New Tulane football coach Jon Sumrall completed his 16-member recruiting class on Friday by adding quarterback Kellen Tasby, who committed to Willie Fritz’s staff in June but did not sign Wednesday.
Tasby, from Prestonwood Christian in Plano, Texas, is a 3-star prospect according to 247Sports and had offers from Arizona and Memphis among others. He earned first-team All-State honors as a senior and completed 418 of 668 passes for 5,436 yards and 56 touchdowns over his final two years, adding 11 scores on the ground.
Prestonwood Academy advanced to the semifinals of the state playoffs this season, losing a wild game 73-62 in which Tasby threw for 425 yards and four scores.
With Michael Pratt graduating and Kai Horton and Carson Haggard in the transfer portal, Tasby will join Justin Ibieta and freshman Darian Mensah as the only quarterbacks on the roster next fall unless the Wave picks up one from the transfer portal. That option appears likely since Ibieta, who is scheduled to share time with Horton in the Military Bowl, has started only once in four years and left that game (Houston, 2022) after one series with his second torn labrum in two seasons. Mensah has not played this year.
Tulane also announced the addition of Lardarius Webb, Jr., a transfer safety from Oklahoma State who posted his commitment on X on Monday. Schools frequently do not list portal transfers among their signing classes because they are free to go anywhere until they begin attending classes in the spring semester.
Webb, the son of former Baltimore Ravens safety Lardarius Webb, Sr., played in four games at Oklahoma State this season after making 57 tackles with nine interceptions in two years at Jones Community College in Mississippi.
Hughes staying
Redshirt freshman running back Makhi Hughes confirmed he would return to Tulane next year after the Wave’s Friday morning practice.
“Most definitely I’m coming back,” he said. “It was a hard decision, but I talked to coach Sumrall and he’s a great head coach.”
Hughes rushed for an American Athletic Conference-best 1,290 yards on 243 carries (5.3 average). He still is recovering from a sprained ankle that hampered him in Tulane’s 26-14 loss to SMU in the AAC Championship Game but he has practiced all week.
“It was very frustrating with a sprained ankle, but I tried (to play against SMU) because I wanted to win a championship for my guys and my coaches,” he said. “We are working so hard to get ready for the Military Bowl, so we are excited for that.”
Chatman gone
Defensive line coach Gerald Chatman worked his last practice for Tulane on Friday and will not be with the team for the Military Bowl, interim coach Slade Nagle confirmed Friday.
Chatman accepted an offer to become defensive line coach at Florida earlier this week but stayed with the Wave through Friday’s workout. The team flies to Maryland on Saturday.
Graduate assistant Peter Hontas, the son of former Tulane quarterback Roch Hontas, will coach the defensive linemen and the linebackers in the Military Bowl.
Not ready
Wide receiver Lawrence Keys has attended every pre-bowl practice, but Nagle said he did not expect him to play the Military Bowl.
“I don’t think he’s going to be able to play,” Nagle said. “He hasn’t been able to practice. We were holding out an outside chance that he could, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to get there. It’s a shame for him. He’s such a great kid and wanted to play his last game, but he’s help us. He’s been helping us on the field coaching and all that kind of stuff.”
Keys, a redshirt senior and McDonogh 35 product in his second year at Tulane after transferring from Notre Dame, led the Wave in receptions (33) and yards (599) before missing the past three games. He still paces the team with seven touchdown catches.
With Keys not healthy, Jha’Quan Jackson opting out and Chris Brazzell in the portal. Tulane will be without its top three guys in receiving yards against Virginia Tech. Tight end Alex Bauman, who also is in the portal but elected to play, has the most catches (33) and touchdowns (five) of the remaining receivers.