Football Trio Garners Freshman All-America Honors
Dec 18, 2014 | Football
NEW ORLEANS - Following a season in which Green Wave rookies played an integral role throughout the 2014 campaign, a trio of Tulane University football standouts - running back Sherman Badie, tight end Charles Jones and cornerback Parry Nickerson - garnered Freshman All-America honors.
Nickerson earned first-team Freshman All-America honors from USA Today, claimed a spot on the Athlon Sports third-team All-Freshman squad, and garnered honorable-mention Freshman All-America recognition from College Sports Madness. Badie and Jones, meanwhile, joined Nickerson on the College Sports Madness honorable-mention listing.
The Green Wave trio become the 10th, 11th and 12th Tulane players to garner Freshman All-America honors, joining tight end Larry Route in 1983, kicker/punter Wayne Clements in 1985, offensive tackle Corey Sewell in 1998, running back Mewelde Moore in 2000, tight end Bobby Hoover in 2001, wide receiver Jeremy Williams in 2006, offensive guard Andrew Nierman in 2007, running back Orleans Darkwa in 2010 and safety Darion Monroe in 2012.
Nickerson played in all 12 games with 11 starts at cornerback and led the Green Wave with six interceptions while sitting second with six pass break-ups, tied for third with one fumble recovery and fourth with 51 tackles (40 solo, 11 assists) to go with 2.5 tackles for loss. A redshirt-freshman from nearby Terrytown, La., his six picks rank tied for seventh in Tulane single-season history and stands as the most ever by a Green Wave freshman.
The 2013 West Jefferson High School graduate ranks second in The American in interceptions per game (0.50), tied for fifth in passes defended per outing (1.00) and tied for 48th in tackles per game (4.2) while sitting tied for seventh nationally in interceptions per contest.
He tallied a career-high eight tackles (6 solo, 2 assists) at East Carolina on Nov. 22, and was named American and Louisiana Defensive Player of the week and was tabbed honorable-mention defensive back of the week by the College Sports Performance Awards after recording seven tackles (3 solo, 4 assists) and a pair of interceptions to go with half a tackle for loss at Houston on Nov. 8. He also had seven stops (6 solo, 1 assist) with a season-best two pass break-ups and a fumble recovery vs Memphis on Nov. 15.
Nickerson tallied six tackles (all solo) and a pass break-up vs UConn on Oct. 11 and had five tackles and an interception twice - 4 solo, 1 assist at Tulsa on Aug 28 and 3 solo, 2 assists at UCF on Oct. 18. He added two tackles and an interception twice vs Georgia Tech on Sept. 6 and vs Cincinnati on Oct. 31 and wrapped up the 2014 campaign with five solo stops, including a tackle for loss, and a pair of pass break-ups vs Temple on Dec. 6.
Badie, a redshirt-freshman from Metairie, La., and 2013 graduate of John Curtis Christian School, played in all 12 games with seven starts and led the team with 121 rushing attempts and 688 rushing yards while ranking second on the squad with 796 all-purpose yards and 688 yards of total offense. Despite being slowed by an ankle injury late in the season, Badie also finished tied for second with three rushing touchdowns and 24 points scored, fourth with 24 receptions, tied for fourth with a touchdown grab and ninth with 108 receiving yards.
He ranked eighth in The American with a 57.3 rushing-yards-per-game average and his 5.69 yards-per-carry average sits third in the conference and 34th nationally. Badie was named College Football Performance Awards Honorable-Mention Running Back of the Week after running for a season-high 215 yards with a 90-yard touchdown on 15 carries while hauling in two passes for another six yards at Tulsa on Aug. 28.. He added a 108-yard effort, including an 86-yard touchdown, on 12 carries while catching five passes for 39 yards at Rutgers on Sept. 27.
Badie scored a pair of touchdowns with an 11-yard run and a three-yard catch vs Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 13 - finishing the day with 80 yards on 15 carries and a pair of receptions for two yards - and ran for 77 yards on 14 carries while pulling down three passes for 17 yards vs UConn on Oct. 11.
Jones, meanwhile, had a historic season at his position and finished his true freshman campaign with 21 catches for 192 yards and three touchdowns. A native New Orleanian and 2014 graduate of St. Augustine High School, Jones saw action in all 12 games with six starts, and his reception total is the 10th most by a Tulane tight end in single-season history. In addition, his three scores are not only tied for the third most by a Green Wave tight end in a season, but also the most by a rookie at the position in school history.
He had a season-high three receptions on three occasions with a season-best 41-yards at UCF on Oct. 18 to go with a 31-yard performance at Houston on Nov. 8 and a 12-yard showing vs Temple on Dec. 6. Jones pulled down two passes five times, including 23-yard performance and a touchdown at Tulsa on Aug. 28. He also had scoring receptions against Cincinnati on Oct. 31 and UConn on Oct. 11.
The Freshman All-America honors are the most recent of a lengthy list of accolades accumulated by the Green Wave during the 2014 season. Last week, the league coaches voted junior cornerback Lorenzo Doss and senior safety Sam Scofield second-team all-conference while issuing Nickerson and sophomore linebacker Nico Marley honorable-mention recognition. In addition, College Sports Madness named Doss first-team all-conference, Nickerson and senior offensive lineman Sean Donnelly to the second team, and the duo of Scofield and junior defensive end Royce LaFrance to the third team.
