Jags sign 3 JUCO student-athletes; UAB QB Clements to enroll in January
Head coach Joey Jones announced Wednesday that three JUCO transfers will be joining the program this spring.
James Bynes, Quinton Lane and Tyrone Williams will all enroll at South Alabama in January and all three will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Bynes, a 6’3″ 215-pound tight end from Miami, FL., played last season at Dodge City (Kansas) Community College. In 11 games he caught 30 passes for 269 yards with a season-high eight catches for 54 yards against Butler (Kansas) C.C. which would place him in the top 15 in the final NJCAA rankings.
Lane, a 6’2″ 195-pound cornerback, led Itawamba (Mississippi) C.C. with eight passes broken up while collecing 25 total stops and a fumble recovery.
Williams, a 6’3″ 200-pound wide receiver was named first-team All-MACJC as a sophomore after leading MGCCC with 46 catches, 812 yards and 12 touchdowns as the Bulldogs finished 8-2 on the season and seventh in the final NJCAA poll. His touchdown total was good for 10th in the nation while he was also among the top 20 in both receiving yards and yards per catch. He went over 100 yards in three games last season with a season-high of 144 against Northeast Mississippi C.C. In 2012, as a freshman, he caught 34 passes for 437 yards and five touchdowns on a team that would finish sixth in the final NJCAA rankings.
Also, it was made official on Wednesday that former UAB quarterback Cody Clements will enroll at South Alabama in January to join the football team. He will be a senior with one season of eligibility remaining.
Clements, 6’2″ 210-pound native of Whittier, California, joined UAB after two seasons of junior college at Cerritos College. He completed 183-of-275 passes last season for 2,227 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He averaged 202.5 yards passing per game and completed 66.5% of his passes. He also ran the ball 91 times for 160 yards and four touchdowns.
Credit Coach Vincent for his choice as his first answer as to why USA was the right choice for him to continue his football career and to pursue his education. He told AL.com, “That was my main goal coming out of all this mess at UAB was to follow him if I could. He’s a great coach and I love playing for him.
“Then I got up there this past weekend and saw the facilities and housing and was able to hang out with the guys. I knew that was a good spot for me to go and to finish out my career.”
Clements is comfortable with Vincent’s offense and the Jaguars will be losing Brandon Bridge to graduation. “I’m always excited about competition; that’s how you get the best out of yourself,” he told AL.com. “I’m definitely excited to go in there and compete and to win a championship over there.”
The Jaguars also have Matt Floyd and Hunter Vaughn returning at quarterback next season.