Wideout Achieves Milestone to Earn Tulane On SI's Offensive Player of the Week
All it took was one reception to find pay-dirt for his first touchdown of the season in the Tulane Green Wave's dominant 52-6 victory over Temple on homecoming Saturday in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In his first action of the 2024 season, sophomore wideout Shazz Preston hauled in a pass from freshman quarterback Darian Mensah for a 53-yard touchdown and his first score in the Olive and Blue.
The emotions poured out as Preston celebrated that moment with head coach Jon Sumrall. That touchdown scored by the sophomore was months of hard work and battling through adversity paying off.
"Very happy for Shazz. (He) had an extremely long lay-off after he came off the injury this summer and hasn't been in the action a ton," Sumrall said. "For him to get that catch today and score a touchdown, just so pleased and happy for the young man.
It was a homecoming indeed for the Louisiana native. With only one hour and eight minutes separating Preston's hometown from Tulane's campus, he is right at home with the Green Wave.
Before coming to Tulane, Preston was rated as a top-five recruit by many national outlets coming out of high school. As the No. 5 athlete in the state, Preston took his talent to Alabama to play for legendary head coach Nick Saban.
Preston appeared in 10 games on special teams and at wideout for the Crimson Tide in 2022 and 2023. After providing depth for a solid Alabama wide receiving corps, Preston decided to return to his home state and play for the Green Wave under Sumrall.
It was not an easy road back to the gridiron for Preston, however. The speedy wideout was forced to battle through the adversity of an injury throughout much of the summer, which lingered into the first few weeks of his sophomore season with the Green Wave.
After weeks of hard work and recovery, Preston is back and wasted no time solidifying himself as a difference-maker in Tulane's wide receiving corps with an impressive receiving touchdown against the Owls on Saturday. Preston retrieved the ball out of the air and made several defenders miss on his way to his first reception and score of his collegiate career.
"He transferred here but he hasn't really played a lot. This is his first college game action this year, his first catch, his first touchdown and all these things," Sumrall said. "(I'm) very proud of his success and happy for him to get that and he's got to keep growing. We need a lot of those guys in that room to step up."
