I did not get to Turchin Stadium until the 8th inning yesterday because I was covering hoops, but I went down for interviews after the game. Travis Jewett did not talk because he had been ejected earlier for arguing a foul/fair call, but Daniel Latham did.

LATHAM

I guess you can't imagine a better start to the season.

"No doubt. The most important thing for us right now is getting the wins, good or bad, mistakes, whatever, we just need to get these wins right now and learn while we're winning. Obviously a great weekend. You set out, try to win Friday and then try to worry about Saturday and then you get a chance to sweep. They are hard to come by in college baseball with how much parity there is, so it's a big weekend for us."

What does it say about the temperament of this team to grind out two wins and then close it out on Sunday?

"I think it says something about the maturity of some of our position players and some of the pitchers that we're throwing, just understanding how quickly tides turn in college baseball and just kind of playing until it's over. The guys were having a lot of fun last night. Thirteen innings is a lot of baseball early in the season, and the guys took it as a challenge and had fun with it. It was a fun environment while it was going on. Nobody was tight about it."

What is the vibe in the dugout?

"It's a really good dugout. The vibe's good. No selfishness going on. Win, lose, good outing, bad outing, the guys are pulling for each other, they are pushing each other. I've been really excited about that part of it. It's a long season, but 3-0 is a great start. We'll try to tackle Lamar on Tuesday and then move on from there."

What was your first evaluation of the arm talent they had here and what was your first step in going about the process?

"We just kind of embraced that we didn't do what we needed to do as a pitching staff last year. No hiding behind it. No sugar-coating it. I challenged the older guys that had been back, the Kaleb Ropers and the Keagan Gillies and the Chase Soleskies and the older guys that we needed to carry a heavy load for us this year. I really challenged those guys over the summer when I got hired. I said, look, man, you gotta be better, and they've all embraced it and tried to tackle it and become leaders. That's really going to pay dividends for us down the stretch because obviously you can see we've got a lot of new guys in some new spots, especially in our bullpen. We're pretty new there, so there is going to be some learning as we go on that end."

How did they do over the first weekend?

"There was good and bad obviously. Some guys had some first-outing jitters going on a little bit, which is normal. You saw (Connor) Pellerin Friday night had some jitters going on and was a little too amped up. We had to get him back on the horse again today (Pellerin pitched the ninth with a 16-6 lead). Regardless of the score, he had the ninth inning today and you saw a better result today, more in control. It didn't matter what the score was going to be. He was going to be in control today. I think you're going to start seeing that more and more. You saw Justin Campbell, a little jittery Friday, rolls back around today really good. He made some really important pitches. I think you'll start seeing a little growth on that end bullpen wise. Starter wise, they all did what I asked them to do and just competed really hard and threw strikes and gave us a chance. Nothing special."

Did you expect anything close to what you got from Krishna Raj on Saturday?

"He's been in the mix for an enhanced role. Right down to this week he's been in the mix. What he did, do I ever predict that a freshman's going to go out and throw six innings and give up one hit? No. But yeah, I thought he was going to be successful. He's a good pitcher. I'm excited about what he's going to do going forward."

He seems to have the complete package--composure, a repertoire of pitches, control and intensity.

"He's got more than one pitch for strikes. I stay on him constantly about not nibbling, competing in the zone, more strikes, more strikes, holds runners really well. He just does a lot of little things that aren't freshman like. That was something I saw early. We all did. He's got some things that a lot of young pitchers don't have. A lot of guys said yesterday he pitched like an upperclassman, and he did. Hopefully we can keep that going forward."

What do you mean by enhanced role for him?

"He was competing for a fourth, fifth starter spot going into last week. He didn't not earn it. He pitched great, but just some other guys pitched a little bit better or maybe we wanted to go a little bit more experience. He'll carve a role for himself."

Who are your starting pitchers for Tuesday and Wednesday?

"(Josh) Bates is going to go Tuesday. He was going to be available Friday. Obviously he has a ton of experience as a starter, and then (Brendan) Cellucci is going to go Wednesday. That's why we took him out yesterday. It was kind of a scheduled coming in after Keagan one inning, get you in and get you out. Obviously he's got electric stuff. He's got the best stuff on our staff. We're trying to get him going. He's been really good over the last few weeks, throwing strikes and doing that. There's some ball-throwing in there, but he's done a really good job of attacking the zone, so we're going to give him an opportunity Wednesday and obviously have some other guys fresh behind him ready to roll."

Solesky has had some injury issues. What have you seen from him from when you got here in June to the progress to this point?

"When I got here he was fine. He was out playing summer ball and doing well. I know he did a lot of work this summer strength wise, body wise, delivery wise. He changed his delivery a little bit over the summer. That wasn't anything I had any part in. He was just sending me videos and we were going, 'it looks good.' It was one of those deals. I guess he had some people he worked with, but we communicated all summer while he was out playing summer ball. His stuff started upticking a little bit. It's all to his credit what he's doing right now. Being healthy, that's going to be big for us this year, but he's felt great since I've gotten on campus. I thought he was pretty good early (today) and just OK in the middle innings. He got out of his legs a little bit, but I think he's going to be really good for us going forward."

Was a lot of it simple strike throwing?

"Yeah, it's not complicated. We didn't do a very good job this weekend throwing first-pitch strikes beyond Roper and Raj. I'll sit down and map that out tomorrow and meet with a lot of the pitchers over the next couple of day so we can make adjustments in what we're doing. I know for sure today we didn't do a very good job throwing strike and made the job harder than it needed to be."

Solesky says he just feels like he has more confidence than in the past?

"No doubt. His first career start in college was against me (at Southeastern Louisiana, when Solesky pitched five innings and gave up two unearned runs in February of 2017 as a freshman), and it was pretty good. His freshman year was pretty good. He had a big role, so I had an idea of what he is. But he carries himself so well. As strong as he is right now, and his stuff's ticked up. He's been up to 95 (mph), and he just feels good about what's he doing right now. Confidence is so important in this game, especially for these guys 21 and 22 years old, confidence is everything for those guys. He feels good about himself right now, so we are going to roll with it.

Did you notice much about him when he pitched against you?

"Absolutely. He competed really well. He worked with a really good tempo his freshman year. Other than that, he's a different pitcher. The person's the same, but the delivery's a little different, the fastball plays up a little bit more, the breaker's a little better, the changeup's a little better. He's just two years later, a stronger kid. But the competitor's still the same. I saw that early when he came in against us. You could tell who wants the ball and wants to be out there."

Didn't he kind of get by on grit his freshman year?

"Yeah, his stuff was 85, 88, whatever it was without much other than a fastball, and he won. They would bring him in big situations, start him, so you could tell early with some of those guys and then you hope that they develop going forward and he obviously has, so that's exciting for us."

1) We won't really learn a lot about the Tulane baseball team until this weekend when Ole Miss, picked second in the SEC West, comes to town, but the early signs are positive. Talk of togetherness and team chemistry in the preseason are platitudes, but now that the Green Wave has three games under its belt, the words ring true. This team, which has only three players who were on the active roster in David Pierce's final year (Ross Massey, Jonathon Artigues, Tyler Heinrichs), has bought into Travis Jewett and his staff and clearly enjoying each other's company, which was not the case at all two years ago and to a lesser degree last season.

Attitude no longer is an issue. If this team is talented enough, it will get to a regional this year. That part still is to be determined. The first step is beating Lamar on Tuesday and Wednesday to get to 5-0, something that has happened only once since 2008, when Tulane made its final regional appearance under Rick Jones. The Wave did it in 2014, too, getting to 6-0 before finishing 23-29. That fact is why I go back to my original point--we won't really know what's in store for this team until this weekend.

2) Krishna Raj's brilliant relief performance on Saturday was a breath of fresh air. Tulane has been rotten out of the bullpen the last two years and could be counted on to self-destruct on the mound. It appeared to be happening again Saturday until Raj came in and was lights out, allowing one hit and no runs in six innings, showing a full repertoire of pitches and acting like a confident upperclassmen.
Wow.

3) The Tulane basketball team actually gave a better effort against Houston than it did against Tulsa, but it did not matter. After Caleb Daniels inexplicably missed a dunk on a perfect alley oop to start the second half, we all knew what was coming. Well, maybe not the ridiculous 35-5 Houston run, but certainly it was clear the Cougars would pull away. Tulane's only realistic chances to win a conference game come Feb. 23 against ECU at home and March 9 in the regular season finale against Wichita State at home as it tries to avoid becoming the first team in school history to go winless in conference play.

4) Houston does not always shoot like it did yesterday, but that was not only the highest ranked team to play on Tulane's campus since No. 1 Memphis and Derrick Rose in 2008. It was the best team since those Tigers, who made it to the NCAA championship game and would have won it without some missed free throws and a lucky shot by Kansas. With the right draw, Houston is Final Four material. Three of the 3s it hit during its killer run were outstanding shots, and Tulane, which had played with terrific intensity to that point, fell apart from there.

5) From all indication, Junior Day was a big success for Tulane. I expect a significantly higher rated recruiting class (with actual 3-star guys instead of fictional 3-star guys who don't even exist) next December assuming Tulane builds on its bowl momentum from this year, which I expect it will. I have not decided whether I will pick the Wave to win the West or not in the AAC media poll. It will be either Tulane or Houston in my mind.

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Surprising no one on this forum, Rivals rankings are proved to be fraudulent when they gave a three-star ranking, complete with an evaluation to a player that doesn't exist!!!! This has led 247, who added the non-existent player to it's composite rankings, to change its policies.

https://awfulannouncing.com/online-...-catfished-their-way-to-a-3-star-ranking.html

https://www.si.com/college-football...nked-rivals-247sports-change-composite-policy


https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...r-fake-recruit-247-rivals-recruiting-rankings


So apparently Rivals bases it rankings on who offers a kid a scholarship, well now that's a surprise. Not that I didn't already know this but to see them publicly unmasked is a bit of justice. Guerry, will Rivals make a statement regarding this? As a paying customer, when I see a rivals rating I am being sold on their evaluation of the player, which apparently is non-existent. ESPECIALLY for players Tulane tends to recruit and sign who are not "4 & 5 stars".

For the last two years, almost every time Tulane went to the bullpen it was a disaster.

Yesterday looked to be headed the same way until freshman Krishna Raj took the mound at the start of the eighth inning. His command, his presence and his stuff were a revelation in a six-inning, one-hit, no-run outing that allowed Tulane to rally for its second consecutive dramatic victory, both of which required help from the GW defense.

Here are Tulane's quotes after that game:

RAJ

How would you describe what you just did?

"Honestly it's a great experience. All my teammates around me, that's all that matters to me right now. It was a great win."

What were you expecting your contributions to be today? I imagine not six innings.

"I didn't imagine that at all, but I expected to pitch in this game, but I didn't know when. When I got my chance, I was ready and all my teammates were backing me up, making plays for me, and that's all that matters."

What were the coaches saying in between innings. Did you know you were going to keep going back out to the mound?

"About the second or third inning I didn't know if I was going back but no one really said anything to me. I just kept going out, coming back, going out, coming back, and that's pretty much what happened. They didn't really talk to me that much. I was just in the dugout. I was just sitting down in my thoughts. When I get back in the dugout, it's just me and I think about the next inning."

It looked like everything was working for you. Did you feel that way?

"Yeah, they put together some good at-bats. They put the bat on the ball. Luckily I have great infielders and outfielders that are able to make the plays for me and then (Luke) Glancy hitting the double (to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning) kept me going. That's the only reason I'm even her right now."

What's your repertoire?

"I throw a fastball that kind of have some sink to it, and then I throw a curveball and a changeup and a knuckle curve. Today I just felt like my curveball was really working well. I was able to extend and get it out over the plate and get some swings and misses."

What other schools recruited you?

"Actually it's funny. George Washington was actually recruiting me. There were a few others. I can't really remember them right off the top of my head. It was Tulane, George Washington and Georgia State. That was pretty much it."

Why did you choose Tulane?

"I love the facilities. It's a great field, the best field I've ever seen, and I love coach (Travis) Jewett and the whole staff. That is what made me come here."

So I guess those coaches for George Washington knew you?

"That's why I was pretty hyped up, excited to pitch."

Are you usually that pumped up on the mound?

"In high school I was kind of known for it, but on this state with all the fans and my teammates behind me, it's exhilarating."

When you say you were known for it in high school, what do you mean?

"Like, yelling, screaming, getting really excited, stuff like that."

Did you get in trouble for that ever?

"One or two times, but never's ever come bad from it."

JEWETT

So was the plan to get Raj out there in his first college game and have him dominate for six innings?

"You can tell I like him and why he's grown on us because it's strikes, you know. If it's ball 1, then he's putting the next pitch over the plate. He competed. For a freshman, first appearance in a college game, we inserted him in there and he just kept that thing at bay for six innings. We kept pounding on the door and nobody was knocking (think he meant answering). But down the stretch there, did we go down 1-2-3? I can't remember (the last time it happened was the sixth inning), but we were having more than two guys on, so eventually we were able to just crack it now. They give us a little late, but that's what they did to us, too, tonight. We gave them some things to get the game in that range which what it was, and then fortunately we were able to take one back there. I'm proud of the kids. Finding different ways to win."

What was the recruiting process with him, and what did you like about him in high school?

"Well, it was 89, 90. 91, sinker, slider, strikes. Strikes. He's maturing right in front of my eyes. His personality's starting to shine, and the kids in the clubhouse, they love him. They do. They love him. I saw a whole new side of him tonight, his spirit. He was pretty fired up in a few big situations. I like that. We need that spirit, so it's good. He's been great. He's a good student. He's a good teammate and he works at his craft and he got rewarded tonight."

Was his emotion today a little different than what you'd seen in workouts?

"100 percent different. Really. Not that he hasn't been excited about being successful in our training. That's not it, but I haven't see that (clear emotion). I haven't seen that, so it was good and I think our kids fed off of it and then that led to confidence and then the continual getting it in the strike zone kept everybody engaged and kept giving us a chance."

Did you even contemplate taking him out the way he was pitching?

"I think (pitching coach) Daniel (Latham) said something to me and I said, excuse me, I don't hear you. No, I'm just kidding. We did talk about it. I've wanted to ask him again, first time out, where's he at, pitch count, how are you feeling, how is he feeling? Everybody was on full go. We were just going to try to ride him out. I can't promise you (he would have pitched a seventh inning if needed). We had a couple of guys ready to go down there just in case because you know obviously that's an extended outing for him."

You could be 0-2 right now but you're 2-0. How much can you build off of two dramatic wins like this?

"If we can't build off of these, I think there's a problem. We talk about our way is our way. It's just like how we want to play offense, how we've been winning games. It just doesn't matter. We're just trying to find a way to win and the kids are hanging in there right now. I like this group. They are fun to be around. They care. Like success, we talk about deserved victory. Right now the way we're going about our business, I think it's our time. This game, sport, sometimes it doesn't always happen on your watch, when you want it, how you want it could be perfect for you, and sometimes it just doesn't happen. I'm hopeful that through the first couple of years now, maybe the watch is on our time. We want to take advantage of it. We want to be ready, but we are deserving, and we're good enough. We just have to keep going. We had some guys step in tonight, too. Glancy, huge at-bat just coming off. He's a little bit beat up, but he can hit, now. That was a huge at-bat, and Kobi)'s home run there late to kind of bring it within 1 was huge, too, because that kind of gave us in the striking range. We got (freshman shortstop Collin) Burns in there tonight and he played a little bit nervous as a freshman (committing two errors). I talked to him afterward and it's like, this is your first game in college, it's not your first game. It's still a bat and a ball and first base and all that kind of stuff, but it was nice to be able to use some different people for a team win."

Have you ever seen a sequence like the dropped pop-up and then the dropped throw on the force-out on the same play?

"Not quite. Not quite. I saw the first baseman wobbling a little bit, so obviously without saying anything you kind of cross your toes a little bit, and then when I saw the shortstop turn the glove the way he did, I thought it was maybe going downhill. Fortunately it popped out. The thing is, just like (Jonathon) Artigues, they felt his feet pressure last night, David (Bedgood, who ran full out to second base to try to beat the throw after the dropped pop-up), what is he going to do? You can't do much. You have to hang in there (near first base) because if they catch it, you can't get doubled up, but when the ball went down, he didn't walk to second, he didn't jog to second, he went for second. And then when he went for second, he knows he needs to slide into a force, and he did, and then he was entangled in the base, and when the guy grabbed it and tried to tag him, he was hustled, he was trying to finish the play to completion. That's some of the things we're talking about and are starting to show up. It was a heck of a hustle play. It was unfortunate for them obviously, but like I said, it's a little give and take tonight. Both teams kind of gave each other some stuff, and we were able to take advantage there late."

Ty Johnson was not in uniform at the start of the game due to his thumb injury, but he started running on the side of the field in extra innings. Was he saying he was available?

"He said to me tonight, don't be surprised if I'm playing tomorrow. With him I'm never surprised. He's a tough kid. He played that whole game yesterday with a pretty banged up thumb. He says his sister's a specialist in Chinese healing or something, so that's good. He's a heck of a spirit. He wasn't really in uniform tonight, but he had the bunker going pretty good. He kept everybody engaged. We appreciate his spirit and we need him, but tonight Raj kind of took his spot in terms of that kind of emotional leader, so that was pretty cool to see."

Were you figuring on pitching him tonight?

"Yeah, he was on the docket for sure. The whole thing, it was Keagan (Gillies) to (Brendan) Cellucci, who's going to pitch Wednesday against Lamar, so we knew it was going to be one inning right there in the middle after Keagan and then (Robert) Price, Raj. That's how we set it up."

Over 30 years ago, Sportswriter Tom Boswell of the Washington Post published a book of his baseball columns entitled “Why Time Begins on Opening Day.” For someone like me, it’s a great read. I like football; I enjoy golf; I look forward every four years to the Olympics; and I can tolerate basketball. But baseball was the centerpiece of my athletic life growing up and it remains the singular sports passion for me. I grew up and remain a Dodger fan and, in recent years, I’ve come to follow the Washington Nationals fairly closely, but Tulane baseball is what I most look forward to. Yesterday, I re-upped my “Total Access” subscription so I can watch almost every pitch of the year (supplemented by individual one-game opportunities). And today, is, like Boswell noted, when “time begins.” All the best to Wave fans everywhere.

Roll Wave!!!

Tulane's final recruiting rankings are mediocre after getting one 2-star signee today and nobody else to add to the decently rated haul of 19 players in December, but the rankings don't count Jalen McCleskey and Christian Montano and Ben Knutson, who will fill immediate needs in the fall. McCleskey could be a star in the AAC, Montano should be a solid starter and Knutson will compete for significant playing time.

Rivals.com has Tulane with six 3-star signees and 14 2-star guys, eighth out of 12 teams in the AAC and 83rd nationally (although the average rating of the recruits is sixth in the AAC).

247Sports.com ranks Tulane a little lower nationally (94th) and also eighth in the AAC.

I get the sense this class is better than Fritz's first two and not as good as last year's while filling the biggest needs (defensive back, offensive line). These coaches have a good eye for talent and culled together the class from 10 different states, which is no easy assignment.

We talked to Fritz and Jalen McCleskey before Tulane's fan recruiting event. Here's what they had to say.

How did you feel like you closed out this class?

"I don't want to say it's anticlimactic, but you sign everybody in that early signing period and we signed 21 guys (counting McCleskey and Montano) and we only signed one today. We think he's going to be a great player for us, the (Jacquez) Norman kid from Tennessee. We also feel like we are going to add another grad transfer, but we can't mention that until they actually come and enroll in school. But overall we feel really good about things. There were some areas we needed to have immediate help, and I think we got that. There were a couple of spots that we didn't have the depth we needed to have, particularly in the secondary, and we picked up six guys--a couple of corners and four safeties--that we think are going to be great players for us. We're excited about it. We added a bunch of guys who have great character and are going to be able to handle the academic rigors of Tulane, but also they have to be D1 players, and I think these guys can help us take that next step. We feel like we signed an excellent class. We're pumped up about it."

What do you like the most about Norman?

"He played both sides of the ball. I like those guys in high school. I coached a little high school football, and I wanted to make sure that our best athletes had the ball in their hands. it sometimes scares me when we're recruiting a defensive back or a linebacker and they don't play anything on offense. We want to recruit guys that play both sides of the ball, show that explosiveness on the offensive side but also show the ability to tackle and hit people and cover people on defense. There's a lot of games he played, he didn't come off the field. He also returned punts and kicks."

Is there a possibility for more grad transfers down the road? You have two openings.

"Possibly. Our big deal is guys who can fit here and guys we feel are bonafide Division I players. If they're not, we'll save these scholarships and use them for next year."

What is Jalen McCleskey going to bring to the team?

"He's a great player. Believe it or not, I stayed completely out of that deal. I saw his dad (defensive back J.J. McCleskey) every single day and it was really wearing on his dad. He'd never missed a performance, a game, a practice when Jalen was growing up, and the guy has got great experience at a high level of football. He is going to fit in here big time. I've been very impressed with his work ethic, and I'd expect nothing less from J.J.'s kid. He's a good young man and he's got an opportunity to be a great player for us."

Does he have the speed to play outside as well as inside?

"He's got great speed. He runs super routes. He's a gym rat. I had to talk to him the other day about being careful not over-training. I look out of my balcony, and he's out there running around doing stuff on Saturdays and Sundays. He's going to be a great addition for us."

How did recruiting go with coach Hall coming in? Did he hit the ground running?

"Will Hall, and Cody Kennedy kind of game in the last weekend or two, but Will knows about every third person in the state of Mississippi. He did a really good job coming in here helping us. He's very enthusiastic about recruiting. He enjoys that part of it."

Does Christian Montano give you some ability on the interior of the offensive line?

"Yeah, they've got a rule in the Ivy League where you cannot play as a graduate student, so he was looking for some place to go. He had a lot of people that offered him there at the end. He came and visited us and really enjoyed it. He's a guy that's going to compete for a starting spot. He's started at center, guard and tackle, so we're excited about the addition of Christian as well."

Did you get about what you expected from Louisiana?

"Oh, there were two or three other guys (Tulane signed four from Louisiana). I've said this before, but this is a really heavily recruited state, and it should be. There's a lot of great football here, and we feel like the guys we added from Louisiana are really good players. We'd like that number to be up to 8, 9. 10, but we're not going to go away from what we're looking for in a guy and we don't want to get seconds or thirds in Louisiana. We want to get guys that will help take us to the next level."

No quarterback. Does that fit with the bonafide Division I requirement?

"We had a couple of guys we were really interested in, and we didn't get them. I'm one of the few coaches who will admit we get beat from time to time in recruiting, so we didn't get those guys. We just didn't feel like there are guys out there right now that fit what we're looking for. It's not a position we have to get a guy at right now. If you get a guy that's going to have a tough time playing for you, he's not going to be happy and you're not going to be happy."

What is the dynamic like between Will Hall and Cody Kennedy?

"They finish each other's sentences. They were together for a long time at West Alabama and West Georgia. We interviewed a few guys, and if I would have found somebody I thought was better than Cody, I would have hired him. Cody did a great job and he was also the guy Will was most comfortable with, so that's we hired him as our offensive line coach."

JALEN McCLESKEY

How are things going here?

"They are going really well. It's kind of weird because I'm not a freshman, so I'm used to all the college stuff getting ready for workouts, but just being at a new school, a new system. All the players on the team helped me out and told me what to expect. They've been a real help."

What led you here?

"Just talking to my dad and being able to be closer to home for the first part and just having a different opportunity, but being close to family was really big."

How much will you enjoy playing on a team where you dad is a coach?

"It's going to be really fun. We are going to butt heads in practice because he's with the secondary, so it's going to be really fun. He was always my coach in Little League, but they don't have position coaches."

Did you know you were going to come here when you left the Oklahoma State football team or was it open?

"It was open a little bit, but this was always one of the first choices. I just felt like this was going to be a really good fit. Being able to come back home was one of the main factors."

Was there something you were looking for at Oklahoma State that maybe wasn't happening?

"It was just being able to do a little bit more and do more things, but for the most part it was my dad was the coach here and being able to be with family, my mom for sure being able to come to all the games and I can go home. That was really one of the main decisions."

What do you think of the offense here?

"We have obviously a new OC. They've been on the road recruiting, so we really haven't gotten a chance to go over the offense, but I'm sure that's coming pretty soon."

Have you had much interaction with Justin McMillan?

"Yeah. We threw over the break, and all the quarterbacks, receivers and running backs go out there on the weekends and we throw. We just are really trying to build chemistry, learn what they like and what we like. It's going to be a building process getting ready for spring, then keep going over the summer, fall camp and then the season."

Did you know Justin or the other guys before you came here?

"I knew (Darnell) Mooney. I knew Justin because when I would come home for break, I would come out here and me and my dad would do some work and some of the guys would be around, so I knew a lot of them before I got up here. I knew of Justin, and when I came for my official (visit), that's when I first met him."

Mooney is the only returning receiver who had more than seven catches last year. How much are you looking forward to your role?

"Oh, being able to come in and contribute knowing that we have a good group of receivers and they have to respect everybody and they might not be able to double team just one person, it's going to be fun this year."

What's your fastest time in the 40?

"I'm pretty sure if I remember correctly, my freshman year I ran a 4.35."

Can you play all of the receiver positions?

"I can play inside, outside. At Oklahoma State I mostly played inside, but I can play all positions."

What do you anticipate playing here?

"From talking with Coach, I think I might start outside."

The college baseball season is almost here and I’m sure many of us are anxious to find out how our returning players and “rookies” will perform. Are we headed for the post-season? Or are we headed for more disappointment? I’m expecting the former but always concerned about the latter. Regardless…

We’ll be opening the baseball season this weekend against George Washington University. Some may think this is a “walkover” and easy sweep; hopefully it will be. But GW has improved recently and their head coach was selected to be the hitting coach for Team USA this past summer. That’s not normally awarded to a “clown.” In the past three years they have gone from #209 to #190 to #103 in RPI and look to improve this season.

I don’t expect them to be a great hitting team. They only have four returning starters in the field from last years: We should be wary of All Atlantic 10 Conference DH, Dom D’Alessandro (.318 with 9 Hrs). The others are 3B/OF Steve Barmakian (.310, 0 HR’s), SS Nate Fassnacht (.277, 1 HR) and OF Colin Brophy (.228, 3 HR’s). That leaves five openings. Who will fill them?

They signed five transfers and 11 freshmen for this season, the best of whom seem to be Greg Andbery, a catcher, who hit .313. with 2 HR’s in JC ball and Tyler Hix, an infielder, who hit .393 with 12 HR’s against JC competition. My guess is that both will start though translating JC statistics to Division 1A performance is hard to anticipate. A Virginia Tech transfer and an Arkansas transfer didn’t do much at their previous schools and the fifth guy, a RHP, didn’t show much in JC in my view. Among the incoming freshman, only three were rated by Perfect Game, whose ratings I tend to trust, but only one received more than an 8.0-- Alexander Kobersteen, a right-handed pitcher and outfielder who received a 9.0 rating. By way of comparison, Tulane has four signees who received a 9.0 or better—Hunter Haskins, OF (9.5), Ethan Groff, SS (9.0), Aaron McKeithern, C (9.0) and Zach Goberfield, 3B/OF (9.0). Still, it’s hard to tell how a freshman might contribute.

The strength of their returning team, however, is pitching. Six of their top nine pitchers (based on innings pitched) return, including all three weekend starters and their closer. The starters are Elliot Raimo (3-4) with a 2.76 ERA in 72 innings; Nate Woods (5-3) with a 3.18 ERA in 85 innings; and Jaret Edwards (5-2) with a 3.28 ERA in 82 innings. The closer is Will Kobas (4-1) with 6 saves and an ERA of 1.35 in 53 innings. Between them they threw 57% of the innings last season and I would expect them to be ready this year. Of course, this early I would expect starters to go no more than 80 or so pitches, maybe 5 innings, so we should be able to get into their bullpen. Of course, that goes for them against us as well.

Anyway, it looks like a good first weekend test for the Wave—not an elite team, but not a national doormat either.

Roll Wave!!!

I will update this if Gourdine signs with Tulane later today, but if he does not and there are no surprise signings, here's what the scholarship roster looks like. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Merek Glover is still a walk-on at this point, right?

QB (4)

McMillan
Howard
Ledford
Daniels

RB (6)

Bradwell
Dauphine
Huderson
A. Jones
Carroll
Spears

WR (10)

Mooney
McCleskey
Robertson
Vallien
Booker
Toles
Brown
LeDee
Jackson
Presley

TE (4)

Wallace
James
Richardson
K. Williams

OL (13)

Dublin
Claybrook
T. Johnson
McLeod
Jackel
Montano
Knutson
Lewerenz
Hogan
Remondet
Fort
Haynesworth
Orgeron

DT (6)

D. Williams
J. Johnson
James
D. Wright
Hicks
C. Thomas

DE (7)

P. Johnson
Sample
Monjarres
Hatcher
A. Thomas
Singletary
Kubiet

LB (9)

Graham
Moody
K. Jones
Vault
Brown
Dixon
Anderson
Hodges
D. Williams

NB (3)

Bryant
Harper
Barge

CB (7)

Langham
Monroe
Keyes
Joyce
Brooks
Harrison
K. Williams

S (8)

Hall
Kuerschen
Clark
S. Harper
Ball
Judson
Norman
Walker

ST (3 or 4)

R. Wright
Neenan
Eatherly
(Glover) --expect him to be awarded scholarship before fall

On another site I saw someone bemoaning the fact we only signed four players this year from Louisiana in what he opined was a very good year for the state. Clearly, it is a fact that we signed only four players from Louisiana but was it a particularly good year for the state?

Of course, perception of what is a good year will vary greatly depending on point of view. For a team like LSU who is only interested in the top 20 or so prospects, the only thing that counts is how good are the “top end” recruits. An over-abundance of very high-potential recruits can make for a great year despite lack of depth across the entire class. For McNeese and other FCS schools, they’re looking for depth in the class. Except for borderline academic qualifiers who the BCS schools shun, FCS schools are signing kids who are, at least theoretically, in the roughly #100 to #200 range out of the over-3,000 high school seniors playing football in the state. Since Louisiana has six FCS schools within its borders, a lot of kids have the opportunity to continue to play college football at a Division 1 (although 1AA) level.


So, what makes for a good year in Louisiana for a G5 school or more importantly, a high end G5 (or P6 if you will) school like Tulane? Historically, over the previous dozen years that I’ve tracked, Louisiana has produced an average of 91 kids annually who received Division 1A (BCS) scholarships. And, despite the fact that roughly half of BCS teams belong to the P5 grouping, only an average of 39 kids (43%) actually signed with P5 teams. I think the presence of four G5 schools and only one P5 school in the state is the primary reason for this discrepancy. LaTech, ULL, ULM, and Tulane (particularly during the CJ era) sign a lot of kids that are not on the radar for either P5 schools or many out-of-state G5 schools who don’t have the resources to mine talent far from their home turf.

Regardless, for good or bad, I tend to look at how many Louisiana kids signed with BCS schools and how many of those signed with P5 schools to form an opinion on whether the state had a good or bad year. This year? 79 high school seniors in Louisiana signed with BCS schools. That’s the fewest since 2008 when only 76 kids signed, a year when there were many fewer BCS teams. The 30 kids who signed with P5 schools tied for the lowest number with 2008 and 2011. My conclusion is that for both the P5 and BCS as a whole, this was a relative down year for Louisiana, partly because a number of pretty good players apparently had academic issues that precluded signing with BCS schools.

So, how did Tulane do? I think two of our Louisiana signees, Jhaquan Jackson and Tyler Judson, were “top 40” recruits in the state, the kind of prospects we need to build a class around. Tyjae Spears wasn’t far behind in my view, probably in the top 50 of those who signed, with roughly a third of the signees ranked below him. To me, that’s “high end” G5. And Colby Orgeron was probably in the top ten offensive line prospect in the state but not in the “elite” class, toward the bottom in my rankings of kids who signed with BCS schools. Would I have liked to “nab” some more of the kids who signed with P5 schools? Of course. Would I have liked to sign more kids I ranked outside my “top 50” to fill out the class or satisfy the “sign more Louisiana kids” contingent? No way. It wasn’t a great recruiting year for Tulane, though transfers should help a lot. But, in my view, it wasn’t the unmitigated disaster some seem to be proclaiming.


Roll Wave!!!

Tulane's baseball media day is tomorrow, but I got a head start Wednesday afternoon by talking to Connor Pellerin and Kaleb Roper about new pitching coach Daniel Latham and their outlook for 2019.


CONNOR PELLERIN

What is Daniel Latham like?

"He's been great. He's really helped us out a lot. Some of the guys who may have had problems mechanically last year, he's really stepped up and worked with us. Just this fall you can see a lot of improvement with all of our pitchers. For me the big thing is just coming back with a year under my belt, but everybody really. He's been a really good addition to our staff and program?

What did he tell you guys when he arrived?

"When he got here he mostly worked with trusting ourselves and confidence with all of our pitches. A lot of the confidence is built through our bullpen and all the work that we're putting in with that. But it's mostly just confidence and trusting ourself on the mound."

Where do you want to see the most improvement?

"Mostly just throwing the ball over the plate. That was a big problem that I had last year (he walked 40 in 44 innings), but experience is just the biggest thing with a lot of the guys who were juco transfers and freshmen last year. It's all experience mostly."

Were the control issues more mental or physical?

"In my opinion a little bit of both. You could do one thing one week that's working mechanically wise and then be out of whack the next week."

What will be the biggest factor in getting the ball over the plate for you?

"Experience is the main thing, but Daniel's really helped us a lot just with mechanical stuff and drills that we worked on pretty much every day to really get our mechanics down and really trust ourselves on the mound and not have to think about if we're flying open or doing something. It's mostly experience and confidence with our mechanics."

How much potential do you feel this team has?

"I feel like this year we should perform really well. Last year a bunch of younger guys and juco transfer guys had really big roles coming in and I think this year with Daniel helping us and the experience that we have, I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be good."

People look at two straight losing records, but do you see a different outcome this year?

"Oh, for sure. I really think we've jelled together better than in years past. I can't speak for two years ago, but from last year we had a big step forward in confidence. It's more team bonding and confidence between all of us."

KALEB ROPER

What has Daniel Latham meant to this pitching staff?

"He's been the world ever since he's gotten here. He's really made an impact. He's very good communicating with us as far as bullpens and throwing schedule and arm care, the whole nine. It's been a really good experience and I'm excited to see what happens this spring."

What is he like personality wise?

"He's great. He talks a lot, which is good. That's what we needed. We need as much feedback as we can get on the mound. It's been good to have him in bullpens. Getting feedback from him has really helped each and every one of us."

What do you think of the arm talent on this staff?

"We have all the talent in the world. It's just whether or not to choose ourselves to go out there and play to the best of our abilities. It's a mental game for sure. It's going to take a lot of focus and belief in ourselves to go out there and compete every night, but we definitely have the talent."

Did it become a mental problem with the lack of control for the staff?

"Baseball in general is a mental game. That quote, it's 90 percent mental and the other half's physical, but especially pitching. You're the one with the ball. You're controlling the game. All eyes are on you. You control the pace of the game. It takes tough people to go out there mentally and physically and be able to compete night in and night out."

How good do you think this team can be this year?

"Ever since we got here in the fall, we said the two worst words in the dictionary are 'last year.' We're just focused on this year. We believe we've got a good team. We've got a lot of talent. It's just going to be whether or not we go out there and compete every night. We definitely have the ability to do so. I like everybody in our dugout. I think we're going to have a really good year."

Here's a listing of where Tulane's official visitors signed (not counting guys who already had committed before their visit)

1) Weekend of Nov. 30:

--Five of the 11 signed with Tulane: Armoni Dixon, Ton'Quez Ball, Levi Williams, Jha'Quan Jackson and Kanyon Walker.

--Of the other six, DE Marcus Harris signed with Kansas yesterday, TE Neal Johnson signed with ULL in December, DE Zach Edwards signed with Louisville yesterday, DE Jalil Clemons de-committed from Tennessee and signed with Memphis in December and ATH Tyler Guidry held firm to his commitment to ULL. OT Jakoby Jones from East Mississippi CC has not signed anywhere.

2) Weekend of Dec. 7

--Seven of the 13 uncommitted visitors signed with Tulane: grad transfer Christian Montano, Tyler Judson, Keshon Williams, Eric Hicks, Tyrek Presley, Caleb Thomas and Dorian Williams.

--One of the three visitors who had committed elsewhere signed with Tulane: LB Nick Anderson switched from South Alabama.

--Of the other six, CB Tyrone Lewis signed with Kansas State this week, QB Jakson Thomson signed with Louisiana Tech in December, OT Nate Clifton signed with Vanderbilt in December and TE Kevin Hester signed with North Carolina in December. The more lightly regarded DE/TE Zane Heemsoth and OT Jake Swope have not signed anywhere.

--Of the other two prospects who had committed elsewhere before their visit, DT Dalvin Hutchinson stuck with ULL and pint-sided WR Chandler Whitfield, my personal favorite, signed with ULM this week. No idea whether he had the grades or the personality to play at Tulane, but his highlight reel is sick,

3) Weekend of Jan. 18

--The lone visitor, DE Immanuel Hickman, signed with East Carolina this week.

4) Weekend of Jan. 25

--Of the five visitors, one signed with Tulane: Jacquez Norman.

--Of the other four, DE Dal'Mont Gourdine signed with UConn, South Alabama grad transfer OT Ryan Alexander has not picked a school yet, St. Paul's QB Jack Mashburn is more walk-on material than scholarship material and long snapper Ethan Hudak has not signed anywhere.

5) Weekend of Feb. 1

Of the three visitors, Virginia grad transfer Ben Knutson chose Tulane, DT Jalen Williams signed with Jones County JC and S Jonathan Mestayer was being looked at as a preferred walk-on and has not signed anywhere.

RECAP

15 of Tulane's 23 signees (counting the grad transfers) took official visits after the season. Jalen McCleskey took an official visit the weekend of the ECU game (Tulane rarely has official visitors during the season) along with LB J'Coryan Anderson, who signed with Marshall in December.

As for unofficial visitors for games, Judson came for Navy, Jackson came for ECU. WR Korey King, who was incorrectly listed as a Tulane commitment by Rivals (I did not input that info) briefly in November, came to that game and signed with Tulsa this week. Jackson and Kiland Harrison came for the SMU game. Darius Hodges visited for Nicholls along with Harrison.

Colby Orgeron visited Jan. 25 after signing in December.

Jacquez Norman is in the fold. He tweeted it today.

Tulane projects him as a safety.

I am not sure Tulane will sign anyone else tomorrow, but we'll have to wait and see. If not, the class counting grad transfers will be at 23 (although Knutson cannot sign until the summer), making the scholarship count 81 if my quick math is correrct (and if the Tulane roster on the website is an accurate reflection of who is returning).

I'm hearing Tulane will sign maybe two players on Wednesday, leaving room for two grad transfers, who cannot be announced until they enroll for the summer semester.

There are two visitors this weekend and one unofficial visitor being looked at as a preferred walk-on.

1) Ben Knutson, a 6-foot-9, 310-pound grad transfer OG from Virginia who has two years of eligibility left.

Comment: Started only two games in his career, both as a redshirt freshman in 2017 with one each at left guard and right guard. Played in nine games in 2018, primarily on special teams. Was a 3-star recruit out of Granger, Indiana in 2016, choosing Virginia over Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Pittsburgh among others.

Here is the story when he announced he was leaving. He sounds like someone who would consider Tulane heavily.

https://247sports.com/college/virginia/Article/Virginia-Cavaliers-Football-Ben-Knutson-announces-his-intention-to-transfer-from-UVA-127814023/

2) Jalen Williams, an unrated, 6-foot-3, 290-pound DT from Tylertown, Mississippi

Comment: Does not have a profile with Rivals but has one with 247Sports. Visited Colorado last weekend. Obviously flew under the radar during first recruiting cycle. No other reported offers. Also played TE for Tylertown. Listed as having 11 pancake blocks by MaxPreps.com. Team went 5-7 and lost in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs. The town has less than 2,000 people.

3) Jonathan Mestayer, a 6-foot-0 ,170-pound safety from Baton Rouge Catholic. Not in Rivals database, unrated by 247Sports.

Comment: Had offers from FCS schools Southeastern Louisiana and Idaho. Would be a preferred walk-on if he chooses Tulane.

Tomorrow, Feb 6, is national signing day for NCAA football. We apparently have three open slots available and could fill them all or none tomorrow. We could fill all or none, but I'm guessing it will be one-- probably a defensive end, but we should be getting some better idea today before final results are in. With the class we've already got, I'd rather sign none tomorrow than sign "reaches." I think Coach Fritz feels the same way.

Roll Wave!

Just talked to Ben Knutson, who was driving back to Virginia from New Orleans after taking official visit over the weekend and tweeting his decision to transfer to Tulane.

I never say never, but this choice is almost 100 percent certain to stick. Yes, Bailey Granier reneged on his initial choice to transfer from Vandy to Tulane last year, but it will not happen with Knutson, whose sister graduated from Tulane in 2013. I never was able to reach Granier after his initial decision to come to Tulane. Knutson responded right away, and his enthusiasm was evident. After he graduates from UVA in May, he will head to New Orleans.

Where are you?

"I'm on the road right now. I'm almost back (to Charlottsville)."

When you announced you were transferring from Virginia, one of your statements was you were looking 40 years down the road, which dovetails with what Tulane coach Willie Fritz preaches about academics at Tulane. Did you have a feeling you would end up at Tulane then, and how did your thought process go?

"For me, part of the background is I was actually born and raised in Slidell, Louisiana. We moved when I was like, 5, really young, and then my sister went to Tulane, so I've always kind of known what Tulane was about. That kind of helped in the process. I knew what it was academically. They didn't have to sell me on that at all. I talked ball with (new offensive coordinator ) coach (Will) Hall and (new offensive line coach (Cody) Kennedy. That's what really helped. It's obviously a great place to be as well. Just for me it's a place where I know I'm going to be able to come in and help right away and help for two years. It's a program on the rise and they have a lot of guys coming back next year, and that's really exciting for me as well.

"I talked to a few schools all over the country, but honestly I've always been intrigued about going back to New Orleans. That was one of the big draws for me as well."

If you left Slidell when you were 5, what memories do you have?

"I don't have much. Most of my memories were when we'd go visit my sister when she was at Tulane. For spring breaks we'd go down and stay in Biloxi and then go back and forth and visit her at Tulane. That was always family memories, and I've been to New Orleans probably five or six times since we moved away. Having a sister go there definitely helped, but I've been in and out for other reasons."

When did she graduate?

"She graduated in 2013 and is currently a medical doctor in her residency in Hazard, Kentucky right now. (her name is Allyson)."

You didn't play a whole lot at guard this past season at Virginia, with the school bio listing you as primarily a special teams player. What was the hangup, and did you feel like you should have been playing more?

"For me a lot of it was just the older guys. I got time playing as well, but at guard we had seniors (senior Jake Fieler started all 12 regular season games at right guard and redshirt junior R.J. Proctor started the last seven games at left guard, although true sophomore Chris Glaser started the first six games; Proctor, too, is transferring for his final year of eligibility, announcing his decision 11 days before Knutson). I was hemmed in a little bit there as well. I did play a lot of special teams and I've got the two starts from my redshirt freshman year (right guard) as well. I've had a lot of time. This year it was a lot of special teams but I also played quite a bit at guard as well."

Do you expect to stay at guard at Tulane or can you play tackle. How do you see yourself fitting in?

"A lot of that has to do with how spring ball goes. Having a new offensive line coach and a new offensive coordinator, they've got to come in and see all the personnel that they have. I basically told them I'm open to doing both and they can put me wherever they need me. My role there I think should be as flexible as possible. That's what I'm going for."

What are your best strengths?

"I've come from a different type of system. We ran the ball quite a bit and we've always done a good job running the ball here at Virginia. I think that I can definitely bring something in terms of run blocking whether it is at the tackle or the guard position. And then also, here at Virginia I've had three grad transfers come in that I played with, and they've all contributed in positive ways with not only success on the field but fitting into the culture in the offensive line room, and I think I can contribute that as well."

How are you on course to graduate in three years? It took my four-and-a-half years to graduate from the University of Florida and I did not play a sport.

"As far as graduating as quickly as I'm doing at Virginia, it definitely helps to take summer classes as you have to playing football, but time management is crucial. I will be graduating in May and I will be there for summer workouts. At Tulane I'm going to study business. I'm going to get my MBA at the Freeman School."

Was Tulane the only school you took an official visit to?

"It was the only one. It was one of the schools, when I first said I was going to transfer, it was one of the schools that if they contacted me would be at the top of the list, and Tulane was one of them. That's why it made sense. Everything made sense."

What were your impressions of Will Hall and Cody Kennedy?

"Both coach Hall and coach Kennedy are going to bring some fresh ideas to the offense and really help invigorate the offense. They have a lot of guys coming back but I think the offense is going to have a great year next year. Coach Kennedy, with his experience working with the Georgia offensive line, one of the best in the country last year, he can bring a lot of experience, and then obviously they worked together in the past at West Georgia. That's important, too. There's cohesion between those two. They are on the same page."

Are you excited about what you are stepping into on offense?

"Definitely. Everything is looking really exciting. Coach (Willie) Fritz is always going to have great special teams and he has a great defense at Tulane. I think they found some key pieces to the puzzle that are really going to make a difference and help them get over the next step and really be a contender in the American."

Who did you meet on your visit?

"I met Christian Montano, the transfer from Brown. I also spent a lot of time with Corey Dublin, and then I also met Hunter (Knighton), who graduated. He's leaving, but he was able to kind of speak to the grad transfer side and help me understand how that process works. It was great. They were definitely a big help."

Do you expect to be a starter? What do you expect your role to be?

"Well I definitely expect to come in and contribute. I don't think they would bring me in if I weren't going to come in and definitely be a main contributor for the offensive line. Obviously I've got to go and do my part. I can't just not work at all. I have to be even better, and I won't have the advantage of spring ball, but at the same time I think they are bringing me with the intention that I am going to play right away. They wouldn't bring me in if they didn't think that as well."

How many times did your family move after leaving Slidell?

"We moved to Northern Indiana and I stayed there through high school. It is South Bend. That's what I call my hometown."

Look, I get it. This season has been a complete disaster. We're awful, our record is beyond alarming. Dunleavy, or any coach with this type of season, could deserve to lose his job over it.

But why aren't the recruits running away from us? Why are we signing the 77th best player (He used to be the 68th best player according to rivals) in the 2020 class who has been offered by Florida, TCU, Georgia, Auburn, Penn St, Seton Hall, Ole Miss, DePaul, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Colorado St, Kansas St, St John's, UNLV and USF?

Who knows if we keep him. But this isn't an accident. Zhang, Wood, Crabtree and Nobal Days are all very good players who all had infinitely better options than Tulane. Yet they came.

Do we keep the faith with Dunleavy and give him time? I understand if you disagree but even the most jaded fan will have to acknowledge his success in landing talent. We're not paying kids to play at Tulane like other schools do. They see something in our program and they want to be a part of it, and they don't care about our record this season. I think that should be the true indication of where we're headed in the long term.

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/tulane-strikes-early-with-rivals150-junior-elijah-wood

Winwave led wire to wire for his second championship in four years, starting off with 6- and 7-point weeks and having only one week with three points.

As always, each person's lowest weekly score was dropped before I calculated the final standings.

FINAL STANDINGS

1) winwave 65

2) pallii 60

3) Gretna Green 59

3) Golfer81 59

5) LSU Law Greenie 57

5) Guerry 57

7) sscald 56

8) Kettrade1 55

8) WaveON 55

10) Wavetime 54

11) mono41 53

12) highwave 52

13) charlamange8 49

14) St Amant Wave 48

15) chigoyboy 47

16) diverdo 46

17) DrBox 39

NOTES

--Winwave is the first double winner since I started running the contest in 2012

--DrBox closed strong with a season-high 6 points in the bowl edition after an abysmal year that featured a zero-point week and a 1-point week. You didn't lose, you just ran out of weeks to make an epic comeback.

--I continued in my role as gracious host by never winning this contest, thought it is not for a lack of trying.

--mono41 dropped 10 spots after winning last year but should be back with a vengeance next season.

--No one has ever had a perfect week in the seven years I've done this. Mono41, Golfer81 and sscald came close with 8-point efforts this year.

--12 people entered every week: winwave, LSU Law Greenie, diverdo, Kettrade1, Golfer81, paliii, highwave, Gretna Green, Guerrry, chigoyboy, St Amant Wave and WaveON. The other five missed one week.

--I love running this thing and already am looking forward to next year, when there might be 14 editions if Tulane takes the next step and reaches the AAC title game.

Guerry- any clue if we're going to have visitors? Or is this the weekend we expect a couple of grad transfer visitors?

Southern Miss was first to offer Nick Turner. Texas Tech, Virginia and Tulane have since followed suit. The Brother Martin DB breaks down each of his new offers, upcoming visit plans and which SEC team he believes will offer next

UPDATE: https://rvls.co/2CXhoyN

I talked to Dunleavy Monday night during breaks in his radio show.

Has a decision been made yet on whether Ray Ona Embo will be shelved for the year?

“I don’t see Ray coming back this year. At this point it really doesn’t make sense for it to happen.”

When can Buay Koka come back?

“I just heard today I think in three weeks from now probably would be the earliest he can come back. It just depends on his therapy goes and how he feels. The good news is he can run and do all of his conditioning, so that’s a positive for a guy being able to come back and play.”

How impressed have you been with Caleb Daniels’ development this year?

"Maybe not as impressed as you might think. I’m really high on his ability. The thing really for him is how he handles what we’re going through now. At times we’re taking him out of his comfort zone and asking him to do things that weren’t the things that weren’t normally the situations you’d put him in. His attitude’s been great. Of course he’s going to do everything he can do to help us win, and a part of that also helps him expand his game some, too. But Caleb’s a great kid. He’s got great tools to work with. From day 1 we felt like he had a chance to be a big-time scorer. He’s getting a lot of attention right now because some of our weapons aren’t available and teams can pay more attention to him. He’s doing a good job for us."

At times has he not been as efficient as maybe you or he would like while he adjusts to a new role?

“There’s that part of it and the other part of it eventually is he wants to win so badly. He puts a little bit more pressure on himself and thinks he’s got to do a little bit more at times. It’s not unusual. It’s the first time he’s the go-to guy, and he has to carry that load night in and night out for us."

He takes losses hard. How has it affected him?

“Yeah, he does. When he makes mistakes or we lose, it’s definitely not because of lack of effort.”

With Ona Embo out all year, how much has that affected Daniels’ role?

“Playmaking. I’m going to meet with him tomorrow morning at 8:15 to watch film and talk through some of the playmaking things. It’s really more understanding what you have to check off and what you need to be looking for for your decision making. Most people out there, football fans understand the quarterback at the line of scrimmage and checking off the defense, reading the defense, well, it’s the same thing when a guy is the point guard.”

You battled SMU until the final minutes but still came up short in the last four minutes. What was your takeaway?

“We came out strong and defended. It was the second time we played them and we played them pretty good the first time here. We know their stuff. We defended them well. We had a couple of lapses. Because of our numbers we tried to play zone and stay more full zone on a possession versus show zone and then match depending on clock and situations, which I prefer. We played three really good possessions and then we got baited in on a couple where normally we would have matched up and they got behind us and they got some scores. The biggest thing for us was the two times that we’ve played up there, they beat us almost on the same thing but a different way.

"The 5 spot, the first year we were playing a great game and then they isolated our 5 man, Ryan Smith from the top, and he didn’t have great mobility and we didn’t do a good job protecting him. Saturday night, we fouled (Ethan) Chargois out of the game and they went small and their power forward (Isiaha) Mike goes 5 for 5 from the 3-point line (he had been 20 of 64). He had been a 20-percent 3-point shooter (actually 31.3). He could have gone for 40 percent and it would have been a different story for us."

Tulane has six players in town that I have confirmed, including Colby Orgeron, the John Curtis lineman who signed in December.

The other five:

1) Jack Mashburn, an unrated 6-3, 208-pound QB from St Paul's Catholic in Covington.

Comment: He is a dual-threat QB who may be looked at as a preferred walk-on rather than a scholarship candidate. Will Hall and Willie Fritz made a home visit last Friday. Mashburn became the starting quarterback near the end of his junior year and guided St. Paul's to a 5-6 record this season, with the season ending in a first-round playoff loss to Jesuit. He threw for 269 yards in a win against Holy Cross and was the Metro Player of the Week after throwing for 192 yards and rushing for 129 yards against Northshore.

http://www.hudl.com/profile/9029313/Jack-Mashburn

2) Dal'mont Gourdine, a 3-star. 6-4, 240-pound defensive end from Garrett Academy of Technology in Charleston, S.C. He is rated the No. 22 overall prospect from South Carolina.

Comment: He visited North Carolina and Georgia Tech in the summer, Coastal Carolina right before the December signing day and UConn last week. Rivals lists him with offers from Nebraska and UCF but I doubt those are still standing. He attended Clemson's camp last summer but never received an offer there.

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3) Jacquez Norman, a 2-star, 6-0, 190-pound RB from Cane Ridge High in Milan, Tenn.

Comment: Southern Miss is his only other FBS offer according to Rivals. He rushed for 1,129 yards with 13 TDs on 90 carries (12.5 average) for a team that won its first 11 games before losing in the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs.

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4) Ethan Hudak, a 6-0, 230-pound long snapper from Mountain Ridge High in Glendale, Ariz.

Comment: That's the same hometown for former Tulane long snapper Michael Lizanich, who did not pan out, but not the same high school. He attended Rubio Long snapping camp and is rated the No. 9 prospect in the 2019 class and a Division I caliber player by that website. Only one of the guys rated ahead of him has not picked a school yet.

ttps://rubiolongsnapping.com/player-rankings/?year=2019

5) Ryan Alexander, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound grad transfer from South Alabama

Comment: This sounds familiar. A year after landing Noah Fisher from South Alabama, Tulane is bringing in another OL prospect from the school. He started the last two years at right tackle and the final four games of his redshirt freshman season in 2016 at left tackle. He was named honorable mention All Sun Belt this year, meaning he did not make the first, second or third teams.

A lot of Tulane fans are upset that we haven’t signed a high school QB that has stepped to the fore. But, that’s hard to do. Three years ago (2016 signing class), and well before hardly anyone had committed, I posted my views on the top nine QB’s in Louisiana for that class. I thought the best was Shea Patterson, who eventually left Louisiana for the IMG Academy and subsequently to Ole Miss and Michigan. And, at least to this point, he is the best college QB from that class.

Of the other eight I identified, four received Division 1A scholarships: Lindsey Scott (LSU), Keondre Wudtee (Oklahoma State), Cole Kelley (Arkansas), and John Randall Belton (LaTech). Three others, Bladrick Veal (Southern), Austin Guy (NW Louisiana) and Kenny Sears (also NWLA) signed with FCS teams. My final pick, Matthew Beck chose instead to accept a baseball scholarship at LSU. He’s still there as a pitcher.

I failed to include Jared Sparks (Purdue), Tyriek Starks (Kansas) or Jake Arceneaux (ULL) in my “top 9 “ list, nor any of the other six players who signed with FCS schools.

How have these kids done from a football perspective? Well, we all know the travails of Lindsey Scott, a sad tale from almost any perspective, at least to this point. Wudtee has played sparingly at Oklahoma State and recently announced his plans to transfer. The same with Kelley at Arkansas. Belton did not play his first two years at LaTech, was moved to wide receiver, and played in eleven games this past year but didn’t receive a pass. He’s playing special teams. Veal gave up football and left Southern after one year and Guy left NWLA to a JC after two years of not playing. He became a tight end, didn’t show much, and is out of football.

As for the ones I “missed on,” Sparks has been moved to wide receiver at Purdue where he is in the regular rotation and caught 46 passes over two years. After showing nothing at Kansas, Starks left to perform poorly at Iowa Western JC and is likely done. And Jake Arceneaux is still at ULL, though somewhere between 3rd and 4th string at QB.

Of the six other QB’s who signed with FCS schools Chase Fourcade is probably the only one who, in my opinion, has had a solid career to date at that level.

Anyway, my point is that a lot of kids who look really good in high school don’t make the grade in Division 1 college football. Identifying those who do is a tough job. There are probably many more "failures" (not meant to be pejorative) than successes.

Roll Wave!!!

Obviously I could not ask him about Elijah Wood committing. For the first time since I started covering the team, I asked for zero players because there was nothing they could say about that miserable performance and I had a tight deadline anyway.

"UCF is a really good team, probably the best team in our conference. Obviously we had big size issues and were limited in terms of personnel, but I don't think any of that would have really mattered other than having the ability to potentially foul Tacko (Fall, a 27.8 percent foul shooter) if we wanted to on catches to try and get back in the game. Our turnovers were killers. Twelve steals, live-ball turnovers that turned into fast-break points. It was 17-4 on fast break points and those 4 points came at the very end of the game. We've got to value the ball. We talked about driving to the basket, especially against a 7-6 guy and coming to a two-foot jump stop to where you don't go in the air to commit yourself to now either shoot it or pass it."

On that note, there was a play where Jordan Cornish drove at Fall and went up soft and got stuffed which particularly seemed to draw your ire.

"Again, it doesn't take a genius to figure out the guy is a major shot-blocker. He's going to block shots and he's going to alter shots, so what you've got to try to do is draw him, collapse him, come to a two-foot stop, pivot and find an open guy and make a play. We didn't do it. Basically for the most part we went at him and took off in the air. He had three blocks, three changes and probably forced a couple of turnovers on plays. It was a big part of it.

"We came out the second half and our objective was to at least win the second half. Let's execute in the second half. We came out and got great looks and moved the ball. We made good shots. We had a lob over the top. We had a couple of 3s that were wide open that were well executed plays and shots, and then we got back into a mode of playing faster than we needed to play against these guys. We need to slow them down and make them have to defend and use Tacko's mobility against him, and we didn't."

Even given being short-handed, was the first half as bad as you've seen in conference play?

"Yeah. We started out the game fine. We were doing things we wanted to do in terms of defensive rotations, doubling where we wanted to and giving guys shots who we wanted to, but then when we started turning the ball over, it created a gap. Plus, when you let good players get out and get some lay-ups, all of a sudden they feel good about themselves. Obviously Aubrey Dawkins shot the ball well. They had 15 offensive boards, but look, I get it. They are a much bigger team and there are opportunities there, but it comes down to the fact is we didn't contain them off the dribble and we gave up too many live balls where they were going to penetration, which left opportunities for guys to get offensive boards."

With the roster you have right now, where do you go from here?

"We just have to keep playing hard and trying to improve. We had a couple of good performances. Blake Paul played another really good game for us. He missed a dunk opportunity or else he would have had another double-double (he finished with 8 points and 12 rebounds). That was great. Defensively he did a pretty good job, as best as anybody could, in trying to hold up Tacko. Moses Wood gave us really good minutes. It's the third game in a row he's led us in deflections. He had three steals and four boards in 19 minutes and (went) 1 for 2 from the field. A couple of other guys played OK, but we had some bad performances."

How frustrating is it when you can't foul Fall because you have only two scholarship post players available?

"That's the thing. If we had five guys we could rotate in there, ultimately we would have done Hack-a-Shaq to try to give us a chance. Defensively he has a big impact on the game, so you have to try to see if you can make him blink."

Sorry guys. Some family business got in the way the last two days. but Tulane has one official visitor this weekend. Next weekend will be the big week, and some grad transfers will highlight the weekend after that, which is the final one before the February signing day.

Immanuel Hickman, a 2-star, 6-foot-3, 235-pound DE from Matoaca High in Chesterfield, Virginia.

Comment: He committed to Cincinnati back in June before de-committing on Dec. 12 for unknown reasons. He has an offer from UCF and then some offers from some smaller FBS schools. Tulane did not sign a defensive end in December. If he ends up at Tulane, the high school signing class will have players from 10 states.

Here is a somewhat confusing story on him de-committing from Cincinnati.

http://www.ultimaterecruit.com/804football/immanuel-hickman-decommits-from-cincy/

Hopefully this will become an annual extension to pick 'em. Nobody is going to catch winwave, but an extra edition should be fun anyway. As always, the Tulane game counts double and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus.

Tulane (-3.5) UL Lafayette
Memphis (-5) Wake Forest
Michigan (-7.5) Florida
Clemson (-11.5) Notre Dame
Alabama (-14) Oklahoma
LSU (-7.5) UCF
Ohio State (-6.5) Washington
Georgia (-11.5) Texas