Despite low projections, Tulane men’s basketball coach Ron Hunter is guardedly optimistic about his rebuilt roster because it has something his previous teams lacked — a bona fide point guard.
Not just one, but two.
Georgetown transfer Rowan Brumbaugh, who averaged 8.3 points and 2.6 assists while starting 20 times for the Hoyas after redshirting as a freshman at Texas, handed out four assists with one turnover in Tulane’s 86-66 exhibition win against Spring Hill College.
His backup, freshman KJ Greene of Atlanta, had four assists with no turnovers.
“I’ve really been here without a true point guard the entire time,” said Hunter, entering his sixth year with the Green Wave. “Now we have two big-time point guards, and it makes it so much easier for the other guys.”
Brumbaugh, in particular, could be the stabilizing force on a team with no returning starters and eight scholarship newcomers. Four of the newcomers, including Greene at No. 92 according to ESPN.com, were ranked among the nation’s top 100 prospects by at least one recruiting site coming out of high school.
Brumbaugh’s No. 72 rating from Rivals.com in 2023 was the highest.
“He’s good, he’s really good,” Hunter said. “We haven’t had a point guard like that since I’ve been here.”
When St. John’s transfer Kolby King (now at Butler) did not pan out at the point a year ago, Tulane tried to get by with Sion James and forward Kevin Cross as the primary ballhandlers and distributors. Although Cross become the first NCAA player in 16 years to register back-to-back triple-doubles against Division I competition and James was good enough to transfer to Duke for his final season, neither was well suited to the role as the offense stagnated for long stretches.
Cross committed 89 turnovers and had a team-high 138 assists. James took care of the ball better but averaged almost the same number of assists (2.7) as Brumbaugh while logging 15 more minutes per game.
“It’s like playing football without having a quarterback,” Hunter said. “They were out of position.”
Brumbaugh said he chose Tulane in part because the entire coaching staff visited him two days after he entered the portal and hit it off with him right away. He also considered the Wave’s playing style a good fit for his game.
He said he likes what he has seen from his teammates thus far.
“It’s been really smooth,” he said. “We’re all around the same age, so we don’t have to force our relationships. The coaches have been great. New Orleans is a great city, so I’ve enjoyed it.”
The question is whether a team with no seniors and only 213 returning points will be ready for prime time. Newcomers accounted for 55 of Tulane’s 86 points in the exhibition, although holdover sophomore forward Gregg Glennwas the high scorer with 20.
Talent is not the issue. Mari Jordan, a 6-foot-5 guard who redshirted at Georgia last year because of multiple minor injuries, was ranked the No. 84 national prospect out of high school by ESPN.com. Indiana transfer Kaleb Banks, a 6-8 junior forward, was rated 84th by 247Sports and 78th by ESPN.com before struggling for playing time in two years with the Hoosiers. Glenn was the No. 90 prospect according to Rivals.com when he signed with Michigan in 2022-23. Hunter raves about 6-7 freshman wing Kam Williams, a Lafayette Christian Academy graduate whom ESPN.com rated 4 stars.
The question is how quickly a thrown-together group can coalesce. Hunter’s matchup defense that combines zone and man-to-man principles is notoriously difficult to pick up right away.
His fellow coaches seem to think the process will be difficult, picking Tulane to tie for 11th with UTSA in the 13-team American Athletic Conference after Hunter’s veteran team finished in a five-way tie for last a year ago.
“If we have collective buy-in defensively, we can be really good in this conference and surprise a lot of people,” Brumbaugh said. “I have to be a better defender for one. We’re really talented offensively. We can say how we’re going to be this year and all that, but we’ve just got to go do it at the end of the day.”
The ever-confident Hunter was bullish on their potential after watching them hold Spring Hill to 33.3% shooting.
“We have some talented guys,” he said. “I’m having fun coaching them. I still haven’t settled on a rotation yet, but I think it’s going to be a great year for us.”