LSU Gymnast Aleah Finnegan named 2025 AAI Award Finalist

Tina Howell • March 19, 2025
LSU Gymnast Aleah Finnegan has been named a finalist for the prestigious 2025 AAI Award, which is awarded to the top senior gymnast in the nation by the American Athletic Inc.

Finnegan was chosen a finalist from a field of 59 nominees. She is joined by Oklahoma’s Jordan Bowers and Audrey Davis, Oregon State’s Jade Carey, Florida’s Leanne Wong and Utah’s Grace McCallum.

Voting will be conducted by NCAA women's gymnastics head coaches with the winner to be announced at the NCAA Championships Banquet in Fort Worth, TX next month.

LSU has seen four AAI Award Winners in school history, the most by any school since 2010 and the most in the SEC. The prestigious group includes Haleigh Bryant (2024), Aleah's sister, Sarah Finnegan (2019), Ashleigh Gnat (2017) and Susan Jackson (2010).
This year, Finnegan has competed in the all-around in all but two meets this year, putting up season highs of 9.950 on vault and bars, 10.0 on beam, 9.975 on floor and 39.725 in the all-around. Nationally, she has ranked amongst the top 20 all-around gymnasts in the nation for nine out of 12 weeks of regular season competition. Finnegan is an eight time All-American and All-SEC member who owns eight perfect scores in her career, with the most recent coming this season on beam. She was the first Tiger this year to earn a perfect 10 and it was only the third perfect score on beam in the country. Her eight-career perfect 10’s is the sixth most in LSU history, including the second most on floor.

She owns 36 titles in her career so far at LSU, with 13 of those coming in 2025. She owns 14 titles on floor, 10 on beam, six on vault, five in the all-around and one on bars. Her 14 floor titles ties for the seventh most in LSU history, which she currently shares with her sister, Sarah Finnegan.
On top of her collegiate success, Finnegan has continued be a great representative of LSU across NCAA Gymnastics and the world stage, becoming the first LSU Gymnast to represent the Tigers in the Olympics when she competed in the qualifying rounds of the 2024 Paris Olympics with Team Philippines. 




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Football player in red kicks as teammate kneels on field during game, crowd blurred in background
By Patrick Harkness August 20, 2026
K 
Jackson Courville- Ohio State 
He committed on January 12, 2026 (after entering the portal January 2) and is now on Tulane’s 2026 roster as a redshirt junior (#96, 5’10”, 185 lbs) from Centerville, OH (Centerville HS). 
Here’s why Courville aligns so well with the Green Wave program: 
• Proven Leg Strength and Clutch MAC Production
: In two seasons as Ball State’s starting kicker (2023-24), he went 26-of-34 on field goals (76.5%) and 54-of-56 on extra points. Highlights include a game-winning 52-yard FG as time expired vs. Northern Illinois (2024), his career long, plus multiple makes from 50+ yards. He was automatic inside 40 yards and showed the power and accuracy Tulane needs after the departure of standout Patrick Durkin. 
• P4 Experience and Fresh Start
: After battling for the job at Ohio State in 2025 (limited to just 4 XPs in one appearance), he brings valuable Big Ten reps and camp competition experience. Now at Tulane, he’s locked in a competitive spring battle with Cooper Helmke and Zach Marini. 
• Immediate Depth and Competition in a Reloading Unit
: Tulane aggressively addressed special teams via the portal after losing Durkin. Courville arrives as a high-upside veteran with two years of eligibility left, ready to compete for the starting job and provide reliable kicking depth right away. 
In short, Jackson Courville is a smart, high-character portal pickup who brings proven production, big-leg power, and built-in chemistry with the offense to a position group that needed reinforcements. #RollWave Make sure to follow Patrick Harkness on X
Dagan Bruno football player in teal helmet, number 14, during action pose with name and stats graphic.
By Patrick Harkness August 20, 2026
Dagan Bruno: The Local Walk-On Made Some Noise in Tulane’s Quarterback Room during Spring Camp Dagan Bruno is a 6-foot-2, 200-pound redshirt sophomore quarterback wearing No. 14 for the Tulane Green Wave. A Preferred Walk-On from New Orleans and John Curtis Christian School, the hometown product has steadily transformed from scout-team specialist into a legitimate competitor in the quarterback room under head coach Will Hall. Bruno arrived at Tulane as a late addition to the 2024 class after a standout multi-sport career at John Curtis. As a junior in 2022, he helped lead the Patriots to a Division I Select state championship and was named the most outstanding player in the title game. In his senior season he completed over 72 percent of his passes for 1,504 yards with 13 touchdowns and just one interception while adding 527 rushing yards and eight scores. A true three-sport athlete who also excelled in basketball and baseball, Bruno maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school. At Tulane he redshirted in 2024 and spent the bulk of his first two seasons running the scout-team offense, particularly the triple-option looks used by Army and Navy. His experience in John Curtis’s split-back veer made him uniquely valuable in preparing the defense. Playing time was limited, and the lack of consistent reps tested his confidence. Everything changed in spring 2026. Bruno forced his way into the conversation with accurate, decisive play. In the final spring scrimmage he went 5-of-5 for 69 yards, capping the day with a perfect 40-yard touchdown strike down the sideline to Antwaun Parham. Coach Will Hall was emphatic in his praise: “You can win with Dagan Bruno. This is not some feel-good story anymore… Dagan can play. I love his competitive spirit. He’s a tough guy, a winner and a leader.” Bruno has made it clear he wants to shed the “option quarterback” label. “A lot of people tried to push me into being the option quarterback guy,” he said. “I’m trying to break away from that a little bit and become a real quarterback that can go out there and throw the ball around, make the right checks and just do everything right.” Heading into fall camp and the 2026 season, Bruno sits in a competitive four-man race alongside Zeon Chriss-Gremillion, Kadin Semonza, and true freshman Trace Johnson. While the early days of camp have been a mixed bag for him after his strong spring, his accuracy, athleticism, toughness, and local knowledge continue to make him a valuable piece of the room. Whether he earns the starting job, serves as a key backup, or provides package plays, the John Curtis product has already proven he belongs. For a preferred walk-on who stayed home and kept working when the spotlight was elsewhere, Dagan Bruno’s rise is a classic New Orleans football story, one that Green Wave fans should watch closely. #RollWave Make sure to follow Patrick Harkness on X
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