the spring semester? Or have we suffered any more attrition?

2. What’s the status of our injured players, particularly our defensive linemen Monjarres, Hatcher and Thomas, as well as Sorrell Brown on offense who hasn’t played for two years but whose potential continues to excite. Are Kubiet and/or Singletary healthy? Any chance of them seeing the field? Any others with injury issues?

3. Has anyone changed positions? What about our QB’s? When talking about QB’s, Coach Fritz seems to only mention Howard, Pratt, and Ibieta. What about Daniels? Is he still lining up at QB or, like Ledford, moved to another position? Where is Yegenio Booker lining up? Also, what’s the story on Caleb Thomas? Offense or defense? Any experimental position changes?

4. How does the team look and feel? Roster stats are notoriously optimistic. But, do the linemen appear to be in shape or are some of them 50# overweight like we’ve seen in some recent years? Do our skill position guys look quick? In the NFL combine, very few of even the top NFL-caliber recruits actually run sub-4.5 40’s. Yet, thousands of high school kids claim that speed. Forget the clock, what’s our “football speed?”

5. At wide receiver, we’ve lost Mooney and McLeskey, but added the Watts twins and Mylek Jones. How do they look? Toles and Robertson got some needed experience last year and the two freshmen, Jhaquan Jackson and Tyrek Presley might be ready to play, Jackson as a sophomore and Presley as a redshirt freshman. Which brings us back to Sorrell Brown. Is he ready to contribute?

6. On the offensive line, we’ve improved marginally each of the last couple of years but still get “schooled” by the better teams. And we must cut back on the unforced penalties. Claybrook, Dublin, Haynesworth, Knutson, and Jackel return with the most experience and appear to be frontrunners for starting positions. The lineman with next most playing time is Timothy Shafter who is a walk on. But we normally need about 8 offensive linemen to navigate the season. What’s the story on Nik Hogan, Michael Remondet, and Stephen Lewerenz? They were prized recruits who redshirted as freshmen and barely saw the field in “garbage time” as redshirt freshmen. Can they challenge for playing time? And, on that subject, what about the returning redshirt freshmen, Fort, Oldner, Orgeron, and Caleb Thomas (if on offense)? With another five true freshmen expected in August, that’s a lot of untried players vying for playing time. Someone has to step up. Any hints in the spring on who that might be would be helpful.

7. I doubt many Wave fans are concerned about our running backs. We lose Bradwell and Dauphine, but return Huderson, Carroll, Spears, Amare Jones, and Booker. I doubt we’ll learn much in the spring other than how we plan to use the wingback position that Jones and Booker seemed to occupy much of last season. I just hope everyone remains healthy because five running backs is not a lot.

8. Of course, everyone is interested in the QB position and Howard comes in as the favorite to start in the fall. How does he look? Is he in shape? How’s his throwing? Does he look quick in the pocket and when he takes off? I know that’s hard to determine with no tackling, but any insights? And this will be our first chance to see Pratt. How comfortable does he look? What’s his thrown ball look like? How about accuracy? This is a position that lack of depth might require signing a grad transfer who can compete for the starting job.

9. Shifting to special teams, we should be fine punting, kicking and returning, but the big question in my mind is the snapper. Who is practicing at long snapper? We have some walk-ons but no scholarship guys with any experience. Remembering the horror show put on at this position for several years prior to Fritz’s arrival, this is a concern; though I have faith coach will solve it.

10. On the defensive line, we return all four starters: Sample, Jeffery Johnson, Williams, and Patrick Johnson. If healthy, we also return veterans in Wright, Thomas, Monjarres, and Hatcher. Eric Hicks, Armani Dixon, and Darius Hodges also return as redshirt freshmen. Do any of them look to move up in the depth chart? Also, as I understand it, Noah Taliancich, the true freshman, is in school and should participate in spring drills. How does he look? We need to get more pressure on the QB from this group in 2020.

11. At linebacker, we return Moody, Nick Anderson, and Dorian Williams. Moody was inconsistent last year but shows flashes of brilliance. Anderson had a great bowl game and looks to be ready to contribute significantly. Williams played mostly on special teams with relatively few appearances on defense, so he’s an unknown, so his progress in the spring is worth monitoring. The addition of Kevin Henry is really big at this position of need and I’m really interested in how he looks and moves. The same for Jesus Machado who I think was the “steal” of this class and could be an early contributor. The spring may give a clue to how much and how soon.

12. In the defensive backfield, we lost some key players from last year and return only seven lettermen, including Chris Joyce, who must sit out the first four games. With grad transfer, Kyle Meyers, not available until the summer, this is the time for our redshirt freshmen to really step up. The departure of Harper, Barge, and Bryant at Nickle leaves only K.J. Vault at that position. Who else is practicing there? I doubt a lot will be learned in the spring but I expect to see the coaches try a variety of combinations across the five backfield positions. Does anyone stand out? Is this a position where another grad transfer is needed?

Anyhow, while I’ll be focusing on baseball and all but forgetting basketball, I’m looking forward to spring football. Like I mentioned earlier, I hope some of the locals get a chance to see some of the practices to augment Guerry’s always excellent reporting.

Roll Wave!!!

Opening Statement

“Thank you for coming out today, I really appreciate it. A few things I want to talk about that occurred this last season. For the first time in school history, 126 years that Tulane has played football, we won back-to-back bowl games. It is only the second time in school history that we have played back-to-back bowl games. This was the eighth winning season in the last 38 years, so we are making progress towards our goal of being a consistent winner year after year. Matter of fact, this is only the fourth time for back-to-back winning seasons in the last 60 years and the last time it happened was 1997-1998. This is also the most wins for a graduating senior class this century.”

On Spring Football

“You all are welcome to come out to spring football. We are probably one of the few schools that allows full access to our practices. You are more than welcome to come to practice. The only thing that we ask is to not videotape 11-on-11 stuff when we are doing those kind of things. We would love to have you out here and we appreciate those of you that come out frequently. Thank you very, very much.”

On the 2020 Signing Day Class

“We have signed 20 players and we also have two graduate players that are here. We have a class of 22. Twenty one of the 22 signees earned three-star ratings or above, which the only time you talk about star ratings is when you ended up ranked pretty well and we are this year. Our current class ended up ranked second in the AAC (American Athletic Conference) when you make the addition of Trey Tuggle and Adonis Friloux. We feel like we are doing a good job of bringing number one Division I football players in here and also guys who are excellent students. We have graduated every senior who has gone through our program. They were doing that at Tulane long before I got here. Also, guys who fit into our culture, a really good group of young men. We are very excited for the class that we have added this year.”

On Kevin Henry

“I really want to talk about the guys who have come in and are here right now. You are going to have a chance to visit with them if you would like after you ask me questions. Kevin Henry is from Baton Rouge, La. He went to Central High School and then went to play at Oklahoma State. He is an excellent football player. We have academic perimeters we have to follow with our grad transfers just like with our incoming freshmen athletes as well and he graduated from Oklahoma State with a high GPA. He is here working on his Master’s Degree. We are very excited to have him here, not only to play linebacker, but to also play in the kicking game. He was a great special teams player at Oklahoma State.”

On Mykel Jones

“Mykel Jones, is a transfer from Patterson High School, who went to Oklahoma. I believe he has 33 career catches at Oklahoma. He played a bunch for them. He is another guy who has graduated with a great GPA. I believe he was an Academic All Big 12 one of his years there. We think he will be a fantastic addition to our receiving core. He is a little bit of a bigger guy. He is tall, a little over 5-11 with great speed. Mykel, Mike, his dad calls him Mike, so I am going to call him Mike. Mykel and Kevin have both been super in the weight room and meeting rooms with our guys. They are great additions.”

On Jesus Machado

“Jesus came in over the summer on an unofficial visit with his family and then we did not think we would have an opportunity to get Jesus. He had some big time offers coming out of high school. We were fortunate enough to get him to flip to us. I believe his high school team played in the state championship in Florida, they have great football down there. He is going to play inside linebacker for us. Again, an excellent student. He graduated a semester early and he has fit in extremely well. That is a big deal for us. I tell my coaches all the time when they go out to recruit: character, character, character. Character is the number one thing we are looking for, then academic skill, as well as athletic ability, he certainly has all that.”

On Michael Pratt

“Michael Pratt is also an early enrollee. His team also played for the state championship and did not win it in the state of Florida. He transferred in his senior year to Deerfield Beach High School. He is going to come in and compete for that quarterback position. He is going to be here a little bit later I believe, but Michael is a guy who committed to us in the summer. Something that I thought was interesting that the day he was up here, he was actually here with his family visiting New Orleans, we were having camp and he wanted to compete in camp. Sometimes guys who are highly recruited do not want to do that, but he loves playing football. We are excited about having him.”

OK, I did some checking. All grad transfers count towards the 25 maximum total per year and will count towards 2020 even if they enroll at the end of spring. They cannot be moved forward to 2021, so Tulane is at 21 at the moment, with the 18 signees in December plus the three grad transfers, and can sign a combination of four more freshmen and transfers.

The other limit, as you know, is 85 total scholarships. I would not be too concerned about that one. If they find four worthy players, and Friloux should be one of them, attrition will make room for them. By my count they have 83 committed scholarships at the moment counting Meyers, who has not arrived yet, so they would only need two more departures before August. There likely will be more than that.

It appears he has been denied admission to Central Michigan.

I'm hoping Tulane transcribes Willie Fritz's 27-minute question-and-answer session from signing day because I do not want to, but if need be, I will. As a bonus, they brought every spring enrollee with the exception of Michael Pratt, who had a class conflict, and I talked to all of them.

NOAH TALIANCICH

You've been a long-time fan, but what is Tulane's reputation with your peers now compared to four years ago?

"Like you said, Tulane's always had a close place in my heart, but there's definitely more incentive to come now since we started winning. It's just great to see the culture change and the program change. Everything coach Fritz has done is amazing, not just for the fans but for the city. You didn't used to hear about Tulane. You'd always hear about LSU, LSU, but now you're seeing Tulane billboards and Tulane things. It just makes my day to see Tulane gear at Academy and Dick's and everything. Five years ago, you didn't see any of that."

When you were trying to recruit other players, how much easier was it now?

"When I was trying to get guys over here, it definitely made it a lot of easier. You are seeing Tulane a lot more now, so we're not going to a school that's built to lose. Now it's a winning program. We're moving up. We are playing in a great league. There are a lot of things guys like a lot about this school, and another thing is the academic side. You come here and get your degree and like they say it's a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision. All those things."

Spring ball is three weeks away. How much will it help you arriving early?

"Oh, definitely coming in early changed up a little bit what would have happened if I would have come in a little bit later. You definitely get that foot in the door. You learn the system a little bit better and it puts you ahead of the other guys. A lot of it is mental. I think I'm going to be OK with the physicality, but a lot of it is going to be taking the mental reps."

Was it an easy decision for you to enroll early?

"Oh yeah. During my junior year I decided that I wanted to go early because I would have all my credits. It just made sense for me because I thought in my head if I go early I'll get my foot in the door ahead of everybody else. It was simple."

What is your family's background pulling for Tulane?

"Actually my mom's father graduated from Tulane back in the 60s and then my stepmom's father was a ticket salesman at old Tulane stadium, so it's been all the way back since then."

Did anyone play football at Tulane?

"No sir. nobody in my family has played football here. This is huge. I was actually committed to ULL before I was committed to Tulane, and then coach Fritz called me over and he said I want you to come on a visit. Coach Peoples had come to watch me practice and he had said, 'you know, Noah, we're going to offer you a scholarship.' I came over on a visit and we were talking about it, and coach Fritz came over and told me, you have time to make a decision, but I think you already know what it is, and everybody in the room knew what it was. So that day I called him back and told him I want to play for him at Tulane. It was the easiest decision in my life honestly."

DUECE AND PHAT WATTS

This team needed wide receivers. How much will it help you guys to be at spring practice in three weeks?

Duece: "A starting spot is open, so as long as we compete and do what we do, we're looking to start."

Phat: "I just feel like us coming in early gets us ahead of the game. We're going to learn the offense and strength and conditioning wise with the team. I just felt like it was good for us."

Your junior college did not throw much. What was it like playing for them when you knew you were not going to get a lot of opportunities?

Duece: "As a receiver, you feel that type of way, but we just do what we need to do to win, so it wasn't really a problem."

Phat: "It was always about doing what we needed to do to win, so it wasn't really a problem. It's always about doing what you need to do for your team. You have to take a sacrifice every now and then. Blocking is important, so we had to do that for the team."

How excited are you for the start of spring ball in three weeks?

Phat: "I'm excited. Really excited. I'm happy to get started."

What are your best strengths?

Phat: "My best strength is my speed."

Duece: "I feel like my route-running has come a long way."

What kind of a year are you guys looking forward to having?

Phat: "I know what I can do, and if I get a chance, I'm going to make the best of it and make an immediate impact on the team."

Duece: "Same here. Like coach said, the team needs receivers, so we're coming in looking to start and help the team get some more wins."

KEVIN HENRY

What was the key for you deciding to play your final year at Tulane?

"The fact that it was back home (he played for Baton Rouge Central). Being away from home for so long--five years actually--takes a toll on you. I was just trying to find a coach and a place and Tulane happened to be it."

When you were coming out of high school, was Tulane even on your radar?

"I talked to Tulane a few times coming out of high school, but yeah, they weren't really on my radar. Early on they were on me but once they saw how big my offers were, they kind of laid back. I wanted to be the guy to go away to school, but it turns out I wanted to come back home."

Tulane has a big need at linebacker. How much of an impact do you think you can make?

"I feel like I can make a big impact, but I feel like we have a lot of great players and a lot of young players. I feel like I can bring experience and teach the younger guys and show them the ropes."

What is your best asset as a linebacker?

"I would say I can process plays and process what the offense can do, so I guess being a smart linebacker is my best ability."

How did Oklahoma State work out for you overall?

"I felt good for the most part. I got a few bad breaks with injuries (he was granted an extra year of eligibility after missing all of 2017, what would have been his redshirt sophomore season), but besides that it was a good experience and I improved from it."

How important was Tulane's new winning tradition to you?

"It was pretty awesome that Tulane has the streak going with the bowl. I feel like I can come in and contribute and make sure we keep that streak going."

What schools did you consider other than Oklahoma State?

"I considered LSU, Florida State, Ole Miss, schools like that."

I’d heard rumors that Keon Howard wouldn’t be around next season, and although I don’t know for certain if they’re true or not I think that the fact that we scored 30 unanswered points against his old school and he didn’t play a snap speaks volumes.

I don’t anticipate that Fritz will hand this offense over to Daniels or an incoming freshman just yet, so expect a transfer. I’ve heard that’s a likely outcome, having another QB transfer in. Fingers crossed

Last week he was on the Ole Miss Rivals site for an official visit this weekend. His name no longer appears.

Tulane has confirmed Trey Tuggle signed this morning, and Adonis Friloux picked the Tulane cap instead of the Houston one after holding both in his hands at his signing ceremony at Hahnville.

Their addition gives Tulane 11 3-star recruits out of 20 according to Rivals (and 19 out of 20 according to 247 Sports, which has softer rankings, with Matthew Hightower the only 2-star guy). The class, at least initially, has moved up to No. 63 nationally from a tie for 70th nationally, which would be the highest ranking since 2004 if it holds.

Here are Tulane's yearly Rivals rankings:

2020: TBD, but 63rd at the moment

2019: T92

2018: 65

2017: 90

2016: 85

2015: not in top 100

2014: 83

2013: 77

2012: 81

2011: not in top 100

2010: not in top 100

2009: 96

2008: not in top 100

2007: not in top 100

2006: 91

2005: not in top 100

2004: 60

2003: 84

2002: 96

Will Tulane have a football signing day party as usual? I haven't seen anything about one considering that tomorrow is the signing date.

Guerry, do you have any idea if we will be entertaining any visitors this weekend? Do you think we will sign Tuggle? If I am not mistaken Mize is a small Mississippi 1A school in a small league.

By my count Tulane has 83 scholarships committed to 2020 and 22 scholarships committed to newcomers, counting Adonis Friloux. There figures to be more attrition before then of course.

Here is the breakdown by position for spring practice and the fall. I confirmed Jesus Machado was enrolled in the spring, as he told me he would do.

Quarterback (4)

Spring: Keon Howard, Michael Pratt, Christian Daniels
Fall: Justin Ibieta

Running back (5)

Spring: Amare Jones, Tyjae Spears, Cameron Carroll, Stephon Huderson, Ygenio Booker
Fall : no one

Wide receiver (9)

Spring: Jaetavian Toles, Mykel Jones, Jacob Robertson, Sorrell Brown, Tyrek Presley, Jha'Quan Jackson, Dane Ledford, Phat Watts, Duece Watts

Fall: no one

Tight end (6)

Spring: Tyrick James, Will Wallace, Keshon Williams, Conner Richardson, Keitha Jones
Fall: Reggie Brown

Offensive line (15)

Spring: Corey Dublin, Joey Claybrook, Sincere Haynesworth, Cameron Jackel, Ben Knutson, Stephen Lewerenz, Colby Orgeron, Nik Hogan, Jackson Fort, Michael Remondet, Trace Oldner

Fall: Josh Remetich, Rashad Green, Matt Lombardi, Joseph Solomon

Defensive line (counting joker) (18)

Spring: Cameron Sample, Patrick Johnson, Jeffrey Johnson, De'Andre Williams, Juan Monjarres, Alfred Thomas, Davon Wright, Carlos Hatcher, Eric Hicks, Torri Singletary, Nick Kubiet, Armoni Dixon, Darius Hodges, Caleb Thomas, Noah Taliancich

Fall: Angelo Anderson, Brandon Brown, Adonis Friloux*

Linebacker (6)

Spring: Marvin Moody, Nick Anderson, Darius Williams, Kevin Henry, Jesus Machado
Fall: Matthew Hightower

Defensive back (17)

Spring: Jaylon Monroe, Willie Langham, Chase Kuerschen, Larry Brooks, Macon Clark, K.J. Vault, Tyler Judson, Levi Williams, Ton'Quez Ball, Kiland Harrison, Chris Joyce (*), Kanyon Walker

Fall: Kyle Meyers, Cornelius Dyson, Kevaris Hall, Shi'Keem Leister, Reggie Neely

Special teams (3)

Spring: Coby Neenan, Ryan Wright, Merek Glover
Fall: no one

The astericks are because Friloux has not officially committed and Joyce is suspended for the first four games of 2020 to finish off his yearlong hit for a performance-enhancing drug infraction. Had one for Merek Glover because was not sure he had scholarship before you guys confirmed he did.

It seems he is visiting Indiana this weekend. My guess is we sign Adonis Friloux only. This will leave three scholarships for Grad transfer if so desired.

It appears he is not visiting Florida this weekend. Makes it interesting as to what will happen with the few scholarships we have left.

I don't have the names, but Tulane has about 15 to 20 of the top 2021-22 prospects in the area for Junior Day.

It is not bringing in recruits for the 2020 signing class this weekend. Of course, the late signing day is next Wednesday.

Last year, Tulane had these guys in for Junior Day, got five to sign this December and likely will have a sixth shortly with Friloux. Here is where they ended up.

Caleb Anderson--UL Lafayette
Khari Coleman--TCU
Cornelius Dyson--Tulane
Adonis Friloux--likely will flip to Tulane from Houston
Rashad Green--Tulane
Justin Ibieta--Tulane
Patrick Jenkins--TCU
Donovan Kaufman--Vanderbilt
Mason Narcisse--uncommitted, was Tulane commitment before Wave moved on
Josh Remetich--Tulane
Noah Taliancich--Tulane
Jamie Vance--Louisville

I see he is visiting Memphis this weekend.