New Orleans knows the name of junior guard Louis Dabney and it’s not just because of his remarkable scoring capacity. Born and raised in the Big Easy, Dabney shares a special bond with the city.

Though quiet, Dabney is hard working and intensely passionate about basketball. Dabney is determined not to only give his school but his city something to be proud of. 

“I love getting to play in my city,” Dabney said. “A lot of people don’t realize [it] but I have the whole New Orleans behind me, even though our games might not show it at times. I can go anywhere and people will be like ‘what’s up No. 0’ and shake my hand. The city loves me and I love playing for the city.”

More than he likes playing for his city, Dabney loves winning for his city. Even as Dabney nears the end of his junior season and has a potential professional playing career is in sight, he is still committed to winning at Tulane.

“I just want to win next year, just like I want to win right now,” Dabney said. “That’s the only thing. I don’t need any special accolades. I just want to win. That’s the bottom line.”

For this talented team stacked with guards and promising big players, winning is well within the Wave’s capabilities. Dabney leads the Wave with an average of 13.8 points per game, which places him No. 6 for top scorers in the American Athletic Conference. Dabney’s scoring power, coupled with sophomore guard Jonathan Stark’s passing ability, allows the Wave to aggressively create opportunities on offense. Stark is No. 3 in the AAC for overall assists with an average of 4.3 assists per game.

“It’s great having Stark because I know that I don’t have to have the ball in my hands all the time to get something to happen,” Dabney said. “I know that he can break the defense down and find me. We have a great chemistry and just playing with a guy like that makes the game a lot easier.”

Dabney has the same kind of confidence for his whole team and credits freshman guard Keith Pinckney and sophomore forward Payton Henson as important players off the bench.

“I feel like those two bring a real spark of energy,” Dabney said. “Even though [Henson] hasn’t been shooting the ball well, when he’s playing he can be a very dynamic player.”

As the Wave demonstrated at the beginning of the season, when it started 13-5 and sat third in the conference, it has the talent and ability to win. The majority of its conference play, however, has been marked by close losses and scoring woes.

Dabney, however, manages to remain untouched by the team’s shooting slump. Dabney scored a career-high 32 points in a 76-55 loss against Tulsa. Dabney’s confidence in himself and his team remains high and he firmly believes the recent shooting woes is bad luck, rather than poor decisions or careless errors.

“We’re getting open shots, it’s just guys aren’t knocking them down,” Dabney said. “Soon [shots are] going to start falling through. We work too hard in practice every day [for the shots not to fall through].”

Dabney and the Wave look to close out this season on a positive note in the AAC tournament March 12-15 in Hartford, Connecticut.