Tulane Football 2017 Position Preview: Tight Ends

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane football held a two-hour practice Thursday morning at Yulman Stadium, as the Green Wave prepare for the 2017 season opener against Grambling State on Saturday, Sept. 2.

As the 2017 season approaches, with just nine days to kickoff, the units are rounding into shape, and previews of each position will follow on TulaneGreenWave.com. Today: tight ends.

The Green Wave return to the practice field Friday morning for a workout at Yulman Stadium. Practices are closed to the public.

Tight Ends
Tulane returns a pair of veterans at tight end, with a combined 50 games and 29 starts between them, in fourth-year juniors Charles Jones II (pictured) and Kendall Ardoin, and are integrating a pair of position newcomers in junior Andrew Hicks and freshman Will Wallace.

Jones (New Orleans) is on the John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List, for the award given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end. He has played in 28 career games with 12 starts, collecting 38 receptions for 323 yards and six touchdowns. He is bouncing back from missing eight games last season due to an injury.

Ardoin (Ville Platte, La.), meanwhile, has seen action in 22 games with 17 starts, hauling in 10 catches for 132 yards and three scores. He started nine of the 10 games he played last year, and tallied four catches for 80 yards and a touchdown.

“We have two really good tight ends in Charles Jones and Kendall Ardoin,” head coach Willie Fritz said. “There are a couple of other guys that are in the fold, in Will Wallace, a true freshman, and Andrew Hicks, who played receiver, but has put on some weight and will play tight end. One of those guys have to step up and be able to do the job for us at tight end.”

Hicks (Belle Chasse, La.) spent his first two years at wide receiver, but has moved to tight end for the fall. He appeared in 11 contests as a freshman, catching two passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. Wallace (Natchez, Miss.), a four-year letterman at Cathedral High School, looks to contribute at the position as well.

“Charles Jones and Kendall Ardoin have experience in college football, and both have been in the program and understand what’s expected of them,” tight ends coach Slade Nagle said. “They’re doing a really good job. Andrew Hicks is a guy that’s been here a couple of years, and is doing a good job. Our freshman, Will Wallace, has come in and picked things up, and really impressed us in some areas in this camp.”

Season tickets, mini-plans and single game tickets are on sale now, and can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging onto TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center. Season tickets that includes all six home games during the 2017 season start as low as $200 for a single book and $300 for a family four-pack. Mini plans include the 3^rd & Goal package for $75 and the Homecoming & Lagniappe package for $65. Seats are available in locations throughout Yulman Stadium.

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