Tulane QB Analysis, Baseball Falls, Basketball Loses Two More to the Portal, and a Contract Extension
This week on The Green Wave Report: the first part of our analysis of the Spring Football scrimmage, and we waste no time, talking quarterback; a look at Tulane baseball as it falls in a key series in Boca Raton; more basketball transfer activity in Uptown; and beach volleyball extends its coach’s contract.
The Green Wave Report is a weekly rundown of stories we've put together, analysis of what went on, and what you can expect later in the week from On SI Tulane, part of the Sports Illustrated Network. 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. In the meantime, the video version of this report can be seen here.
Spring Football Wraps Up
We begin with Will Hall finishing up his first Spring Football practice sessions this past Saturday with a scrimmage laced with practice drills. A crowd of almost 2-thousand were in the East stands of Yulman Stadium to enjoy some big hits and big plays on both sides of the ball, and a drill called “red zone lockout” that thrilled fans, coaches, and players combined.
Over the next four weeks, we’ll be giving our thoughts during our regular, Monday edition of The Green Wave Report on specific areas of interest and concern as Hall Ball takes shape. We begin with the one that has the biggest impact: quarterback.
The Quarterback Competition
Last year at this time, the current Florida Gators coach Jon Sumrall was not happy with his quarterback situation. The former Tulane head coach had looked in the transfer portal and come up empty. It took ex-BYU QB Jake Retzlaff's fall from grace in Provo, Utah for the Green Wave to luck into the kind of starter that made Sumrall and his staff smile. Retzlaff was not the perfect solution. He could run with the best of them, but he didn’t have the accuracy required for the pro-style attack Tulane runs.
This year is different. Will Hall and his staff say they like the quarterback room they have. For over half of the Spring, Kaden Semonza and Zeon Chriss-Gremillion were the announced leaders for the starting spot. Now that Spring practice is done, it doesn’t feel like a two-man competition any more. Neither Semonza nor Chriss-Gremillion have set themselves apart from each other. In fact, some of the rest of the QB room has caught up to them.
On SI Tulane Analysis: The Quarterback Room
At the beginning of Spring, true freshman Trace Johnson revealed plenty of promise as he showed the ability to scan the field, going through progressions rapidly. However, Johnson also showed his age, or lack thereof, making “rookie” mistakes as the Spring wore on, while others around him grew at a more rapid rate. Especially Dagan Bruno.
The redshirt sophomore has shown growth both as a passer and a decision-maker. Bruno has continuously received the praise of his head coach, enough for Will Hall to say the John Curtis product will be part of the quarterback equation this Fall, something not said earlier this Spring.
During his part of the 30-minute scrimmage, the John Curtis product marched the Tulane offense down the field, going 4-for-4 passing and tossing a 35-yard touchdown for the first score of the day.
If Bruno continues to improve at the rate he did this Spring, we would not be surprised to see him battling for the starting spot in the Fall.
Baseball Loses Series to FAU
Tulane baseball was a no show on Friday night’s opener at Florida Atlantic, falling 11-3. Hitting just didn’t happen at the right time and Green Wave pitching couldn’t stop the bleeding, giving up a dozen hits and walking nine. Things started just as badly on Saturday, as FAU opened a 10-2 lead before the Wave made a game of it, getting a solo homer in the eighth and scoring six runs in the top of the ninth before coming up a run short with the tying run at second. Sunday’s game had the Sluggerbirds live up to their name, building a 5-nothing lead, allowing the Owls to get close, then piling on six runs in the top of the ninth again to run away with a 12-4 rout.
On SI Tulane Analysis: Jekyll or Hyde
If Jay Uhlman had any hair on his short-shorn head, he would have probably pulled it all out by now. Is the true Tulane team the one that showed up the previous two weekends and took two out of three from the likes of East Carolina and Wichita State, or is it this weekend’s version that couldn’t get its hitting timed just right or its pitching in sync for the most part against FAU?
We continue to believe breakfast is still the most important meal of the day and that a good weekend starts with your team’s efforts on Friday. And for most of this year, that has meant Trey Cehajic on the mound. The 6’ 8” graduate righty has not shown consistency in the lead pitching role for almost two months now. Plus former Sunday starter, moved to Saturday starter Jack Frankel has not been on the mound in almost a month due to injury, and loads of other injuries to the pitching staff, and arms are hard to be had.
The hitting is there. Sort of...as shown on Sunday. But when your former leadoff hitter and 2nd batter in the lineup are batting .141 and .140 respectively in American Conference games, something is not right.
This is not a judgement at all of Jay Uhlman as a coach. Having key components like Kaikea Harrison, Tanner Chun, Jason Wachs, Nate Johnson, Matthias Haas, and Hugh Pinkney return to the lineup is huge. Then, adding quality players like Trent Liolios, Johnny Elliott, Nolan Nawrocky, Tye Wood should make a pretty solid backbone. Instead, Tulane is second from the bottom in the American in overall batting average.
And things don’t get any easier, as the Green Wave will be in Hattiesburg Tuesday against nationally ranked Southern Miss, then host what we believe is the best team in the American Conference this weekend, UTSA.
If there are any answers to the Jekyll and Hyde performances by Tulane, Uhlman doesn’t have a lot of time to find them with just four weekends to figure things out.
Two More Greenies Enter the Portal
The Tulane basketball programs have not announced any additions to their squads during the two-week stretch of the NCAA transfer portal. However, two more from the men’s program left the nest last week: guards Luke Rasmussen and Asher Woods have entered the portal.
Beach Volleyball Coach Head Coach's Contract Extended
Tulane Athletics Director David Harris extended the contract of beach volleyball head coach Eyal Zimet through the 2029-30 academic year. The team has been one of the top programs in the South since Zimet’s arrival in 2019, including this year’s 22-and-13 record. The beach volleyball team will be competing in the Conference USA tournament at Sugar Beach in Youngsville, Louisiana, a suburb of Lafayette. The first match for the 5th seeded Wave is against 4th seed South Florida this Thursday, April 23rd.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our regular edition of the Green Wave Report. Each Monday we give you our analysis of what’s going on in Tulane athletics. Unless there is some breaking news during the week, we’ll see you back here next Monday at 4:00 CDT.
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Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.