Tulane’s Kevin Cross wins December Athlete of the Month honor

Back-to-Back Triple-Doubles Highlight Sensational Month for Hoopster

NEW ORLEANS (January 18, 2024) – Kevin Cross, a 6-8 senior forward for the Tulane men’s basketball team, has been selected as the Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month for December. Monthly award-winners are selected by the Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Cross is the first Green Wave men’s basketball player to earn the honor since Kendall Timmons in December of 2010.

Cross made history as only the eighth player in Division I men’s basketball history to post back-to-back triple-doubles. Cross had 25 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in a double-overtime win over Furman (Dec. 14) for the first triple-double by a Tulane player since 1996. Less than 48 hours later, the senior backed that up with a 20-point, 10-rebound, 11-assist effort against Southern (Dec. 16). The performance earned Cross three different National Player of the Week awards (USBWA, Associated Press, ESPN) along with honors from the American Athletic Conference and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. In five games during December, Cross averaged 13.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game as Tulane posted a 3-2 record.

The Green Wave is currently 11-6 overall. It hosts Memphis this Sunday at 12 p.m. at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

The senior star was selected for the honor over two other local college basketball stars and a high school football standout:

• Taylor Dewitt averaged 17.4 points, 7.4 rebounds in five games and shot 57.7 percent from the floor and 71.1 percent from the line for the Xavier University of Louisiana women’s basketball team. A graduate student from Mansfield, La., Dewitt posted a pair of double-doubles, including a season-high 24 points with 10 boards against Keiser. She also helped XULA enter Christmas with an unbeaten record (7-0) for the first time since the 1980-81 season. Dewitt is a clinical mental health counseling major in XULA’s graduate school and posted a perfect 4.0 GPA during the fall semester.

• Jordan “Popi” Johnson has been a high-scoring sharpshooter for the UNO men’s basketball team this season. A senior shooting guard, the 6-1, 170-pounder averaged 19.5 points per outing in six December games. His high-water marks for the month included a 28-point effort against San Francisco (12/11), 24 points against San Jose State (12/9) and 29 points against Belhaven (12/5). He also added six assists against San Jose State and seven assists against Belhaven. Johnson currently (through Jan. 18) ranks fifth in the nation and No. 1 in the Southland Conference with 22.4 points per game.

• Brayden Williams completed 19-of-28 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns and rushed 25 times for 174 yards and three touchdowns as he led St. James to the LHSAA Non-Select Division III state championship game. In the semifinals, Williams completed 10-of-14 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown and rushed 10 times for 79 yards and a score in a 28-17 win over Sterlington. In the championship game, Williams rushed 15 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns and completed 9-of-14 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns in a 36-35 loss to Union Parish as he was named the Greater New Orleans Quarterback Club Player of the Week.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee has been selecting an Amateur Athlete of the Month each month since 1957. The athlete must be a native of the greater New Orleans area or must compete for a team in the metropolitan region in order to be eligible.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 107 Hall of Fame players, 52 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 90-year history. The 91st Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Quarterfinal, is scheduled to be played on January 1, 2025. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting nearly $2.4 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.