Three Questions

With 19 recruits signed (Jacobs still out) and 5 transfers expected to enroll, I have three questions.

• How many of these kids will enroll for the spring semester and participate in spring football?
• With the unexpected and sincerely welcome return of Haynesworth, I believe we have 66 returning scholarship players. Adding the 24 “new’ guys, that takes us to 90, five over the limit. Who is leaving?
• If more than 5 are leaving, how many more slots do we have for the national signing day in February?

Roll Wave!!!

Tulane just announced Darion Reed as a signee. No surprise since he took his official visit this past weekend a few days after committing to Memphis

That means four of the five high schoolers who visited Friday signed with the Wave.

Commits to Tulane. I year of eligibility. Started 11 games at LSU from 2020-2022.

Is there a Cotton Bowl edition in the works?

The coaches are on the road recruiting, but foplayers spoke after a captain's led light practice on Tuesday at Yulman Stadium.

NICK ANDERSON

On shot of him standing there smiling after game while fans on field congratulated him:

"It was amazing just to soak it all in. I was just in awe. I couldn't talk. I was at a loss for words. Seeing all the fans all over the field, seeing American champs in our logo on the Jumbotron, just seeing all the happy faces, the smiles, I really feel like that's one thing I'll remember, just the genuine happiness that flooded that field with the fans. Forget the scoreboard. Forget everything else. Just to see fans old and young just to surround you and hug you and tell you that you really made their years, made their lives. That's the impact I wanted to help leave, and I felt like we left it."

On significance of Kansas State game:

"It was a big game. It really set the tone to not only show the nation but also show us what we are capable of doing. They went on to win the Big 12, so that just shows a testament to how we went up there and had a dominating performance against a very good football team, not an average team, against the Big 12 champions. It just shows how good we were, and it was a definite changing moment in our season."

On knowing K State was really good team even though it was not ranked at time:

"Most definitely. Even just looking at the previous year, the way they played against LSU in the bowl game in the Texas Bowl just showed they definitely has physical guys on their team and just had players that could step up at any time. You could see that when Adrian Martinez went down, the backup quarterback got in and got things running. And Deuce Vaughn, testament to him. He's another undersized guy that doesn't play like one and has a big chip on his shoulder. Just to see the things that's he done this season really shows a testament to how good they are as a team."

On his statement that Tulane would win AAC on first day of preseason drill:

"Yeah, I think a lot of people thought I was crazy, but I just had strong faith in this team, strong faith in our preparation, strong faith in the coaches and faith in God that everything we went through last year wasn't in vain. That's just the way we attacked everything this year, with the practices, with the preparation week in and week out. We attacked that knowing that we're trying to erase the wrongs from last year to know that this year would be a testament that last year wasn't us. We were just dealt a bad hand, and that's one of the things we were able to represent this year. A huge shout-out to my lord and savior Jesus Christ, without him we wouldn't have done it, but most definitely we went out there and worked hard and got it done.'

On playing potential Heisman Trophy winner in Caleb Williams:

"It's definitely exciting to just see his progression in the year. We played him last year when he was Oklahoma (Williams scored a 1-yard TD from the wildcat formation in the first quarter but did not do anything else as far as I can tell). To see the amazing things that he was able to do on the west coast under Lincoln Riley's system is dynamic. Lincoln Riley is known for having dynamic quarterbacks, and Caleb Williams is another one. I hope he wins the Heisman. That would be phenomenal to play against the Heisman Trophy winner, but he goes to work just like we go to work. It's nothing I'm nervous about, but I definitely am excited to play against Caleb Williams on Jan. 2."

On Kai Horton's performance against Houston:

"I feel like that was the momentum-changer.A lot of people bring up Kansas State as that's the point of the season where everything changed, but I really feel like going into Houston on a Friday night, ESPN, a very hostile environment, and getting a win in overtime with Kai leading the reigns really showed us how good we are. The past teams that I've been on at Tulane, just being honest, maybe would not have pulled that game out, but to know that Kai went down and nobody batted an eye. He didn't even know he was going to play. It really just showed the mentality of our team, of everybody being prepared, everybody being ready for any type of situation, and to go there and beat Houston, which was preseason ranked as winning the conference, really showed us how good we were and how we were going to be able to dominate this conference this year. That game was overlooked a lot, but it was the momentum swing, especially coming off a short week, losing to Southern Miss, that game definitely helped build the momentum going into conference."

On offense having fourth most prolific game in school history against UCF:

"It's amazing to just know the offense has your back, the offense is going to put up points. We kept a 17-point lead a lot in that game. We made a few mistakes defensively, bad eyes letting explosive plays go, but to see our offense get on the field and score very quickly, it was just amazing to see that firepower. It was amazing to see Pratt, guys like Duece, Shae Wyatt, Keys, Quan, Tyjae just make dynamic plays that they make in practice every day, and to just see them go out there and execute that on such a grand stage, it being the championship game and being able to rely on those guys really helped us."

On capable of beating teams in so many ways:

"It just shows the hard work we put in to all three phases. We play great special teams. We play great offense and great defense. Our coaches do a great job of making sure no stone is unturned, and that's why I feel like we will have an advantage going into the bowl game because of our preparation. I know we are going to come in every day and are going to keep that 1-0 mentality. We are going to keep working hard and we are going to keep putting the emphasis on everything and treating this like another game because this is another game on our schedule. We do have a 1-0 mentality, so I know we are going to attack it and get it done."

On having month between games:

"Especially having a month off, it's a time for guys to recover because we have played 13 weeks of football, so guys are definitely a little bruised up and a little banged up, so the time off will be beneficial, but I just feel like the energy these guys have of winning the conference championship and just having a 1-0 mentality really keeps us hungry because we did win the conference championship, but we have one more opportunity and this opportunity is a New Year's Six bowl, the Cotton Bowl, which is well renowned around the nation, and so we don't want to take this for granted. We want to go and win the game and we will win the game."

Well, now we're down to 1 for tomorrow, but I'll take it!!

Guerry, do they include the transfers?

Also, is Kanan Ray coming back?

Caught up with Tyler Grubbs today after reaching him last night just as he was about to see Avatar and postponing the interview.

Grubbs, who was not recruited by Tulane out of Holy Cross, led Louisiana Tech in tackles as a true freshman and as a sophomore and likely would have done it again this year ie he had not broken his collarbone five games into the season.. He absolutely will step into the top rotation at linebacker with Nick Anderson and Dorian Williams leaving, joining Jesus Machado and Corey Platt as three of the top four.

Here is what Grubbs, who has been close friends with fellow Holy Cross alum and Tulane guard Josh Remetich for a long time, had to say about his commitment:

On why he chose Tulane:

"A main reason was being home. I'm a big, big New Orleans guy. I love New Orleans. If you ask anybody that knows me, I think New Orleans is the best city in the United States. I felt like Tulane has embraced the New Orleans culture. I got every bit of that on my visit. I just love the relationship and the family atmosphere that Tulane has over there with their players and coaches. I saw how the players interact with the coaches. They have a great bond. Just kind of the whole system of the school from the academics, from the president to the coaches to the strength program, they seem like they are all together and have bought into a common goal over there."

On relationship with Josh Remetich:

"We've been close since 5th grade at Holy Cross. It's great because me and him used to go at it at practice all the time. Getting to hang with him again and I have a few more Holy Cross guys who are playing for Tulane baseball (Gavin Schulz, Chandler Welch), just being around those guys brings back great memories. It will be awesome to see those guys every day now."

On Tulane not recruiting him out of Holy Cross:

"Honestly they didn't recruit me much. I didn't have an offer from them, so that's why I didn't choose Tulane. It was disappointing for them not to recruit a guy who was right down the road who is a big New Orleans guy, but every coach has their reasons, so it's not like you hold anything against them. In college, coaches have their ideal fit."

On why he is effective on the field:

"My instincts on the field are kind of just something that gets me to the ball a lot. I rely on my instincts a lot and run to the ball very well and trust my instincts because it's just something, you have this feeling inside of you that things just feel right. You always trust something that's always worked out for you."

On injury this year:

"I separated my collarbone. I thought my shoulder was out at first so I tried to get them to put my shoulder back in, and they were like, oh, it's something way different, you need to come to the back. I was like, oh, gee."

On Tulane having breakthrough season:

"It's nice to see them have a great year. Going into join them you just kind of embrace what they've created over there and try to maximize it from where it is right now and keep pushing for the same goals. Obviously they had something great going on this year, and you just try to keep it flourishing."

On Nick Anderson and Dorian Williams leaving:

"I talked to those guys while I was there. I have respect for those guys for what they did and the hump they got over. It's not easy at all. For one, coming back from a year like they had last year to this year is very tough, but mad props to them for getting all those guys to where they needed to be this year. It's definitely good to have an opening, to come in there and try to put everything I have into that spot."

On what need to work on:

"First off all personally just a leadership role. I definitely feel like I need to grow there and just speak up more, and on the field, just in the passing game I need to understand where to be on certain routes that develop in the passing game and just kind of understand that more."

On how quickly he knew he would excel a La Tech:

"I kind of always was just with the mindset that I want to play no matter what it takes. It was never like thinking I'm not playing. I knew I needed to get ready to play because in my head I was never not starting. I was just waiting for that opportunity to happen, and once it happened, I was going to take full advantage of it. You have to do your best and maximize your opportunity as best as you can. When you go out there for your first college game, most people are very nervous and everything like that. I remember going out there for the first game, and I was happy and excited and just looking so forward to playing my first college game. I didn't have any nervousness. It was more of like joy to be able to play college football."

On first tackle:

I don't remember what exact play it was, whether it was the sixth play or something like that, but I know exactly it was a reverse. That was the first tackle."

On vibe of official visit (four transfers ended up committing out of six already):

"You definitely felt in the air that everybody was enjoying themselves and everyone bonded well. It was this smooth flowing little thing we had going. It just seemed like everybody there was just, it wasn't so much of a business trip getting evaluated, it was more just like guys having fun and enjoying getting the time to know people."

On what they did on visit:

"You always do the picture.s They had a Mardi Gras float for everybody to take pictures with. We second lined in the French Quarter. We ate at the Marriott that overlooked the city. We talked to the president of the school. We got to know all of the programs that they provided."

On other schools he considered:

"Troy and UCF. it was honestly a very difficult decision. It was stressful because you build relationships and bond well with certain people at different programs, but you're not going to a place for that. You're going to a place where you can have success and see yourself flourishing. Relationships will always stay consistent, but you have to sit down and see what's the best decision for yourself going through the process."

He listed his seven finalists as Tulane, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, West Virginia, East Carolina and Michigan State earlier this month and visited Tulane this past weekend.

He rushed for 106 yards in an early-round playoff loss as his high school failed to defend its 2021 state Division II championship and lost for the first time in 21 games.

Has committed to Tulane.

We're all getting commits for FRITZMAS!!!
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After the longest dry spell at being able to reach any commitment on the phone in my entire time running this site (part of it is my fault for not being persistent), I just talked to Duda and will have a story on him on the front page later this evening. He admits he still would be headed to Nebraska if Mickey Joseph were still there, but he also said he definitely will sign with Tulane and could never de-commit again. Pretty good interview. He is very confident in his abilities.

And by drill spell, I mean attempts at more than 10 players over the the past couple months.

Feels good to finally be able to share this one!!
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With football and football recruiting, the basketball team has been lost in the shuffle while playing only once in nearly two weeks, but Tulane played by far its best game of the year last Saturday against Buffalo in Atlanta and will have another neutral-site game against George Mason in Chicago this Saturday. The game will not be streamed, marking the fifth straight game away from home that is not viewable (I guess the three Cayman Islands games were on, but you had to pay for them).

I talked to Ron Hunter, Sion James and Jaylen Forbes. James leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio (4.75 with 38 assists and 8 turnovers). it is Forbes' birthday today (he turned 22).

HUNTER

On Colln Holloway:

"He's probably out Saturday. He has a knee. Right now the main thing is getting healthy as we get close to league play.

On Tylan Pope:

"T.Y. is about 50-50 after the sprained ankle (during the Buffalo game), so we'll see what happens with him. Forbes is OK. Kevin is always going to be hurt, but he'll be OK. But those (Holloway and Pople) are the two right now, I don't know."

On James leading nation in assist to turnover ratio:

"It's extremely impressive. He just gets better and better. He doesn't get a lot of the shine as some of the other guys, but I've said before man he makes us go. He's probably leading the country in minutes, too (He is 20th at 36:18 per game). He's just one of those invaluable guys. He does all the right things."

On how much he has grown as a player in taking care of the ball:

"We put him with the ball in his hands, something he really didn't do. We basically had to change him from what he was in high school. He missed a lot of easy shots early and he's just so much better and more confident and everybody relies on him from defense, everything. He's one of those guys who's a winner."

On his maturity (Hunter once said he was 17 going on 30):

"Now he's 19 (actually 20) going on 30, but he's incredible. I've always said the best compliment for him is you look up student-athlete in the Webster dictionary, his picture is in there. He's the president of everything. He does everything right. He's a 4.0 student (actually 3.8) and just a great ambassador for Tulane."

On team taking care of the ball:

"We've been doing a good job. We've had really two bad halves all year. One of them was the Fordham game when we were turning it over like crazy, but if you have followed my career, my teams get better as the year goes on. Maybe it's from that mid-major thing I've always had. I love that we're getting better every day. I always want to peak late January. That's kind of the time you want to play your best ball, and we're getting healthy at the right time although we'll have some guys missing here, and we have our confidence back."

On George Mason:

"They are talented. They have a lot of seniors and a lot of guys coming back from last year. They were picked fairly high in their league (fifth out of 15 teams in the Atlantic 10). They've struggled away from home a little bit, but this is going to be a good test for us."

SION JAMES

On leading nation in assist to turnover ratio:

"It's pretty cool. I've never been a huge stats guy, but I think about myself as a freshman, and the biggest thing coach Hunter said is you can't play for me if you turn the ball over, so now here I am a few years later really making the change, that's pretty cool."

On biggest change he's made since freshman year, when he had 44 assists and 39 turnovers:

"It's really understanding the system. I've started to realize two years in, you know where all the plays are going to come from, you know where all the passes are going, you know what the defense is going to try to do. I don't really get sped up like I used to anymore, and I just understand the game. It helps a lot."

On taking care of the ball as a team:

"It's completely important. Super important. One thing we do well is all the little things. We make free throws. We don't turn the ball over. It's the little things that win games, and it's going to take us further. When we turn teams over and don't turn it over, that gets us extra possessions, which gives us extra chances to score and win the game."

On team against Buffalo being the real Tulane:

"Absolutely. Especially defensively. That's really where it comes. Offensively in our worst games we still perform pretty well. Defense is what's going to win us the conference championship and win us games in the NCAA tournament, and we showed flashes of how good our defense can really be."

On defense lacking earlier in year:

"It was definitely surprising, but I feel like it's one of those things we know we are going to figure out because one, we have no choice, and two, we've had guys in the system and we all want to win and we understand that in order for us to win at the level that we foresee us winning, we have to play very, very good defense."

On his unique game:

"I would definitely say I'm a versatile player. I'm definitely a playmaker. That's kind of who I've always been offensively, but I kind of fill in the gaps really well for our team. We have different lineups and different guys who can do a lot of things. I feel like I'm versatile enough to play off anyone else."

On when was the last time he was tired:

"It's been a while. This is the time where all of the summer conditioning and all the years of time in the weight room and on the court at night and in the mornings, this is why I'm able to play the minutes because I've prepared for this long before the beginning of the season."

On being mature always:

"I've always been younger than everyone I've been around, so I've had no choice but to mature in order to get myself together. That's just really what's been able to happen for me. I've gotten more mature, and now I'm 20 and been in the system for a little bit and I just feel really comfortable."

On doing a lot of stuff off the court, too:

"It's very important. I tell anyone who comes to Tulane and anywhere else that if you're only playing your sport in college, then you're missing out on so many opportunities. I really came to college not only wanting to make the most of my opportunity on the floor, which was my goal, but there are so many other things to do in college--being a student, getting involved--and that's really what I try to focus on."

On stuff he's done:

"I've gotten really involved in the student athletic advisory committee for Tulane and for the American and for the NCAA and I also serve on the men's basketball oversight committee for the NCAA. It's making rules and legislation surrounding the sport of men's basketball in college and finding different ways to progress the sport into the future of a changing NCAA."

JAYLEN FORBES

On James being No. 1 in the NCAA in turnover ratio:

"Now you can see how much he's grown just as a person and on the court as well. Coach preaches about us not turning the ball over and almost every game we play Sion's the one who's taking care of the ball and making the right decision nine times out of 10, so I give a lot of credit to Sion, especially with how much he handles the ball and with him pushing it the way that he does. Just coming off of ball screens at this level is pretty hard, so being able to do it and not turn the ball over and actually lead us to get points is a good thing."

On Hunter stressing no turnovers:

"Since the first day that I met coach Hunter, he's always emphasizing not turning the ball over. When we have careless turnovers, coach Hunter loses his mind. Once he emphasizes not turning the ball over like that, that just encourages us to be that much stronger with the ball. We practice it all the time, so that just leads to us making the right decisions during games."

On real team showing up against Buffalo:

"Most definitely. Actually when I was sitting on the bench at some point during the game, we just kept scoring and kept getting spots and I said to coach CP (Claude Pardue) this is the Tulane team that I've been waiting to see. As long as we keep building off that win and do the same thing Saturday, we are going to be pretty tough to beat come conference time."

It's raining commits! A true Fritzmas miracle!!
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Matthew Fobbs-White will be announcing his commitment tonight at 7 pm.

Early Fritzmas present forthcoming?
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Tulane is entertaining 16 players on the last weekend before signing day.

Six are already committed to the Wave. Five are high school prospects. Five are from the transfer portal.

ALREADY COMMITTED

Josh Goines
Makai Williams
Agu Dickson
Landry Cannon
Jai Eugene Jr.
Kevin Adams III


HIGH SCHOOL PROSPECTS

1) Trey Cornist, a 3-star, 6-1, 215-pound RB from Winton Woods High in Cincinnati

Skinny: Was committed to Georgia Tech from June to October. Listed Tulane among seven finalists last week along with West Virginia, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, East Carolina and Michigan State. Rushed for 106 yards on 19 carries in playoff loss that ended 21-game win streak that included state title in 2021.

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2) Harvey Broussard, a 3-star, 6-4, 180-pound WR from St. Martinsville

Skinny: committed to Memphis last week. Has offers from more than 30 schools.

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3) AJ Thomas, a 3-star, 6-3, 230-pound DE from Zachary

Skinny: Committed to Indiana in September after being committed to La Tech from April to July. Tulane envisions him at the joker spot. Indiana went 4-8 this year.

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4) Hunter Summers, 6-2, 168-pound unrated WR/DB from Prosper High in Texas

Skinny: expected to end up at La Tech, he also has an offer from Oregon State. This visit could change things.

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5) Darion Reed, a 6-6, 280-pound unrated OT from Chisolm Trail High in Fort Worth, TX

Skinny: Committed to Memphis on Sunday after previously being committed to North Texas during the summer. Always has listed those two schools and Tulane as his three top choices.

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TRANSFERS

1) Dequece Carter, a 6-0, 196-pound grad transfer WR from Fordham

Skinny: Caught 56 passes for 1,166 yards (20.8 average) and 13 TDs this year, which unbelievably did not lead the team in any of the three categories. Has 176 career receptions.


2) John Paul Flores, a 6-4, 308-pound grad transfer senior OG from Virginia

Skinny: Started every game at Dartmouth in 2019 and 2021 (no season in 2020) before transferring to Virginia, where he started five of 10 games at left guard this season and would have started more if not for an injury that limited him to a reserver role late in the season. Was 2-star prospect coming out of high school in Texas.


3) Cameron Wire, a 6-6, 295 pound OG/OT transfer senior from LSU.

Skinny: The East Ascension High product started six games in 2020, four games in 2021 and once this year when he was passed on the depth chart by two true freshmen, with all but one of the starts coming at left tackle. He started at right tackle in the opener against FSU but played in only three more games the rest of the way. Was 3-star prospect out of high school.


4) A.J. Hampton, a 5-11, 180-pound grad transfer CB from Northwestern.

Skinny: He spent five years at Northwestern and two as a starter, earning honorable mention All-Big Ten status in 2021. A foot injury sidelined him for five games this year. Appeared in 44 games with 105 tackle and two interceptions in his career. Was 3-star recruit out of high school in Florida.


5) Dontae Fleming, a 6-1, 168-pound sophomore WR from UL-Lafayette

Skinny: Has two years of eligibility left. Caught 58 passes for 693 yards and three TDS in his career with a high of 27 catches in 2021. Had 19 receptions with three scores this year. Was 2-star prospect coming out of East St. John High.


6) Tyler Grubbs, a 6-1, 223-pound LB from Louisiana Tech

Skinny: He has two years of eligibility left. Made 242 tackles in 2 1/2 years at La Tech before suffering season-ending injury in fifth game this year. Was second-team All-CUSA in 2021. Was 3-star prospect coming out of Holy Cross High.

Michigan's late touchdown to cover against Purdue hurt my bid to continue moving up the standings. Otherwise, it was an uneventful week, with Kettrade1's philosophy of picking the opposite of what he wanted working again for Tulane, the one that mattered, but producing all "correct" picks the rest of the way to win the week.

There will be a bowl pick 'em, but DrBox has a substantial lead in the overall contest.


WEEK 13 RESULTS

7

Kettrade1

6

winwave
DrBox
MNAlum
wavetime
Gretna Green
tacklethemanwiththefootball
paliii

5

chigoyboy
ny oscar
diverdo
roll wave
LSU Law Greenie
Guerry

4

p8kpev
charlamange8

3

WaveON


OVERALL STANDINGS

72.5

DrBox

67.5

winwave
ny oscar

66.5

Gretna Green

65.5

charlamange8

64.5

WaveON
Guerry

62.5

MNAlum
chigoyboy

60.5

diverdo (missed 1 week)
roll wave

57.5

wavetime (missed 1 week)

54.5

p8kpev
LSU Law Greenie (missed 1 week)

52

tacklethemanwiththefootball

48.5

paliii (missed 3 weeks)

45.5

Kettrade1


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 15 of 17
Utah 5
Toledo 10
Kansas State 9
Fresno State 6
Georgia 10
Clemson 10
Michigan 10

Finally got around to transcribing all the quotes from after the AAC championship game. Most of the stuff from the players was game specific or not that compelling, but Michael Pratt was good. Here's what he had to say.

MICHAEL PRATT

On Spears TD

"I saw a lot of dudes and a lot of missed tackles. That’s just what he does. He makes this game a lot easier for me. He makes it a lot of fun. It definitely opens up the passing game the way they have to respect the run. It’s tough to be a defense to play an offense like that that’s two-dimensional. We executed tonight, had some big plays. Huge credit to the offensive line, running backs, receivers, coaches, especially the play callers."

On his own TD run

"I saw the Mike backer walk down, blitzed off the edge and that’s the guy we’re reading. He took Keys on the motion, and the gap opened up. The offensive line did a great job and really made it easy. It would have been hard not to score there."

On feeling

"It was awesome. We had to stay locked in and finish it out, but at that point we kind of knew."

On historic significance

"It’s huge. First conference championship. We set it in stone after last season. Nick Anderson has been one of our more vocal leaders, and he said this from the beginning. After the last game last year coming back into the offseason, he preached it every single day. The player-led meeting we have, we ended it with a conference-championship trophy picture and we knew this was our goal and kind of just manifested it every single day. It paid off."

On fans storming the field

"No doubt. That’s something special. Obviously when that happens you know you’ve done something significant. It was awesome to close out that game and have those fans so fired up."

On atmosphere at game

"It was awesome. They packed it out. They’ve been awesome all year, and just having the atmosphere get loud in there definitely gave us the edge to this victory."

On nearly 400 yards passing and five TDs altogether

"You never know how it’s going to unfold. I knew we were going to be successful in what we did because of our preparation all week and the guys we have on this team and the play-callers behind us. No matter if it was me with 10 completions and 100 yards and Tyjae with 400 rushing yards, it doesn’t matter, but we got the job done and led us to victory on Saturday."

On handling the week of potential distractions

"We had a player-led meeting Monday morning and kind of just emphasized that no matter what the circumstances or what’s going on around us, it’s really up to us. We’ve done everything we could since the offseason to get us here, and we weren’t going to let anything distract us or push us away from the one goal at hand."

There are two weekends before signing day, and Tulane is bringing in 14 prospects for the first one. Five are prior commitments to Tulane. Four are uncommitted high school prospects. Two are high school prospects committed elsewhere at the moment. The other three are transfers already in college.

ALREADY COMMITTED

Lajuan Owens
Joshua Moore
Jah'Rie Garner
Noah Gardner
Jahiem Johnson


HIGH SCHOOL PROSPECTS

1) Ashley Williams, Jr., a 4-star, 6-6, 220-pound DE from Zachary High.

Skinny: De-committed from Auburn yesterday with new coach Hugh Freeze in place after de-committing from Nebraska earlier, finding a knack for picking schools with coaches in tenuous situations. Rated the 17th best overall prospect in Louisiana and the No. 20 weakside DE prospect nationally. Tulane will have to fight off several Power Five programs to land him. Wave envisions him at Joker.

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2) Matthew Fobbs-White, a 3-star, 6-2, 240-pound DE from Neville of Monroe.

Skinny: Was ULL commit from August until the end of November. Rated the No. 23 overall prospect in Louisiana and No. 38 nationally at strongside DE. Tulane envisions him at Joker, too. Rated the No. 23 overall prospect in Lousiana and No. 38 nationally at his position.

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3) Arnold Barnes, a 3-star, 5-9, 220-pound RB from Booker T. Washington in New Orleans.

Skinny: You know the story well. Originally committed to Tulane, then switched to Nebraska and de-committed from the Cornhuskers earlier this week after Matt Rhule was hired. Rushed for 350-plus yards against Ehret in September and finished with 1,590, the fifth highest total in the Metro area. Played wildcat QB for every down of first-round playoff loss to Carver because regular QB was suspended for fighting the previous week.

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4) Ethan Fields, a 3-star, 6-3, 315-pound OG from Dutchtown in Geismar, La.

Skinny: Has been a Purdue commit since June, but coach Jeff Brohm just left for Louisville. Also has an offer from Indiana and almost every Louisiana school except for LSU.

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5) Hayden Christman, a 2-star, 6-7, 305-pound OT from Tioga in Pineville, La.

Skinny: Has been a La Tech commit since June. No offers from any schools out of the state.

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6) Darian Mensah, a 6-3, 215-pound QB from St. Joseph High in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Skinny: Not in the Rivals database but rated 2 stars by 247Sports, which lists his only other offer as coming from Idaho State of the FCS. His team scored at least 34 points in eight consecutive games before losing in the second round of the playoffs.


TRANSFER PORTAL

1) Jalen Lee, a 6-2, 299-pound fourth-year player from Watson, La. who signed with Florida in 2020 and played for the Gators for three years.

Skinny: Was a four-star prospect coming out of Live Oak High and was originally committed to LSU before switching to Florida. Played in all 12 games this year with three starts at NT and eight tackles. First career start came in bowl game against UCF at end of 2021. Played in five games in 2020.


2) Darius Swanson, a 6-2, 200-pound graduate safety from Division II Nebraska-Kearney.

Skinny: Was first-team D2 All-America pick in 2021, when he had team-best 98 tackles and four interceptions. Was primarily a reserve for three seasons before then. Had 66 tackles and three interceptions this year.


3) Zy Alexander, a 6-3, 185-pound CB from Southeastern Louisiana who will be entering his fourth year. From Loreauville, La.

Skinny: Was third-team AP FCS All-America pick in 2021 after making Southland-high six interceptions with 13 break-ups and 39 tackles. Had 27 tackles and three interceptions this year.

Scroll down to No. 3 on the list of questions to find two Rivals' writers takes on the question.

Fact or fiction

I am so happy!!! The first Conference Championship in over 20 years and the first New Year’s Bowl since playing Texas A&M following the 1939 season. The heroes on this team are virtually everyone who suited up and the leadership, teamwork, and togetherness was unmatched in my memory of any team at any school. The season isn’t done and the Cotton Bowl against Southern Cal can put the exclamation point on clearly our greatest season since at least 1998—maybe longer.

But the early signing period is only 16 days away and, looking to next year, we have many holes to fill as we lose a boatload of major contributors, conference 1st and 2nd teamers, and leadership that is hard to quantify.

Our offensive line probably had its best season in many years and we return some very good players. But we also lose Haynesworth and Clayburn with Ray’s status clearly up in the air. Tuggle could step up and when healthy Caleb Thomas has shown promise, but I think we need some immediate help and that probably means a transfer or two. Redshirt freshmen and true freshmen can help but seldom become the immediate all-conference players we are losing.

At Tight end, we’ve been fortunate to have two guys who have lettered for the past four years and done some great work for the Wave. They both will be gone and leave us Brown and Bauman, who both played quite a bit as well as Gunter who did not. I’d like to see a transfer here as well as a solid freshman for the future.

Wide receiver is a concern. We lost Phat Watts early in the season and McDougle late. Wyatt and Deuce Watts both graduate, leaving us only Keys and Jackson as major contributors with Bohannon having some legitimate playing time. We need a couple more here who can immediately contribute.

Our backups at running back are solid G5 players but they are not Tyjae Spears. In another year they could be, but we need to add 1-2 running backs to the room who can contribute right away.

If everyone returns healthy, we are in good shape at QB but I wouldn’t be surprised at an outbound transfer here. Ibietta’s health is also a concern. Regardless, for the future we need to sign a solid freshman, maybe two. With Pratt in place, I doubt a worthwhile transfer would be interested in coming in as a backup.

Special teams appear to be in good shape with Ambrosio, Hudak, Glover, Keys, and Jackson manning the important slots. We just need to be sure to gather together the necessary blockers and cover people to support them. A weakness for decades, this was a strength for the Wave this year.

While we lose Phillips, Hatcher, and Thomas from our defensive line, we return a very solid group of players made better by a healthy Friloux for next season. We should sign a couple of freshmen and, if available, a transfer who can make an immediate impact.

We’ve been fortunate the past few years to watch Williams and Anderson at linebacker, arguably the best duo we’ve ever had at Tulane. Machado, in particular, and Platt, to a lesser extent, have shown brilliance at times but they are not yet 1 for 1 replacements for Williams and Anderson. Behind them we have nothing. Signing day and the transfer portal need to gather at least 2 “winners” here.

We return some very good players in the defensive backfield but losing Brooks, Young, and Clark leaves three very big holes both athletically and from a leadership standpoint. Robinson, Monroe, and the healthy return of Canady gives us three solid corners, one of whom might move to safety or nickel. Douglas, Despanie, Laister, Presley, and Harrison all got valuable experience this year and all should have gained from that going into next season. Still, we need some significant addition to our defensive backfield to replicate this year’s defensive performance.

Like most Tulane fans I am very pleased with this season’s results. But we can’t retreat to the 3-4-5 win seasons of the past. Eight wins should be the future “floor” with the expectation of conference championships, especially in our new, watered-down, conference. Retaining Willie Fritz and hopefully retaining most, if not all, of the coaching staff he has assembled is very important. The offensive and defensive coordinators and strength and conditioning coach are particularly key. Bringing back our key players and adding freshmen and transfers who can continue this year’s success is important.

Winning the Cotton Bowl should help recruiting. We simply MUST build on this season.

Roll Wave!!!

For the folks who aren't on Twitter, I thought I'd share some of the recruiting developments that have happened over the past few days.

WR Harvey Broussard has committed to MEMPHIS, so that one looks like it's no longer happening.
RB/S Caleb Komolafe is probably an 80-90% commit for Northwestern after a visit this past weekend. He'll announce later today.

Committed DB's Josh Moore and Jahiem Johnson will be in town for an OV this weekend, as will target Edge Matthew Fobbs-White (hopefully Guerry posts a full list when available).

In home visits made are a mix of committed guys and targets:
Coach Naghavi visited with OT Noah Gardner
Coach Nagle visited with TE Josh Goines
Coach Robertson visited with DE/Edge Ashley Williams (trying hard to flip him from Auburn)
Coach Sherman was in Ohio for RB Trey Cornist (former GT commit; he visited ECU this past weekend)
Coach Mac was out in California for QB Israel Carter (current Arizona State commit)
Coach Mutz was visiting with LB Dickson Agu
Coach Fritz was visiting with Dutchtown G Ethan Fields (longtime Wave target committed to now-coachless Purdue; Purdue's engineering program will make it hard to flip him, IMO).

It's good to see the coaches firming up things with our commits while still swinging for the fences with some guys.