Tulane awards football scholarships to Shafter, Smith and Thompson

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane football head coach Willie Fritz announced today that redshirt juniors Timothy Shafter and Matt Smith and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ryan Thompson have earned scholarships heading into the 2020 season.

Shafter made six appearances last season. He earned a spot on the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team and the Tulane 3.0 Club a year ago. The Hingham, Massachusetts, native is currently majoring in evolutionary biology with a minor in management.

Smith came to Tulane from Garden City Community College where he served as the team’s long snapper. Smith helped Garden City win the 2018 Junior College National Championship. He was rated as a four-star long snapper by Kohl’s Kicking coming out of high school. The Peachtree, Georgia, native earned All-State honors as a linebacker and a long snapper at Trinity Christian High School. Smith is currently majoring in psychology.

Thompson has appeared in five games during his career for the Green Wave. He came to Tulane from St. Louis, Missouri, where he led his high school team to the district finals his junior and senior seasons. The 6-1 wide receiver is majoring in economics.

Tulane is set to kickoff the season in Mobile, Alabama, against South Alabama on Saturday, September 12. The Green Wave are coming off a record setting 2019 campaign that was highlighted by a win in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl to give Tulane back-to-back bowl victories for the first time in program history. The Green Wave captured the AutoNation Cure Bowl in 2018.

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