It has been a difficult week for Tulanians, as both the football and men’s basketball teams were unable to get in the win column. However, as the football team prepares for a conference championship matchup with United States Military Academy this weekend after another fantastic season, the men’s basketball team is headed in the wrong direction. While men’s basketball head coach Ron Hunter brought in a slew of Power Five talent through the transfer portal this offseason, it was no secret it would be an uphill climb for him to build a contender without a single starter returning from an already disappointing season last year.  

That climb has already proven to be just as difficult as anticipated, if not more so, as the Green Wave find themselves below .500, having lost four consecutive games and five of their past six. To make matters worse, Tulane University still has not faced a single Power Five opponent, and their four wins have come from a non-Division I National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics opponent and three low-major schools with a combined record of five wins and 21 losses so far this season. The icing on the cake of this nightmarish start is that two of their five losses have come against in-state foes University of New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana University. UNO is 2-5 with a first-year head coach in Stacy Hollowell, who previously coached across the street from Tulane’s campus at Loyola University New Orleans. Southeastern Louisiana is 4-4 with a name, image and likeness budget that is a fraction of Tulane’s. 

It was fair to speculate that Hunter was entering this season on thin ice, coming off a 14-17 season a year ago and a tied-for-last-place finish in conference play at 5-13, especially considering the lofty expectations of a veteran team five years in the making. But now his seat seems to be red hot as the young team he assembled for this season appears to have the program going in reverse.  

While the Green Wave certainly hasn’t passed the eye test, the stats may be even more concerning. Hunter’s squad is currently number 276 out of 364 Division I programs in the NET rankings, tied for 226th in points per game and 107th in team defensive efficiency, which looks promising until you remember who they’ve played — and beaten — so far. 

From a complete roster rebuild, you can make the case that only three players have lived up to their preseason billing. Forward Kaleb Banks, who transferred in from Indiana University this offseason, has been impressive all season, leading the team in points per game at 16.5, rebounds per game at 8.3 and 3-point field goal percentage at 48.3%. Georgetown University transfer point guard Rowan Brumbaugh has been a key contributor as well, chipping in 13.1 points and 5.0 assists per game. The biggest surprise this season has easily been freshman Kam Williams, who was arguably the best in-state prospect in the high school class of 2024 but was largely overshadowed by bigger-named newcomers coming into the season. Williams is already playing the second-most number of minutes, just behind Banks, at 31.3 minutes per game, and is averaging over 10 points per game and shooting nearly 40% from 3-point range. 

A glaring issue with this team, however, is the lack of production from their returners. With the emergence of the transfer portal in recent years, players are on the move more than ever before, but minimizing turnover remains the most critical aspect of building a winning culture. Hunter lost long-tenured stars Kevin Cross, Jaylen Forbes and Sion James, with Cross and Forbes running out of eligibility and James transferring to basketball powerhouse Duke University. This left Hunter with Gregg Glenn III and Asher Woods as his two most important returners. The pair combined for only one start last season, with Woods averaging 2.4 points per game and Glenn averaging 3.6. While both players have made sizable jumps in production this season, neither of them will make nearly the impact Hunter needs to replicate the production he had from his veterans in previous years. 

The scary part about this team’s situation is what’s ahead of them. A tough road matchup against a talented 6-3 George Mason University team is next on the docket, to which the Green Wave has lost two consecutive times in 2022 and 2023. A week after that, they head to Sunrise, Florida for a neutral-site game against 7-2 Florida State University, their first and only Power Five opponent on their schedule, whose only two losses have come against Florida and Louisiana State University in the Southeastern Conference. To cap it off, conference play starts this month with a Charlotte New Year’s Eve trip to face off against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers. There is a very real possibility that Tulane enters conference play with a losing record, and without a win over a Division I team with a winning record. 

Hunter might need a miracle to turn this season around. His team lacks college basketball playing experience, depth, leadership and an identity. They are — or should be — desperate for a quality win, not only to save their season but to save the program from an entire rebuild, with their fate in the hands of director of athletics David Harris.