You'll find rankings for Tulane's recruiting class much closer to the bottom of any list than the top, but coach Bob Toledo thinks that his emphasis on recruiting hometown New Orleans players is a big plus.

Seven of the 11 signees from in-state attended Crescent City high schools.

"I think that it is really positive," Toledo said. "One of the things we set out to do was recruit more Louisiana kids, particularly kids from the New Orleans area.

"Jason Rollins, our coach that recruited this area, did a fantastic job."

The Green Wave had only 22 slots for newcomers to get to the NCAA roster limit of 85 players and did come up short in one area.

"I would have loved to get more offensive linemen," Toledo said, "because, what happened was, we had Hunter Howden, who was declared medically unable to play anymore due to a concussion. He played as a freshman a year ago. We redshirted him this year and the doctor said no.

"It looks like Ian Wiggins, with a concussion last year, appears that he might not make it, and I dismissed one player from the team. So that's guys we're down right there."

The Wave ended up with two interior linemen in the class, Nate Skoid from Omaha, Neb., and Arturo Uzdavinis from Thonotossa, Fla., after losing a third candidate at the last minute.

"We wanted to get three or four and ended up with two, in the end," Toledo said. "We don't have a lot of depth or as much depth as I would like."

TOP OF THE CLASS

WR Justyn Shackleford (Berkmar High, Suwanee, Ga.) -- Tulane has a definite need at the position, and Shackleford could fill that role. He got a three-star rating from Rivals.com, highest among Tulane's three signees at the position, after catching 55 passes his senior year at Berkmar.

RB Robert Kelley (Perry Walker High, New Orleans) -- His power running could be a nice complement to returning starter Orleans Darkwa. He's reliable and durable. He had 404 carries for 2,347 yards in his career.

WR Marc Edwards (St. Augustine High, New Orleans) -- Again, Tulane's need at the position should garner him an early look. Scout.com rated him a three-star prospect.

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