Is returning to Tulane.

waiting on Engelhard.

He is a wide receiver/athlete from Columbus, Miss. with offers from La Tech, ULM and South Alabama

Login to view embedded media

Returning to New Orleans from an eight-day vacation in Destin on Friday, I went out to Yulman Stadium to watch the Great Surge, the contest new strength and conditioning coach Kurt Hester brought with him from Louisiana Tech. It was worth the attendance. Near the conclusion, I had a short interview with Hester, which is not the full interview I promised but did not deliver on in the spring. I still hope to get a lengthier interview down the road, but what he said last night was interesting. I will have the full transcript at the end of this report.

Tulane was divided into eight teams of about 12 players each, with eight captains drafting everyone from first to last. Each team wore a different outfit, with one in diapers. There were eight events, with the first four pitting a player from one group against a player from another group one at a time and the team winning the most individual battles getting the win as the teams rotated through the four contests. The next four events were relay, with the top two teams at the end of the night advancing to the championship square-off that was won by Nick Anderson's team over Michael Pratt's team in a competition that had players pulling an apparatus that had 140 pounds of weights on it backwards five yards while sitting down, then passing it off a teammate. Anderson's team beat Pratt's team to the goal line by 4 yards, with the competition ending at 10:30 nearly two-and-a-half hours after the first events started.

Each event involved agility, running and strength, with players maneuvering around cones or jumping over little objects before having to lift something heavy or carry something heavy. In one of the relay races, each player on two teams had to run 30 yards with a big ball and drop it, turn around and run to the starting point, then run five yards and do curls with a heavy object eight times, run five more yards and do curls with the object four times and run five more yards and do three curls before running around three obstacles on their way to the big ball, which they had to put between their legs above the ground and carry it to the starting point. Each time they dropped it, they had to pick it up and secure it between their legs before moving again. The best technique for most of them proved to be hopping.

The other relays were simpler and quicker. One involved carrying a big chain with weights on it around some cones and back to the starting line. Another had them carry a bag in one hand and a huge ball in the other while running around four big cushions. The fourth had two teammates drag a third teammate who was facing backwards 40 yards back to the starting point, with each player taking turns being dragged and pulling.

The whole night was spirited, with players clearly enjoying the competition even though it also was clearly exhausting. Pratt in particular deserves mention because he participated in the Manning Passing Academy in the blazing hot sun earlier in the day in Thibodaux, drove back to campus to participate in the the Great Surge and then had to drive back to Thibodaux for Saturday's session at the passing academy.. He looks like he is in the best shape of his career.

Here are my interviews with Hester, Pratt and Anderson. Anderson's winning team consisted of himself, Lummie Young, Iverson Celestine, Ethan Hudak, Kai Horton, walk-ons Austin Sybrant, Jack Collins,Lucas Barisas and Michael Lavergne and freshmen Keanon McNally, Cadien Robinson and Kentrell Webb.

HESTER

on having done this for seven years at La Tech before bringing it to Tulane:

"I created it at Tech. It's a competition to kind of see in the middle of summer where you are, and where your team is from a competition standpoint and from a leadership standpoint. Will they finish. Will they give up under duress. You have to understand the drill and do it right, so there are a lot of things going on at one time that you can assess the team by. We filmed everything so we can go back and watch the film. If they gave up on a drill, you can show them where they quit and you show them where they finished strong even if they were so far behind, they had no chance to win it. It shows the character of the athlete and where we are from a leadership standpoint of each leader making sure his team is on point. It's a myriad of things that we need to assess the team going on to the second half of the summer."

On how the teams were formed:

"We had a draft. We picked eight captains and they go in the team room and they are drafted in front of everybody, so they know if you're in the last 10, it kind of tells you what your teammates think about you as an athlete or if you're a guy who gives up all the time and doesn't want to compete. It's a wakeup call."

On enthusiasm of players:

"It's archaic events. They take a lot out of you, but you can hear them. They are competing. Guys are leading. So far it's been a really good night (he talked as the last couple of events were still going on before the championship)."

On what brought him to Tulane:

"I graduated from Tulane 30 years ago. I was an undergrad strength coach here. I ran the physiology lab in the Reily Center back in the day and it was an opportunity to come back home. I'm from below Houma, and it was just an opportunity to come back to south Louisiana where there's real food."

On condition of players when he got here:

"I think what every strength coach does. They come in and down the previous strength coach and say they are not strong, they are not this or not that. I didn't come in with that mentality. I knew Kyle (Speer). I'm just different. I'm not Kyle. I'm just different. I'm going to do things a little differently. I've got to assess where we are as a program because I don't know any of you guys personally. What I want to do more than anything is learn from a standpoint of where each person was as a person. I didn't care about where we were athletically. I had to get them to trust me as soon as I could."

On his philosophy:

"I want the fastest team in the country. We train speed in everything we do--in the weight room and on the field. If you're the fastest guy out there, you are always going to play, and if you're the slowest guy out there, you can be really strong, but you're never going to play."

On Pratt's commitment to attending the night:

"He goes back tomorrow. That tells me about him as a person and as a leader. He's one of the best leaders out here right now."

PRATT

On making sure he was a big part of The Great Surge:

"It was super important. Coach said you gotta do what you gotta do, if you have to stay at the Manning Passing Academy, figure that out. But they gave me the opportunity to come back. I worked hard all day and it was hot over there today, but I'm super happy that came back and got to do this. Now I have to drive back right now. We've got a meeting in the morning (at the passing academy) at 8,"

On drafting process:

"It's awesome. The biggest thing with. my team especially is I had a lot of guys come up to me and tell me we were going to be the worst team in the thing, but the biggest thing I looked for was guys I see working hard every single day, guys that have no quit in them, that are going to give me 110 percent effort every single step of the way. Those are the guys that I go to battle with. I go to battle with all these guys, but those select few really just push each other, push me and got after it today."

On Kurt Hester:

"He's awesome. Just the whole camaraderie and the morale around the team, this was an absolute blast, everyone out here in their costumes with the groups. Win, lose or draw, wherever you came, everyone had a blast today, and that's what's going to build the team up and push us into the season and help us win a lot of games."

NICK ANDERSON

On everyone having fun:

"It was phenomenal. Coach Hester, it's just a testament to what kind of guy he is and what he brings to our program. There's genuine enthusiasm. Everybody was out here competing and fighting and grinding. I just love how we competed today, not even because my team won, but everybody competed. Everybody showed effort and toughness, and that's what we need. Since I've been at Tulane, I want to say 75 percent of the games we lost come down to the fourth quarter and come down to a mentality of toughness. That's one thing coach Hester is going to build in this program, and I love it."

More on Hester:

"We love him and he loves us. He's definitely a players' coach. He has genuine enthusiasm. He loves what he does. He comes in here every day to help us be great and we just have bought into to everything he tells us."

On his drafting philosophy:

"I wasn't looking for the strongest guys. I wasn't looking for the fastest guys. I was looking for guys that come in every day and work. I settled on my scouting report before we drafted and I put nothing but guys who come in and get the job done every day. They are not the loudest guys. My team wasn't trash talking. We were focused on details and execution, and I got guys that were dependable and could come out here and work. I'm not the biggest guy on the field, but I have a mentality and I picked guys with like-minded mentality and we came out here and we won."

Sorry guys, I'm a little late on this one...happend 3 days ago...

Mr. Manning is from Newark NJ with offers from Umass, Delaware, ODU, JMU, Maine, Rhode Island, LIU, Stony Brook, Akron, TEMPLE, Army, NAVY, SYRACUSE, Monmoth, Kent st., BOSTON COLLEGE, ETC. Apparently a lot of folks in the NE part of the country wanted Mr. Manning on their team. Hopefully we can hold on to him.

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

So as we all know Tulane does not release AAC payout numbers, or at least I've never seen them. So I went over to the good old Orlando Sentinel to find an article which gives us the numbers of the entire conference...

The conference distributed $88.36 million of revenue to 12 members, with Cincinnati leading the way with $9.44 million, followed by Houston ($8.52 million), Tulsa ($7.98 million), Memphis ($7.97 million), UCF ($7.96 million), Tulane ($7.88 million), SMU ($7.65 million), Temple ($7.63 million), East Carolina ($7.58 million), USF ($7.56 million) and Navy ($5.33 million).

Wichita State, which joined the conference in 2017 as a full member in all sports except football, received a small annual payout of $2.84 million.

The amount of revenue the AAC distributed is up 44% from the $61.31 million it gave out in the 2019-20 fiscal year. That’s because of the new media rights deal and this having been the first year without UConn as a member. The Huskies jumped to the Big East in July 2020, paying the league a $17 million exit fee.

UCF, which saw its revenue share increase by 42% from the $5.35 million distributed last fiscal year, is among three schools exiting the AAC for the Big 12. The Knights join Cincinnati and Houston as schools to have accepted bids last September to move to the Power Five conference possibly as soon as 2023.

This is huge for Tulane.

Clearly I did not see this coming, as anyone who read my story right after Tulane was eliminated from the AAC tournament would know when I called his campaign to keep the job as a long-shot bid that wasn't realistically possible.

After missing out on a few candidates, Troy Dannen must have decided he could not afford to lose his entire freshman class and start from scratch with what was going to be an unproven coach. This way, he gets an unproven coach but likely will retain all or most of the talented freshmen who excelled this season.

It's not going to be a popular decision, but what are your thoughts?

I will get it confirmed tomorrow, but Kendall Rogers tweeted the news within the hour tonight.

Izzio was the volunteer assistant (No 3 assistant) on Tulane's 2020 staff when the Green Wave went 15-2 before the season was canceled by the COVID pandemic. He has been the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Charleston Southern the past two years with little on-field success. Charleston Southern went 18-26 in 2021 with an ERA of 5.66, ranking 180th out of 293 D1 teams. The Bucs went 24-30 this year, ranking 235th out of 301 teams with an ERA of 6.73.

Obviously this does not look like an impressive hire on the surface. Izzio had success for three years as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Pearl River Community College. I remembered the name from his one year at Tulane but never talked to him.

Bennett Lee's dad confirmed to me that he is transferring to Wake Forest.

I have heard Michael Massey and Grant Siegel will not be back, and I'm pretty sure that's the case, but no confirmation yet.

The two key guys are Teo Banks and Jackson Linn. They like Tulane and they like Uhlman, and insiders feel good, though by no means certain, of their return.

I believe Chase Engelhard will return. With Ethan Groff, it depends on Mississippi State's interest. I don't have a read one way or the other on the other guys,

Tulane baseball coach Jay Uhlman spoke to reporters today at Turchin Stadium a day after the surprising decision to promote him from interim status. Here is what he said:

"I am really honored to be entrusted with what this program is and means to a lot of different people. I am very proud for that. We have a rich tradition program here and are looking to continue to uphold those kinds of things and make a lot of people proud. Certainly the first work to get done here is re-recruiting players that are in the transfer portal and making sure we communicate with all our current players and all our recruits as well. Exciting times. Again, thankful to Troy Dannen for this opportunity and the trust in this kind of a program, so very exciting times."

On how the last few weeks have been for him personally:

"Crazy in a lot of different ways. Twenty-five years in this business, my first job was as a head coach and I've waited 23 long years to get this opportunity again. At some point you feel like it's never going to happen, but as I tell the players, there are certain things that you can control and you can't control, and that's my effort every single day, my mentality, my will to want to help them become the best versions of themselves, and so when you operate from those principles and you do the very best to honor the players and their development, eventually the game will reward you, and that's where we are today, so I'm just really again honored to be a part of this thing."

On what it was like since the end of the East Carolina game to now:

"I'm going to try to deflect it to the players and how they felt in the situation that we were in. It was an emotional time for all of us. The end of the season was there. Some guys will never put on another baseball uniform. I was so proud of those guys for emptying their tanks and giving us everything they had. They had every reason not to, to roll over and play dead, but they didn't do that. That's a tribute to them and their relationships which they've created, which now is my responsibility to try to hold on to, and that's going to be a great challenge. But there's a process with a coaching search, and (( have) a lot of respect for how Troy went about doing it. He tried his very best to start out getting who he thought was the very best candidate for this, and I think I was in that. I was certainly in that pool, but we had to go through a certain process, and so when you go through those kinds of processes, all you can do is control your attitude. I took this like I was the head coach. I tried to act that way. I tried to guide our players that way. I think if you think anything less than that, you are setting yourself up for failure. So you have an opportunity, you try to take a hold of that opportunity. I was the in-house candidate. That was a blessing and a curse, but ultimately at the end of the day, Troy got the right guy for the job, and I believe that and our players believe that. The thing about that is we're going to need to prove that every single day. It's not about words. It's not about saying what you're going to do. It's about what you do is going to be the most important piece to this whole puzzle."

On if he believes team's performance in Clearwater helping him get the job:

"I absolutely do. They left it all out there. It wasn't, hey play hard for me to have a chance at this job. I just think it was a new opportunity to have a direction at the end that was not necessarily saying better, but different. Sometimes when you have to make changes, those things work out in a positive direction. I think it was an audition. Had we gone out there and not played well, I don't think I'd be standing in front of you right now, but the fact that those kids laid it on the line and didn't roll over really gave me an opportunity to be standing here."

On if he will be able to convince guys in portal to return:

"Well, it's going to be recruiting all over again. I can't sit here and tell you that every single guy is going to return. I'm going to be fighting off the SEC and the ACC and the Big 12. Schools saw what kind of players those young men are and what kind of people that they are. That''s a resounding success fur us as a program that says, hey, look, we can get these kinds of players that now weren't necessarily good enough, but those schools turned their nose up at these players. We took these players and were able to help them move themselves forward, and so for them to be in position to be courted by those schools is a good signal to our fans and our players that you guys are worthy of this, you guys are really good and yeah they should want you. Hopefully we'll get some of them back or get all of them back. That's a continuing process just like the whole recruiting process is."

On why he said it was a blessing and a curse to being the in-house candidate:

"Well, you're here already, so you know the lay of the land. I've recruited here for three years, so I know how the institution works, the admissions, scholarship issues, what it costs, who my target audience is in terms of recruiting and then the familiarity with the players. There's a trust level there for three years that's you don't just get that because you have a name or you come from a big, fancy school. I've been a big, fancy school. I've been at a mid-major. I've been at a junior college, so I have a vast array of experiences that provide me the experience to know how to operate regardless of where I am, so the ability to connect with these guys and build relationships on a true level is certainly the blessing part of that. The curse is we didn't win 50 games. If you win 50 games, the keys can be turned right over and you move on and nobody gets in the portal. But when you have an under-40-win season, there are going to be people out there that want you to go through a process, and so we had to go through that process, and like I said, ultimately I believe we got the right person for the job."

On how prepared he was in advance to lead the program forward:

"Oh, I anticipated this was going to be a struggle from the very beginning. People can say one thing, but when the actuality comes of people trying to recruit and woo these players, that's just the reality of it. I'm a realist that way. In no way, shape or form did I automatically assume everyone was going to come back, so I was prepared for that. I've been doing this, again, for 25 years, so the ebbs and flows of recruiting and how you have to work continuously, it's a 24-hour-a-day job, and I really mean that. It is. I was prepared for that, and that's why we are where we are. I'm working to get those guys back as we speak."

On his approach to recruiting:

"The big R word-relationships. Building a trust level, not only with the player but with the families, so when they turn their son over to this program or to us as staff members or their teammates, they are going to want to know that they are taken care of, and if you don't build that trust level with especially mom--dad's are important, but like I always tell them, no offense, dad, this is about mom. If mom's not comfortable, there is no coming to Tulane or whatever other school you want to say. They need to feel that comfort and they need to feel that trust as much as they can and they need to feel that relationship is pure and true. So I think when you act from a position of high integrity and you try to lay it out for people in the recruiting process to how it's going to be, it's vital that what you're laying out also matches when they get here because people talk. It's a small world now. Cell phones and all the stuff that you guys now, the social media, those things are readily available for these kids moving forward, so if you're not walking the walk and talking the talk and all the things that matter to them in the trust level, you might get away with some of that initially, but eventually that's going to come home to roost. It's 100 percent about the relationships and the trust level with those folks when you're dealing with them and that they can say, go take him, take this baton and run with it."

OK, I am back from a four-day vacation (though plenty of it was spent writing) in Gulf Shores. I do not have a true inside source on the coaching search--Troy Dannen keeps it tight to the vest--but I know a few sources who are high on Sean Allen's chances to get the job and say he has interviewed. He has excellent coaching credentials--both as a hitting coach and a pitching coach--but I am surprised by this because he and David Pierce appeared to chafe at the recruiting difficulties when they were at Tulane the first time. I don't think I actually ever had a conversation with Allen in his two years here, but others I talked to indicated he had a hard time figuring out how to get around the cost of tuition issues. He also is a career assistant, the same as Travis Jewett essentially was when he was hired, and even though there are no other similarities between the two, usually a school goes in the opposite direction for its next coach.

I also have heard from multiple sources (and this guy has been addressed in the other thread) that Tom Walter wants the job. I have heard from no one, though, that there is reciprocal interest from Tulane. His time at UNO pre-dated me moving back to New Orleans, so I have no relationship with him. He's been in hot water more than once for his overall record at Wake Forest but always seems to produce a big year to keep him around, just like this season, but with AD John Currie already having replaced his football and basketball coaches since arriving in 2019, I doubt Walter feels he has job security if Wake takes another dip. The people who know him think he would be successful at Tulane and has the right energy, but it's no slam dunk. And again, I'm not sure Dannen is interested in him.

I wish I had more info at this point, but I don't. The hire has to be relatively soon to have any chance to retain the best freshmen and sophomores from this year, but of course the most important thing is getting it right. Jewett and Uhlman proved in the past three years it is possible to recruit regional-caliber players to Tulane despite some of the obstacles. Getting a guy who can recruit and get them to perform is the key. I'm not sure Tulane had regional caliber ability this season with the pitching turnover and the injuries, but it definitely should have made a regional last year with a .440-hitting catcher, a terrific shortstop and an experienced pitching staff that underachieved, and it definitely had too many no-shows this season like the sweep at the hands of Evansville and comatose performances at USM and UAB after big home series wins. Another extended period of failing to reach the postseason would be devastating.

Guerry do you have anything on how bad his arm injury is? Will he need surgery? He's a key piece to build on so obviously hoping it isn't anything serious.

Guerry obviously this is important to a lot of our fan base as this is a sport where we have quality facilities and prior success that give us the opportunity to win and go to the post season. We know you'll do your best to keep us informed on the process. Looking forward to it.

Valentino Ambrosio announced on Twitter his commitment to Tulane. It looks like he was the starting kicker for Rutgers for the last season and a half. He will be a junior. Has hit 21-27 FG’s. Longest was 42 yds.

We haven't talked since you left for the AAC tournament. The loss to South Florida in the opener was kind of indicative of the season when you lost a pair of three-run leads before falling 7-6 in a heartbreaker that could have gone either way. As a result, instead of playing the last-place team's (ECU) No. 2 starter in a winners' bracket game, you got league champ UCF's AAC Pitcher of the Year and in the losers' bracket and were sent home.

"It's never over until it's over, but we felt pretty good about where the South Florida game was headed and then we just ran into that eighth inning. They got a come backer high hopper to the pitcher and we just weren't able to make the play, and just a couple of non-plays. It was unfortunate for us."

I guess Hunter Williams hit the game-ending fly ball off the end of his bat because it sure looked like he had gotten all of it on TV and had just hit a go-ahead 3-run home run.

"I thought it was a home run, too, but unfortunately he got it a little bit off the end."

Obviously it was a disappointing season. What are your thoughts on your first year at Tulane?

"We're going to miss all these older guys and their experience. I'll forever be grateful that they invited me in and we were able to work with those guys. They'll be sorely missed, and just the fact we couldn't keep playing for them because they had a lot of good things happen in their career and played some good baseball and gave the school and its fan base an opportunity to play past the end of the regular season, so I'm saddened it didn't happen for them. It's going to be tough. With those guys playing pretty much every day, we are going to have a lot to replace. It's hard to replace the experience even if you can play some new guys, they are not going to have as many plate appearances, and even junior college kids, it's still an adjustment. We'll sorely miss those guys and their abilities and their leadership. I'm thankful for those guys, I'll miss them and we'll have a tough time replacing them."

Do you anticipate Tighe Dickinson returning for a second year as pitching coach. You did not inherit many proven guys on the mound, but the team ERA of 5.72 was the second worst in school history.

"Tighe will be back. He's a really good pitching coach. He had a lot of success at the University of Washington, even at Arkansas State, and he was a valued commodity in the Cleveland Indians' organization. We're fortunate to be able to draw his skills and his talent to Tulane. We all have to get better, but hopefully we'll be able to take a step forward that way next year."

Is there anybody you know won't be back next year among the players eligible to return, and I'm just talking about guys who were contributors this season?

"Right now I anticipate that everybody's coming back. I haven't heard anybody is leaving."

Are Bjorngjeld and Rowland, a pair or redshirt juniors, coming back?

"Yes, they are."

Ross Massey struggled mightily this year. Obviously him going from 10 wins as a freshman to a 0-8 with an ERA above 9.00 was the single biggest factoring in the slide to a losing record. Do you anticipate him returning?

"I fully anticipate him returning. I'm pretty sure that's his deal, too. I want him back. I don't like living in the last year category. It was a new year and had some unfortunate bounces for him with his command and stuff, but he's out playing summer ball right now and I'm hopeful for him and for us that he'll resolve his command issues and he'll be back to his normal self."

How many players do you plan on bringing in for the signing class, and what percentage will be juco guys? The class usually is announced in November the previous year, but you have not released the class although others have compiled lists of commitments.

"I would say it's probably a 50-50 between juco and high school. Obviously we are losing a lot of players, so it will be a large number. I can't commit to saying how many just because of privacy rights. I would have liked to announce the class, too, as much as everybody else. It's complicated in the fact we don't have everybody fully admitted and things like that. I don't want to have four or five different releases on signings. When all the dust settles this summer--hopefully sooner than later--and we have an exact everybody's in and ready to go, then we'll push something out at once."

Is it true that Tulane does not allow you to stack academic and baseball scholarship combined for players, forcing them to choose one or the other and pay the rest?

"That is not true. The NCAA allows institutions to package academics and baseball, so you can have one or the other or you can have both, but what you can't do, and what everybody's frustration is, you can't couple financial aid with baseball. That's the NCAA tango with those two things."

There has been a lot of talk about the difficulty to recruit to Tulane with the high cost of tuition and only 11.7 scholarship to be divvied among the players, but you said you did not think that would be an issue when you were hired. Do you still feel that way? Are you still comfortable you can get the guys you want in the program?

"Yeah I do. I just think thus. Nobody can run and hide from the high cost. It is what it is, but it is an elite education, and when you have those opportunities it is going to cost some money, and what we need to do is just make sure that we're finding those kids that have academic interests, that want education, and we just have to find out the best way we can with the families to make it fiscally responsible for everybody to have the experience of getting this education and playing baseball at Tulane."

It always can be difficult in your first recruiting class when you come in late. How much more solid footing do you feel like you are on as you work on your second class?

"Good. I always felt like we were on solid footing. I feel good about a lot of the kids we've got coming in, but they are either high school kids who haven't played at this level so it will take some time or junior college kids that have some college experience but not playing in the fourth-rated RPI conference in the country, either. There is some talent coming in. I feel good about it, and hopefully we can grow it together quickly so that we can get back into the postseason sooner rather than lately."

What did you learn in your first year at Tulane, and is there anything you would have done differently given a redo?

"I don't have anything specific that way. You just have to try to manage the group. I do understand winning. I've done a lot of it. We just have to keep moving. It was a rough year. I'm not used to it. It was rough for everybody and I get everybody's frustration and ultimately it all comes down to me. We're working hard every day that ends in Y to make sure this gets back to the level of expectation of everybody involved in Tulane baseball.

"That we finished two games out of first place in this conference just tells you that it's not as far off as maybe people think. You talk about Ross ('s struggles) and losing Jeremy (Montalbano for the year (as a catcher), so we had two components there that I don't know how many people could overcome. If you really break it down, at the end it's not acceptable, it never will be and it shouldn't be, but there were some decent things that came out of where we were and what we had.

"Hunter Williams had a career year. Lex Kaplan had a career year. Grant Brown had a career year. Hunter Hope was one home run off of his total from last year and he missed 20 games. Jarret DeHart had a career year, so we had some good performances. There's a lot to build on that way, but the problem is none of those guys will be back (rueful chuckle), so we'll have to regroup and try to get some new-name players to perform like some of these guys did so we'll have a chance."

What are the characteristics you want to see in a player you are recruiting?

"It depends on the position. A pitcher has to grab the ball and be able to locate it, certainly with his fastball and you have to have a second pitch that you can command. If you have three, then you become a dangerous guy and a potential starter. Velocity is obviously nice because you can get some guys to swing and miss and do some things, but command and a secondary pitch are of utmost importance.

"You talk about an infielder, particularly a middle infielder, he needs to have velcro in his glove. He needs to be able to field it and play a game of accurate catch."

"An outfielder, I'd like some guys that can run and cover some ground. The arm is not that important to me. You don't see a lot of outfield assists and things like that. If you have it, it's a bonus. You just want team guys. You try to watch them close and how do they engage their teammates and do they play the game hard? Are they team-type guys, and if you get a bunch of guys doing that, you have a chance to be successful."

Jay Uhlman talked with reporters today for the first time as Tulane's interim baseball coach. All players were off limits (Luis Aviles, who definitely is back, will be off limits for the rest of the year).

This is an emotional time for Uhlman and everyone else associated with the team after Travis Jewett's firing on Monday. Here's what he had to say to a group of three questioners.

You are taking over in difficult circumstances. What are your thoughts?

"Yeah, we're missing a big component of the program, one of my best friends in the game, so obviously that hit me different. It's hit our players different, too, On Monday there was a general sense of a haze and a daze over the program, myself included. Staring at papers on my desk that I'm not used to having to worry about; trying to get through that and getting to Tuesday. Yesterday was much better than Monday in terms of where the personalities were at. I thought we were more in character yesterday than we were obviously on Monday, so tough circumstances for sure."

Have you reached out to any of the recruits?

"Every single one of them. I just asked for their patience in this process. There will be a process, and I got their word that they would be patient with that process. There's a lot of good ones out there. They are anxious as you would anticipate. That's their futures as well, but they've been spoken with."

How have the players been holding up, and what is the mood?

"Pretty stoic I would say. Some tears, some confused looks, as you would expect. But they were in a much better place yesterday. The mission forward is certainly not dividing our attention between what's going to happen down the road, putting that on the backburner so we can focus on the task at hand, which is Memphis this weekend and getting to Clearwater to do some damage."

What was your message to the team when you first met with them?

"Similar to what I said to the recruits. Just asking for their patience in this progress, not to do anything rash in a two-or-more week span than is necessary. When you jump to decisions and conclusions, you have the ability to make poor choices, so I wanted them to not forget about coach Jewett and what had happened, certainly, because we love him. Doing something rash out of emotion is never the best recipe, so urge them to err on the side of reflection, talking with their parents and then just me being able to talk them through this situation. I've been here now through three years and have great relationships with them and have recruited most of them, so we are in a good place. We had a great training day yesterday, and they were spirited. They were happy to be out here."

Do you feel like you can win the AAC tournament?

"Do I feel like it can be done? Absolutely. Baseball is a strange game. It's not always the best team that wins. It's not always the most physically talented team that wins. In football you can line up the biggest, strongest guys, and if you have the better speed and the better players, you are going to win that game almost every day of the week. Baseball is not that way and so that is not our focus. Our focus is not on anything else other than this weekend, getting ourselves in position to be ready for Clearwater, so we have a pitching plan and how we're going to attack that here against Memphis so that we are best set up for when we get to Clearwater and give these guys the best chance they can to win that tournament. This is about the players. It's not about coaches and staff."

Can you play free and easy at a tournament like that knowing that there's really not a whole lot of pressure?

"I think playing relaxed, you don't play this game clenched up and tight. You certainly play it with emotion, but it's controlled emotion. The guys that grip the bat too tight or grip the balls too hard are the guys that don't have success. I don't subscribe to the this will loosen them up situation. I think that this galvanizes them better and I think this gives them a sense of purpose and a focus moving forward where maybe we haven't had that for the last three weeks given all the circumstances that have happened to us--injuries and whatnot."

How much does getting Luis Aviles back help?

"Ten home runs and second leading hitter by statistics. Again, statistics don't tell a whole story. I think mostly his spirit and his energy and his ability to affect the game in one swing are going to be the things that really give us a boost in the lineup for sure. Getting him back in there is critical."

Have you given thoughts to your future?

"I appreciate that question. I have today in front of me, and then whatever tomorrow brings, too, so it's momentary. I've asked the players to be momentary. I've asked them to put all the distractions aside and make sure the focus is on the task at hand, so I can't ask them to do that and me be worried about what's going on with me. I've been through these things before. This is my 25th year coaching college baseball, so I'm pretty familiar with transition and how to navigate. As the acting head coach I'm going to do my very best to put these guys in a position to be successful, and so will coach (Daniel) Latham and coach (Adam) Core and now coach Frankie Niemman."

What's the biggest challenge with this happening now instead of at the beginning of the season?

"Well certainly the finality of it all. Your margin for error is certainly much smaller, so we have to really be razor focused and play for each game. It's not about development at this point. It's about winning games, so we are going to use all the means in the toolbox of coaching baseball in terms of running an offense that is meant to win. When the World Series shows up, you notice they start bunting more and they start stealing bases and they start manufacturing more because it actually means something. The title's on the line and people want to win. It's not 162 games where people are playing for their stats and their contract extensions. They are playing for the title, so winning baseball versus selfish baseball. We are going to play winning baseball."

Have you been an interim coach before?

"I have, but not in the sense of finishing a season. It was the University of Oregon in 2019 prior to coming here. (Head coach George Horton decided not to return on May 29 after the season was over, and Uhlman took over as interim coach until being hired by Tulane on July 15)."

With your first game in the conference tournament likely to be Tuesday morning, the turnaround from the Memphis series is quick. What are you going to do about your rotation against Memphis?

"We'll start Dylan game 1 against Memphis and then we'll be TBA and TBA beyond that. Again, managing a plan that's going to put our pitchers in the best position to be successful when we get down to Clearwater. Again, no guarantees of any game. We're playing each game like this is the World Series for sure."

What is the biggest thing you took away from your first experience as interim coach that you are using now?

"The people. The kids. The young men that are in the program that are confused, that are unsure of their future, the relationship part of that. Those are all really important things for them, and for them to still be able to have us intact, to be able to help them navigate this thing moving forward. It's always about the people and the relationships, so those will continue. The stability part of that is the biggest thing I learned out of that last experience."

What's the biggest mental key to prepare for Memphis?

"Well, as I asked them yesterday to put everything else on the backburner and focus on today's practice, and so their mission is going to be able to play pitch for pitch, inning for inning and be able to respond when the response is necessary. We are going to take the fight to the other team. We are going to play aggressively and put pressure on defenses and it's going to be up to the guys to get out there and execute."

Collin Holloway 6’6” SF from Georgetown. Starter who averaged 9.2 ppg. Has 3 years of eligibility left.

As was posted on another board, this probably wraps up our basketball recruiting for the year assuming Cook comes back.

FYI, currently 6 baseball players are on full legislative scholarships.

on the Aviles situation as well as how long Englehard might be out. Also, elsewhere some are reporting that two other pitchers, besides Thompson, have recently left the team. Any truth to that and, if so, who might they be? There are a number of players who haven't played in a while if at all (think Logan Stevens) who are still listed on the "official" roster. Can't believe they have all stayed around all year.
Thanks.

Roll Wave!!!

MNAlum made a valiant final attempt, getting seven games right for a nearly perfect week that was foiled only by Oklahoma State's two fourth-quarter touchdowns against Oklahoma. That comeback, which ended in a push when the Cowboys missed a 2-point conversion, kept him from tying for the overall title.

The good news for DrBox, who was in the running for the championship but had to skip two games because of getting his final picks in late, is that he could not have won even if he got the other two picks right.

Without further ado, here are the belated final standings. I eliminated the long-standing clause about getting to drop your lowest score, but that would not have the changed the order at the top. Because Tulane was so terrible against the point spread, the winning total was the lowest even though I did not drop the lowest weekly score.

1) Kettrade1 57

2) MNAlum 56

3) charlamange8 55

4) DrBox 54

5) diverdo 51

6) chigoyboy 50

7) 2DatWuzAGoodDay2. 48

8) ny oscar 46
winwave 46
WaveON 46

11) tacklethemanwiththefootball 43

12) Guerry 39

13) Wavetime (missed 2 weeks) 37

Exactly 170 days after the last game of 2021 pick 'em was played, here are the results from week 12. There's no truth to the rumor I intentionally refused to put up the results because the final week capped the worst year of picking I've ever had in my life at anything. I had one week out of 12 when I got as many as 5 points out of a possible 9. That's pathetic. For the week, I beat only DrBox, who picked six of the eight games because he was late in getting in his selections.

WEEK 12 RESULTS

8.5

MNAlum

6.5

WaveON
tacklethemanwiththefootball
winwave
Wavetime

5.5

nyoscar
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
chicoyboy
Kettrade1
diverdo

4.5

charlamange8
Guerry

3.5

DrBox

GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane over Memphis 13 of 13
Michigan over Ohio State 3
Oklahoma State/Oklahoma was a push (Cowboys favored by 4 and won by 4)
LSU over Texas A&M 3
Michigan State over Penn State 7
Oregon over Oregon State 12
Cincinnati over East Carolina 9
Tulsa over SMU 8

Continuing a second-half surge after being eight points out of first midway through the contest, Dr.Box picked well enough in the bowls to overtake buck2481 and win in the overall standings. The unprecedented comeback started with 7.5 points in week 7, followed by four consecutive 6-point weeks.

I wrote in the first week that I had not decided whether to drop the lowest score for each contestant as I had done in the past, and thankfully it would not have changed the results because I never clarified it. All of the leading contenders would have dropped a 2-point week except for me with a 1.5 final week, so I won't bother with it.

OVERALL STANDINGS

1) Dr.Box: 58.5

2) buck2481: 57.5

3) Wavetime: 56.5
3) ny oscar: 56.5

5) Guerry: 55.5
5) chigoyboy: 55.5
5) GretnaGreen: 55.5

8) diverdo: 54.5

9)MNAlum: 53.5

10) pallii: 52.5 (missed 1 week)

11) winwave: 51.5

12): WaveON: 50.5

13) charlamange8: 47.5

Talked to Jewett and four players last night.

JEWETT

On feeling of winning Pelican Cup:

“When they handed me that cup, I was like, ‘darn straight. Over the course of time they’ve had a lot of good success against us. When that happens, you either have to keep wearing it or you’ve got to do something about it. Tonight we were able to get it back and look forward to hanging on to that for the year.”

On relief performances:

"I thought Keaton Knueppel was wall-slapping good,. The thing I liked about it was he came in throwing strikes and he picked up the pace of the darn game. I just thought that Robinson and Slagel were just too slow. Too slow. Slagel came off after his first inning and I challenged him. I said it's not that I want you to speed up your delivery and lose your mechanics, but you've got to get this ball and you've got to get on the mound and get the tempo going a little bit. It's like a snore bore over here and it's got us all on our heels. Just a baton pass was really what it was, and we were able to get it to Knueppel and then he changed the gear."

On what said to Chandler Welch when visited him on mound in 9th after he hit a batter with two outs and two strikes:

"He's a pretty calm kid, but he gets a little over-excited because he's a really good competitor, and that's what I love about him. I've told this to him before. The one thing I love about Chandler is I know I'm going to get his best effort every single time. As a coach, that's a pretty comforting feeling. I liked the moment for him because if DeVito is going to be on the shelf for the remainder of the year, somebody's going to have to learn how to finish games late, and baseball's kind of a game of momentum. I just thought right there we hadn't used any trips and it would be good for me to slow walk out there and let him breathe a little bit, change the tempo of the deal and just get him back to the center. I used more of a hitting analogy when I talked to him. I talk to hitters all the time about humming and breathing and things like that that create relaxation. When you're body's full of tension, it's not going to turn as fast, and when you do that as a pitcher, you're probably going to be leaving your arm behind. He had some people in some advantage counts to put them away, and the ball just continually was up over the white of the plate. All we needed to do was get some good tilt. I thought just a breath, a change of rhythm there, get his hand out over the front of his face so he could get some trajectory going down, I thought that would help him."

On diagnosis for Groff and DeVito:

"I'm not a doctor, so I can't get into the exact thing, but it's DeVito's elbow and Groff's thumb."

On whether DeVito will undergo Tommy John surgery:

"They haven't quite decided exactly what it's going to take. His diagnosis and timeline I'm not exactly sure, but it's season ending."

On if Groff fractured his thumb:

"No. It was more of a UCL tear."

On Teo Banks' role the rest of the year after starting in right field and playing well:

"A lot of that. This was a great opportunity tonight. It was a big deal because we needed to win this game so we could secure that cup, but with Groff being out and Teo on the mend and training well, I thought this was the time. We started four freshmen tonight. We started a freshman at shortstop (Gavin Schulz) and not only did I start him, I led him off. And you've got your normal (Jackson) Linn and (Brady) Marget playing quite a bit and obviously we inserted Teo tonight and then you have a freshman at the end of the game, too (in Welch). I'm pretty excited about these young kids in this program. They're not perfect, but if we can get their feet in there, then the newness and all those things will eventually not be. If you look at the stat sheet, they all had something to say about the game. Jackson hits one (a three-run homer) off the center field wall. Teo had two walks. Gavin laid down a really nice bunt. Chandler gets the final out. Marget gets a big hit in the first inning to keep the inning going. and allows us to get to Jackson. We got some production out of those kids tonight. I'm pretty excited about those kids' future, that's for sure."

On Schulz being the shortstop going forward, with Trevor Minder at third:

"Yeah. I want to tell you something to, and this would be cool for public knowledge. Trevor's played shortstop the whole season, and Gavin has been a great teammate. I needed to get Gavin on the field. We tried to play him at third the one time. I was out here working him in the outfield in training just in case that was maybe a thing with Groff. I eventually said, you know what, let me ask Trevor's permission. I didn't tell him. I asked him. I said I want to present something to you and I want to ask your permission. I thought he deserved that, and he looked at me and goes, you know I can play a hell of a third base, coach. I said I know, that's why I'm asking you, and it allows me to get Gavin on the field. He said I just think it's a great thought, I like it and he's a baller, I just want to win. I thought that was a really cool deal by Trevor to do that this afternoon when I pulled him in."

On Welch taking a bow after strikeout to end the eighth inning:

"I didn't see that. If I did, I might have said something at the time because when there's more baseball to play, you better be careful. It looks might maybe the bow (which led to three hits and two runs for UNO in the. ninth) said to him you better chill out. I'm not into disrespecting the opponent or anything like that. I'm glad you said that to me, so now I'll have a little chat with him."

BENNETT LEE

On overcoming the loss of Groff and DeVito:

"Yeah. It sucks for sure and I feel for those guys because I know what it's like, but it's next man up and I think the guys who got inserted into the game today had that mentality and just did their job, so we have to get everyone now. We're going to need this effort every night."

On playing clean game:

"Absolutely. Our losses are like when we make a couple of errors and then lose by 1 or 2, so those errors are really crucial. When we keep it clean, this is what happens and we can kind of expand our lead and keep rolling."

On Welch as closer:

"He's got the mantra for it. He's not afraid of the moment and you know your'e going to get his best every time. He made a lot of good pitches. They were fouling a lot of stuff off, so kudos to them there. He made a couple of better pitches, and he did a good job."

On four freshmen starting:

"That speaks to the great future of the program and that speaks to Jay (Uhlman) and all our coaches' recruiting skills, and it speaks to those guys who got in there because they've worked all fall and all spring to keep progressing, and finally when they get an opportunity, just to be greedy and take it."

On Schulz at shortstop and Banks in right field being part of a talented group of freshmen:

"A hundred percent. The positional depth is great, and to be able to insert anyone in there and get the performance like we had tonight is awesome."