January 11, 2025
Devlin Fieldhouse (Capacity: 4,000)
New Orleans, LA
Tulane Green Wave vs South Florida Bulls
Final Score: 73 – 70
.
A work conference brought me to New Orleans, where one of the city’s winter teams was playing at home during my weekend visit. It’s hard to sum up New Orleans in a few sentences as this American treasure in Southeast Louisiana sits both majestically and tragically in an area below sea level between the curving Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. Influences from France, Spain, Africa and the Caribbean combine to make this arguably the country’s most unique city. At times it may feel like one giant, crazy party, but there’s so much more to The Big Easy. While New Orleans has largely recovered from Hurricane Katrina, it will never fully recover and most noteworthy is the population of 370,000 is 25% of what it was pre-Katrina. New Orleans has certainly changed from the storm, but the unique music, food and entertainment still defines The Crescent City. Tulane University is the most familiar college in the city. This private school of 14,000 is highly respected with history that matches it’s surroundings as the Law and Medical program date back to the mid-1800s. Tulane is a place known to “Work Hard, Party Hard”. The basketball team and that beautiful Olive Green and Sky Blue color combination play in historic Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse. As of this writing, Tulane’s arena is the 9th oldest to host D1 Basketball (soon to be 8th after Matthews Arena in Boston disappears) having opened in 1933. Basketball at Tulane is one of the few sports that doesn’t often do well. Their only NCAA Tournament appearances came all the way back in 1992, 1993 and 1995. The Green Wave have posted a winning record just 4 times in the last 20 seasons. The year I came to see them was one of their best in a long time (18-13, 12-6). Watching a game at Devlin is an incredibly intimate and close-up experience for this level of basketball.
Prestige Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Location
Tulane is located Uptown, more specifically in the Audobon neighborhood. This safe section of the city contains a large park and another college (Loyola), which actually sits next to Tulane. As for Audobon Park, there’s a nice walk out in front, while the Zoo and can be found further towards the River. Walking through Tulane is a treat as much of campus is on the National Register of Historic Places with a mix of huge oak trees and historic buildings. Too bad Tulane isn’t near any walkable restaurants. When in New Orleans, be sure to sample the culture, music and food that make up the city. The French Quarter and CBD is 4-5 miles away. The Garden District and Warehouse District are also worth exploring.
Location Ranking: 7 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Being located on famed St. Charles Ave, means Tulane has long been accessible by streetcar. These vintage trolleys are seemingly a good way to get to the game and that’s how I choose to arrive as it was a 30-minute ride from my hotel near the Convention Center. Things started off conspicuously as times were off on the Le Pass app that I was using to catch the trolley. There was the dreaded “significant delays”, but no info. Thankfully, it didn’t delay my arrival and it was a comfortable trip to the Tulane/Loyola station. From there, it’s a 10-minute scenic walk to reach Devlin Fieldhouse. Coming back on the streetcar was another story, I waited 35 minutes for the next one as the app showed “no live updates” and next arrival times came and went. As I debated whether to Uber, I finally saw one and got on. It was packed. Going the streetcar route seems a good idea, but reliability can be questionable. As for driving, that may not be a pleasant venture either. Despite traffic often not horrendous, road quality can be abysmal and drivers have a reputation of being difficult to share the road with, leading to high stress. Whether coming from downtown or if coming from the west, Tulane isn’t near I-10, so local roads are required. For parking, it is at least simple as there is a large garage just down the road on Freret St. and that will completely suffice for the game.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6 out of 8
Exterior
The beautiful sprawling oak trees initially obscure the non-descript basketball arena and initial impressions were that it looked like an old, middle school. This is a brick building and in the shape of a square with rectangular windows spaced across the top. Out front is a very small concrete protrusion for the box office and tiny entranceway.
Exterior Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Concourse
There is so little space in that opening atrium even though this is the place you need to be for merchandise, food or bathrooms. Two concession stands (at least with a snaking rope) bookend a small souvenir stand, while the restrooms are harder to spot. Those are only on one side, down a hallway. Very limited if there’s ever a good crowd. At least this area has a decent look with sleek colors and basketball floor panels. Doors to the inside of the arena are glass and it’s a unique arrival as all fans begin at court-level in a corner of the gym. You may even see a few players jog by you during warm-ups. At the top of the arena, there is a 360 walkway. Bathrooms would be clutch up here, but alas there is just a smaller concession stand as the lone amenity.
Concourse Ranking: 2 out of 5
Food
Choices are very limited at each stand with the only things of substance being Hot Dogs, Cheeseburgers and Sausages. I certainly was thrown for a loop as I asked for the “Creole Sausage” and they said “Ya know that’s All-a-gatuh right?”. Interesting! It tasted like a regular sausage, just with more kick and I appreciated the heads-up. For the game I attended, they had a Daily Special featuring Red Beans and Rice. Otherwise, pretty weak offerings and no pizza, fries or chicken. Beer had a couple choices.
Food Ranking: 2.5 out of 8
Interior
It’s only if you have a sharp eye in that you can tell this place has old bones. Everything else is modern and comes together for a really good basketball arena. Those older signs are just at the top of the arena as erector-set beams hide a brick wall and a wood-paneled roof. Down below is a basketball floor with extreme tight confines for seating as fans are remarkably close to the court. Each row goes up steeply making the sightlines even better. As for the design, it’s an elongated octagon shape and there are a few breakups of rows/sections by railings. Most side seats have a comfortable cushion. The ends though are bleacher-style and have a harder bench. Students sit all on one side (surprisingly not in front of the main camera) and one other random note, is be careful when exiting your row. Sometimes, there’s a step or two that can be easily tripped upon. In terms of luxury seating, there’s just a corner premium “room” where food and drinks are found as fans grab a counter top seat along the top walkway. Everything in the Devlin is a varying shade of green and that really sets some good character. Perhaps the most defining feature are the large windows that circle the arena at the top. If the sun becomes a distraction during day games, there are shades to shut it out.
Interior Ranking: 9.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
The center scoreboard is the perfect size and my favorite simple design. Just a rectangle with video screens and the picture is nicely centered by game video with stats on the sides. There’s an arena name lettering at the top. Clarity of the picture overall is good enough, I just would’ve liked to seen some replays.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
There’s a random bell centered in a wishing-well like contraption near the front entrance. With no label or signage…I had no idea what the significance of it is. Otherwise, honors are relegated to just banners from the rafters. These feature three retired numbers on the Men’s side and a listing of years for Conference Championships, NCAA Tournaments and NIT appearances. Something can be done with the interior walls as there’s lots of room to detail basketball history. Individual plaques are for those whom the building is named after.
Displays Ranking: 2 out of 6
Cost
This has got to be one of the most affordable high-major College Basketball experiences given that parking is free and tickets are either $8 or $15. Concessions are priced weirdly with a Hot Dog $5.85, Cheeseburger $7.85 and 20oz Soda $5.05.
Cost Ranking: 8 out of 8
Fan Support
I know the team often isn’t great, but support is really terrible given other factors. New Orleans is a huge city and Tulane is the biggest D-1 school in it. Yeah…I know LSU is king, but Tulane should have some pull (there’s also 13,000 students). Despite playing in a small arena, it is hardly ever full and empty seats are plentiful. The school has ranked second-to-last in the league recently with paid numbers not exceeding 2,000. The game I attended had good intangibles as it was a Saturday Afternoon and the team had a decent little start to league play. Didn’t matter as the crowd was small. Unfortunately, students were still on winter break for my game. They were back a few days later for the next home contest and there was a good turnout as they filled 60-70% of their dedicated sideline.
Fan Support Ranking: 3 out of 8
Atmosphere
Devlin is generally a chill environment and the first half didn’t feature too many people thoroughly into the game. As the Green Wave started to make a comeback, the crowd began making noise. A few stood and got the atmosphere to reasonable levels. The acoustics and closeness between seats/court can allow for the building to get really loud. Get students to pack it out for a big game and this can be a great atmosphere. There is a pep band as well.
Atmosphere Ranking: 7 out of 14
Other Stuff
Tulane was a member of the SEC from 1933 to 1965 before going Independent for a time…..The basketball program temporarily disbanded for 4 seasons in the 1980s after a point shaving scandal for money and drugs…..In 1975, President Ford made a speech in the building that included an announcement that the U.S. would end involvement in the Vietnam War…..In 2017, “The Angry Wave” made a return as the primary logo for the team……Both of the names attached to the facility came from donors that helped fund each major renovation……There are portable chargers around the top level of the arena, which is a nice feature if they actually were working.
Game
The Green Wave haven’t made the Tournament since 1995 and it was not a good start to this season, having lost to New Orleans and SE Louisiana at home. However, they were playing better going into this one and started 2-1 in The American. The game was against South Florida and it looked like they were punching above their weight class. After an early 10-point deficit, USF quickly took control and got the lead at the end of the half. I thought it was over, but Tulane showed good fight and Rowan Brumbaugh (13 pts) / Asher Woods (15 pts) led the charge as they grabbed the lead with the small crowd behind them late in the game. The key play was with 36 seconds left and USF made it 67-69 at the free throw line. They missed the next one, got the rebound and then turned the ball over. Tulane on the ensuing play, broke the press and foul attempts as Kaleb Banks all but sealed it with a dunk and a 4-point lead with 14 seconds to play.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
