New Tulane football coach Jon Sumrall did not need much time to find a touted quarterback out of the transfer portal.
Ty Thompson, a five-star recruit out of high school who was rated the No. 10 overall prospect in the nation by Rivals.com in 2021, posted his commitment to the Green Wave on the social media platform X on Friday after spending three years at Oregon. Tulane beat out numerous Power Five schools who wanted him.
The 6-foot-4 Thompson, from Gilbert, Arizona, backed up then-senior Anthony Brown as a freshman when the Ducks reached the Pac-12 championship game and played behind Auburn transfer Bo Nix the past two seasons, completing 42 of 66 passes for 456 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions while appearing in 17 games. Nix threw for 8,101 yards and 74 touchdowns at Oregon, finishing third in the Heisman Trophy voting this year.
With Nix out of eligibility, Oregon added accomplished Oklahoma transfer Dillon Gabriel, prompting Thompson’s decision to leave. He was the highest rated quarterback signee in Oregon history and will be the highest ranked prospect since the advent of recruiting websites to join Tulane.
The only other former five-star recruit to play for the Wave was LSU graduate transfer defensive tackle Chris Davenport in 2013.
Tulane will have to replace four-year starter and school career passing leader Michael Pratt in Sumrall’s first season. Thompson joins third-year returning quarterback Kai Horton, who entered the transfer portal soon after the Wave’s AAC championship game loss to SMU but announced he was staying at Tulane earlier this week after starting in the Military Bowl.
Freshman Darian Mensah, who showed promise in practice but did not play this year, also is on the roster. Country Day product Justin Ibieta, who was part of the same signing class as Pratt, has an uncertain future after he suffered a serious leg injury in the Military Bowl — his third major setback in three years after he tore a labrum in 2021 and 2022.