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Tulane Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Green Wave

By Benjamin Zacher

Feb 16, 2020; Wichita, Kansas, USA; Tulane Green Wave guard Jordan Walker (2) drives to the basket for a lay up against Wichita State Shockers guard Tyson Etienne (1) during the second half at Charles Koch Arena. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 16, 2020; Wichita, Kansas, USA; Tulane Green Wave guard Jordan Walker (2) drives to the basket for a lay up against Wichita State Shockers guard Tyson Etienne (1) during the second half at Charles Koch Arena. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tulane Basketball
Tulane Basketball Nobal Days Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports /

Starting Lineup

During last year’s 30-game season, eight different players started for Tulane.  Five of those – Hightower, Thompson, Lawson, Nic Thomas, and Zhang – are gone.  Crucially returning for the Green Wave, however, is their floor general: Jordan Walker.

Walker played the fourth-highest amount of minutes for Tulane last season and did serviceably well in that time.  He was one of the better shooters on the team at 41%, with a 38% clip on three-pointers.  He also dished out 61 assists and pulled off 52 steals.

Walker handled most of the point guard duties last season, but he will receive some help in the backcourt from transfer Gabe Watson.  Watson was the star point guard for the University of Southern Mississippi last season, averaging a team-high 13 points and 3.4 assists per game.

Watson is used to being in the national spotlight – he averaged 16 points per game in three games against Gonzaga, Seton Hall, and Alabama, as well as scoring 20 points against Texas Tech.  With both Walker and Watson on board, expect Hunter to use both interchangeably at both the point guard and shooting guard positions.

Fellow transfer Kevin Cross will most likely get the nod at small forward.  Cross comes to Tulane after a solid freshman season at the University of Nebraska, where he appeared in all 32 games and averaged seven points in a little over 18 minutes.  Like Watson, Cross has also been thrown into the national spotlight: in Nebraska’s final game of the 2019-20 season, he scored a team-high 23 points against Indiana.

Nobal Days will be slotted as the starting power forward after serving as Lawson’s back-up last season.  At 6-9, Days is deceptive at his position – his height allowed him to record team-highs in blocks (27) and field goal shooting percentage (47%) last season, but he is also quick enough to collect steals (17) and strong enough to pull down rebounds (108, with a team-high 47 offensive boards).

The center position is the hardest to determine, but Buay Koka will probably be the choice here.  Koka has had flashes of success in his three seasons at Tulane and was well on his way to being the starting center his sophomore season before a broken finger sidelined him.  After playing just under 32 minutes last season at a position dominated by Zhang, Koka, at 7-1, should be primed to return to his starting spot.