Former Tulane Green Wave Football Star Makes Top 100 Transfer List

The Tulane Green Wave football team lost a Top 100 player nationally when this defensive star opted to leave for the Big Ten.

Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Deion Burks (6) is brought down by Tulane Green Wave defensive back Lu Tillery (10) and Tulane Green Wave defensive end Parker Petersen (98) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Tulane Green Wave at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tulane Green Wave football team realizes that in this transfer portal era, they are likely to lose some quality talent.

After last season, that included defensive lineman Parker Petersen, who spent four seasons with the Green Wave.

In December, he announced he was transferring to Wisconsin for his final season. Earlier this week, he was rated as a Top 100 transfer by 247Sports.

The site, which ranked every transfer across the country to come up with its Top 100, had Petersen at No. 88. He was the only outgoing Tulane player on the list, and no incoming Green Wave transfer made the list.

The 6-4 defender had a hard time finding playing time consistently until last season, when he played in Tulane’s first 13 games before opting out of the Gasparilla Bowl.

He finished with 21 total tackles (14 solo, seven assists) with 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also recovered a fumble.

In evaluating Petersen, the site noted that he was “a quick-twitch mover with violent hands.” The Badgers are looking for help on their front seven after they went 5-7 and failed to go to a bowl game under coach Luke Fickell.

Petersen played in four games with the Green Wave in 2023. Before that, he played in three games in 2022 and didn’t play in any game action in 2021.

The Nashville, Tenn., product joined Tulane out of Father Ryan High School, where he was considered a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 41 player in Tennessee. He was also a high school wrestler and a two-time state finalist.

While with the Green Wave, he was a part of three teams that won or reached the American Athletic Conference championship game, including the 2022 team. That season, the Green Wave defeated UCF in the title game, claimed the Group of 5 berth in the New Year’s Six bowl games and then defeated USC in the Cotton Bowl.  

This past season saw the Green Wave finish 9-5 in their first season under coach Jon Sumrall, who was hired away from Troy to replace Willie Fritz after he took the job at Houston. Sumrall led Tulane to the AAC title game, where it lost to Army West Point. Along the way, the Green Wave were ranked in the AP Top 25 and the College Football Playoff Top 25 during the season.