Tulane Baseball Analysis, a first-time Visit to the NCAAs, and Key Offensive Additions in Football

Welcome to our regular edition of the Green Wave Report from On SI Tulane. If you like what we produce each week, we’d appreciate it if you’d like our stories and subscribe to our YouTube channel. It helps us in knowing what you like and don’t like.

Sluggerbirds Don't in Charlotte

We begin in Charlotte, where Tulane baseball was swept in three games by the then bottom-of-the-league 49ers. With the three straight losses, the Sluggerbirds are now tied for the bottom slot in the American Conference with the team that swept them and South Florida.

On SI Analysis

I see a team collapsing in front of my eyes. If you don’t mind, I’d like to relate a story of when I was a teacher.

For over 30-years, I taught in a self-contained classroom (where I was with them essentially all day). I can count on a few fingers how many times I had a group that I could not WAIT until they were gone. We recruited and I worked with those students and could get nothing out of them that we KNEW would make things better for them, no matter what we tried. I don't mean this cruel, but in those instances, I could not wait for the school year to be over, so I could start again.

I know that, as a teacher, I was pretty good at what I did. It was that particular group, its lack of meshing together, working as a group, only looking out for their own self-interest. I don't know if this is how the staff feels about this group of baseball players, but I can tell this: the message being sent by the staff is not being received. When I was teaching, I always self-evaluated, to see what I could do to make my students more successful. I knew that, despite my efforts to help that particular group of students to succeed, I just didn’t connect that year. As those same students moved up a grade, other teachers saw the same results.

Coaching is teaching. However, what I am alluding to does not necessarily mean the staff ISN’T doing its job. What it does mean is that there seems to be a disconnect between this group of players and the staff. For some, the knee jerk reaction is to blame the coaches. As a teacher, I know that feeling. I have been blamed by parents for a student’s lack of success. However, because I was the person who had gotten the education degree, I knew I had self-examined, pushed and prodded the student, and used all the “tricks of the trade” within my power to steer him or her in the direction that my professional expertise told me would be best for the students under my care. I wasn’t always right, thus the self-examination. I also know I still bore responsibility and knocked myself for not getting it right every time.

Here are some undeniable facts:
- Tulane has a losing record under Jay Uhlman as the head coach.
- The baseball program could have 34-scholarships, the way SEC schools do and some American Conference schools do. Instead, it’s about one-third that number. We wish Harris would look at the scholarship situation for baseball.
- This year’s squad and its coaches have not been on the same page. There is fault to be had by all involved, but the yeoman’s share will always be on the shoulders of the adults, whether that’s fair or not.

There needs to be some deep self-examination by all involved in the Tulane baseball program this offseason. We do know this: if Athletics Director David Harris does not like the progress of a program, he will make a change.

Beach Volleyball to the NCAAs

The Tulane beach volleyball team's first NCAA tournament visit to Gulf Shores, Alabama ran into a buzzsaw named UCLA as the Green Wave lost 3-0 in dual matches to the long-time post-season participant and this year's national champion.

You cannot deny this scrappy bunch of athletes made a statement for both themselves and the Tulane program. We look forward to more accomplishments for Eyal Zimet and his squad in years to come.

Key Offensive Additions in Football

This is part three of our four-part examination of where the Tulane football program sits after the first Spring of Hall Ball. Week one, we talked about the quarterback room. In part two, we examined the offensive and defensive line play. Next week, we talk defensive secondary. This week, the running backs now on the Tulane roster.

On SI Analysis

This may be the deepest running back room we’ve seen at Tulane. Period. And that’s without Jamauri McClure, who is recovering both his shoulders having repairs done to them in the off season, causing him to miss Spring practice entirely. The addition of scat-back Jaylin Lucas and power runners DJ Dugar and Johnnie Daniels, plus the return of Mo Turner makes for a top-notch running back room. Remember, Turner was slated to be the starter last year before an opening game injury sidelined him for the year. If the offensive line can jell, this will be a big year for the Tulane running game.

Meanwhile, in the last two weeks of Spring, LSU transfer Destyn Hill, showed something missing from last season: a long, dynamic play-maker at wide out. Fat, as he is known, made catch after catch, displaying incredible cutting ability and movement. Hill is strong, fast, and can make plays that smaller wide outs cannot. It didn’t start that way, as Fat went through a multi-week adjustment period. Things changed drastically in the final weeks of practice. Look for #2 to make a dramatic impact at the wide receiver position.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our regular edition of the Green Wave Report. We’ll be back next Monday at 4:00 CDT.

Add us as a preferred source on Google