Tulane AD: Prep games on campus important to community, recruiting

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane will host its first high school football game in nearly 40 years on its campus Friday night, and if Green Wave athletic director Troy Dannen has his way, that will become the rule rather than the exception going forward.

“We hosted 30 high school football games (a year) at Northern Iowa,” Dannen, referring to his last stop as AD, said Tuesday at the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation Quarterback Club meeting at Rock ‘n’ Bowl. “I know what it does for getting kids on our campus.

“One, there’s a community service piece. Secondly, I want kids here to aspire to play at Tulane.”

St. Augustine meets De La Salle Friday night at Yulman Stadium, the first game on the uptown university’s campus since old Tulane Stadium was torn down in 1980.

While Dannen could not officially confirm the news, a second prep game will be played at Yulman next month when Jesuit meets Archbishop Rummel.

Dannen believes the football games are an important part of the recruiting process in football.

“We have everything going for us at Tulane … except history,” Dannen said. “Anything that happened before the year 2000 is irrelevant as far as recruiting is concerned.”