Facilities are great, but Tulane athletics need more

    The level of anxiety from Tulane fans amped up substantially when the school’s two most talented players left the basketball program.
    At a press conference three days after the school announced that forward Josh Davis and guard Ricky Tarrant were among six players asking for their release, Coach Ed Conroy tried to portray a ray of sunshine.
    But, the departures, especially that of Tarrant’s, was devastating.
    Post-Katrina, the Tulane administration has poured millions into a new baseball stadium, a new basketball practice facility and a renovated field house, and the on-campus football stadium is currently under construction.
    Also, during that time, the school’s coaches have had an increasingly difficult time attracting and, in the case of Conroy, retaining athletes who possess the talent to make a dent in an average league (Conference USA).
    Tulane’s last selection in an NBA draft was Jerald Honeycutt by the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round in 1997. Free agent Linton Johnson did piece together a solid NBA career. He played for six different NBA teams from 2003-09.
    In football, Tulane has had six players drafted since quarterback Patrick Ramsey was selected in the first round by the Washington Redskins in 2002. Only one was a lineman, offensive tackle Troy Kropog. He was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round in 2009.
    Tulane’s 2005 Conference USA champions included Brian Bogusevic, Mark Hamilton, Tommy Manzella and Micah Owings. All four have played major league baseball. But the Wave has yet to a host a baseball regional in the brand new Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.
Meantime, in Baton Rouge, the LSU baseball team was off to a 30-2 start by the end of last week. This is happening despite two of the club’s top returners, JaCoby Jones and Ty Ross, not hitting. Jones got hot recently to raise his average to a modest .239. Ross was hitting .204 at week’s end. But, an infusion of new talent has carried the Tigers.
    Freshman shortstop Alex Bregman was batting .441 with 60 hits in 32 games. He had 10 doubles, five triples and three home runs. Freshman Mark Laird was hitting .320 and has not made an error in the outfield. Junior college third baseman Christian Ibarra was hitting .343. Of LSU’s five players hitting .320 or better, only two, Mason Katz and Raph Rhymes, are returners.
    By the way, the new LSU Alex Box Stadium opened in 2009. That season, LSU went to Omaha and won the College World Series. They haven’t been back since.
    So, as construction continues on the new football stadium, as basketball tries to regroup from a disastrous week, and Tulane fans grumble about head coach Rick Jones and the baseball team, the years go by without any significant postseason accomplishment.
    So, do facilities win? Or, is it something else?
    Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at edaniels@clarionherald.org.