Three Tulane Green Wave Football Stars Selected as All-Americans
Three Tulane Green Wave football players were named to Phil Steele’s 2024 all-America team, including defensive back Rayshawn Pleasant, who was selected to the third team.
Defensive lineman Patrick Jenkins and offensive lineman Derrick Graham were both named honorable mention.
It’s the just the latest group of awards for the trio this season. Pleasant was named second-team America Athletic Conference as a return specialist, while Graham and Jenkins were selected to the first team.
Pleasant was part of a group that led the nation in non-offensive touchdowns with eight. He led the nation in kickoff returns for a touchdown, as he took a pair of returns to the house. He also returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown in the season opener.
He returned 13 kickoffs for an average of 34.5 yards per return. Without playing a bit of offense, he was 10th on the team in scoring with 18 points and fourth on the team with 449 all-purpose yards.
On defense he finished with 35 tackles, including a tackle for loss, and a fumble recovery. He started all 13 games.
Jenkins has been one of Tulane’s top defenders the past three seasons. The senior lineman finished the season with 30 tackles, including a season-high seven against Army West Point in the AAC title game. He also had 6.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and two pass break-ups. He started all but one game this season.
Graham helped pave the way for one of the best running games in the country, as the Green Wave were among the Top 10 rushing teams most of the season. Tulane was one of eight teams to average 200 yards rushing and passing.
The left tackle, a redshirt junior, started in all but one game.
The Green Wave went 9-5 in their first season under coach Jon Sumrall, as they finished second in the American Athletic Conference and qualified for the league championship game for the third straight year.
Tulane lost to Army in the AAC title game and went to the Gasparilla Bowl, where they wrapped up their season with a 33-8 loss to Florida.
Tulane has already seen three key pieces of their offense go into the transfer portal. Quarterback Darian Mensah has transferred to Duke, while running back Makhi Hughes and tight end Alex Bauman are looking at other schools.
The Green Wave are set to open the 2025 season at home against Northwestern on Aug. 30.
