Jags Win Fourth In A Row And Their First Against University of Mobile

December 10, 2009 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Jags Win Fourth In A Row And Their First Against University of Mobile 

The Jags won their first ever meeting against the University of Mobile Rams on Wednesday 70-51. The Jags secured the win with a 17-0 run in the first half to cruise to the victory.

This was the fourth consecutive win by the Jags to go to 7-2 on the season. The Jags never trailed in the game. After the Rams pulled within one point with 13:50 left in the first half at 14-13, the Jags ripped off 17 straight points over the next 9:29 before a three pointer by Mobile ended the run. At that time the Jags were up 31-16.

At halftime, the Jags were up 38-23 on 50% shooting from the floor. Early in the second half the Jags would stretch it out to 24 points and at one point they would lead by as much as 26. The Rams would put together a 12-0 run late in the second half to pull within 14 points of the Jags but they would score the final five points of the game.

Three Jags would share the honor of lead scorer for the team. Tim Williams, Bryan Sherrer and LaShun Watson would all score 13 points. The next highest scorer was Martino Brock with nine points.

The Jags next game will be on Saturday at the Mitchell Center when they host Southern Mississippi for a 7:05pm tipoff. Then they open play their first Sun Belt team, University of Arkansas-Little Rock at on Wednesday, December 16 which will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Go Jags!

Jags Get A Big Win Over Arkansas For Coach Arrow’s 300th Div-I Victory

December 1, 2009 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Jags Get A Big Win Over Arkansas For Coach Arrow’s 300th Div-I Victory 

Head basketball coach Ronnie Arrow won his 300th Division I game as the Jags defeated Arkansas 74-61 on Sunday in Fayetteville. This win was the Jags third straight win to improve to 6-2 on the season while the Razorbacks and John Pelphrey dropped their third straight to fall to 2-4 on the season.

The game was a series of runs with the Jags jumping out 15-2 to begin the game but then the Razorbacks had a run of their own going 17-1 to take the lead at halftime with the score of 34-30.

Trading scores early in the second half, the Hogs tied it up at 40 each with a three pointer. But it would be the last time Arkansas would tie the game because South Alabama would make a run of 17 points over a stretch of 5:17 to hold Arkansas without a score for six minutes and without a field goal for 8:42.

The Hogs would only get to within 11 points on twice but each time the Jags would put an end to their attempted rallies.

Arkansas only shot 30% (6-for-30) in the second half and had only three field goals through the 5:20 mark. While the SEC’s leading scorer with 28.2 points per game, Rotnei Clark, was held to 19 points with only six scored after halftime.

Martino Brock lead the Jags and all players with 21 points while Bryan Sherrer and Tim Williams were the only other Jags in double figures with 11 points each.

This marked the first win at an SEC school since December 1, 2000 at Auburn and makes their record against Arkansas 1-5 all time.

South Alabama will take some time off for final exams, they will return to the hardwood on December 9 when they host University of Mobile.

Jags Win The Second Annual Thanksgiving Tournament

November 28, 2009 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Jags Win The Second Annual Thanksgiving Tournament 

The Jags won the second annual USA Thanksgiving Tournament held at the Mitchell Center on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Jags shot over 58% in the second half in order to overcome a slow start to win easily over Alcorn State in the first game, 83-67. This win was Ronnie Arrow’s 600th win as a head coach at both the Junior College and Division I levels. However, Coach Arrow was not at the game since he was ejected on Saturday at Tulsa, he had to sit out due to suspension.

Alcorn State controlled play in the first half and lead for most of the period and converted four of nine 3-pointers. The Braves had not lead in a game all season, took a 41-39 lead into halftime over the Jags.

However the second half was a different story. They scored the first seven points and did not allow a Braves bucket in the first 3:19 of the second half. South Alabama really pulled away with an 18-2 run midway through the second half and stretched a three point lead into a 74-55 advantage.

In the championship game of the USA Thanksgiving Tournament the Jags hosted Georgia State. Late in the game Gary Redus came through for the Jags when he nailed a 3-pointer with 1:03 left in the game to give the Jags the lead for the final time as they held on for a 70-66 win.

The Jags have been out rebounded in their last two games. The first of which was at Tulsa when the Jags had their season-worst showing on the boards when the Golden Hurricane out rebounded the Jags 53-29. But against Georgia State the Jags won the battle of the boards 37-26. Georgia State is the second best rebounding team in the Colonial Athletic Association.

With these two wins the Jags improve to 5-2 on the season.

The Jags will travel to Arkansas on Sunday to take on the Razorbacks and the Jags former coach John Pelphrey who are 4-3 on the season so far.

Jaguar Men Fall At Tulsa

November 22, 2009 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Jaguar Men Fall At Tulsa 

On Saturday the Jags basketball team traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to face the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa won 84-62 over the Jags to stay undefeated at 4-0 while the Jags fell to 3-2 for the season.

Tulsa put on a showcase of rebounding by pulling down 53 boards en route to their victory. The Jags kept it close in the first half until a late 12-0 run by Tulsa (10 of which came from the free throw line) put them ahead for good. The Jags could only get within 12 points twice in the second half.

The Jags did not match-up well against the Golden Hurricane. With a 7′ center and a pair of 6’10” forwards, the Jags were just outsized and out reached on the boards.

Tulsa made 38 of 50 free throw attempts which accounted for 45% of their scoring offense while the Jags defense held them to 38.9% shooting from the floor for the game. However the Jags were called for 29 fouls which lead to the 50 trips to the line.

Coach Arrow said after the game, “We held them to 38 percent shooting and did what we wanted to there and put 62 points up on the board,” said Arrow. “But when you shoot 50 free throws you’re going to score a lot of points.”

Tim Williams lead the Jags with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. While Gary Redus II scored 11 off the bench.

Coach Arrow also commented about the Jags rebounding after the game. “We’re still not rebounding like we should,” said Arrow. “We have guys standing around. Our ‘3s’, ‘4s’ and ‘5s’ have got to rebound better than what we’re doing.”

The Jags will host the Second Annual USA Thanksgiving Classic on Wednesday and Thursday. The first game has Georgia State facing Utah Valley at 5pm then the Jags will face Alcorn State at 7:05pm.

Also announced on Friday, Coach Ronnie Arrow signed Labree Sledge of Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas to a National Letter of Intent to play for the Jags.

Tyler went 24-6 last season and tied for the North Zone championship with a 14-5 league record. Tyler lost in the semis to Paris JC who was led by current Jag Raymond Sims.

Sledge ranked fourth on his team in scoring with 9.8 average per game while hitting 63 3-pointers. He averages 42.9 percent from 3 point range and had 67 steals.

Coach Arrow had this to say about the signee. “Sledge is one of the best shooters in that conference,” said Coach Arrow. “You always have room for a shooter of his caliber. Not only that, but his high school coach said he was the best defender on the ball they had. So he brings shooting ability plus defensive ability, which is good.”

Go Jags!

Coach Jones Has Good News And Basketball Gets Ready To Tipoff At Home

November 17, 2009 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Football, Men's · Comments Off on Coach Jones Has Good News And Basketball Gets Ready To Tipoff At Home 

The Jags have gone 3-1 so far in basketball with wins over West Florida 79-63, Houston Baptist 76-64 and Sacramento State 70-58. Their only loss was to Rice by two points, 71-69.

The Jags will open their home season on Thursday when they host Spring Hill college at 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center. USA will be honoring the football team for their accomplishments in their inaugural season at halftime of the men’s game.

Mentioned today on the Coach Joey Jones Radio Show, the NCAA has granted USA players who have not already used their redshirt year, the ability to count this year towards that. Since USA was not competing against “varsity” teams, the NCAA has allowed them to do this.

However this will apply differently from player to player. For instance, someone like Brandon Ross who has only used one year of eligibilty (at Memphis) will get to count this year as his redshirt year which means he has three more years to play at USA. But a player like Courtney Smith who has used his redshirt and played two years at UAB will only have one more year of eligibility left for next year. Charlie Higgenbotham and Justin Dunn both have the same eligibility status as Smith. All but one of the offensive linemen, who are JuCo transfers, have only used two years of eligibility and will have two more years to play for USA.

During Monday’s media day Coach Jones reflected on the Jags inaugural season. One of the first questions he was asked was about how he felt after realizing that the team had played its final game of the season. He answered by saying, “This weekend I was emotionally and physically drained from a year and a half of putting this thing together, but at the same time I’m just really excited for where our program is at this point. So much hard work has gone into putting this together, and I’m just really pleased with where we are in the process of moving into Division I.”

Another question was about where the team will go from here. “The biggest thing we’ve got to meet with the team about today is that we’ve got to continually raise the bar starting today and all the way through next season, and even beyond that,” Coach Jones answered. “We’ve got to realize where we want to be as a football program, and we’ve got to continually raise the bar every day, because we’re by no means a good Division I program right now. We’re going to be there, but we know that we’ve got a lot of work to do to get to that point.”

He was then asked about what areas the team needed to improve upon. “It’s obviously in the weight room and the strength and conditioning area,” he said. “We’ve got to become a bigger and faster team, and then the second thing is recruiting. We’re hitting the recruiting trail this week, and have been recruiting, but we can focus all of our energies toward recruiting and signing what we deem are Division I players. We’ve got to make decisions along the way that we’re going to sign better players than we’ve got, or we’re not going to sign them. We don’t need numbers anymore. We need higher quality players as we go, so we’ve got to focus on that and not get caught up in trying to sign numbers.”

Coach Jones was asked what he would remember from this first season. He answered, “The number one thing I’m most pleased about is how the team came together. I’m not just talking about our players and staff, I’m talking about our trainers, equipment people, graduate assistants, and strength and conditioning guys. Everybody that was involved with the program seemed like they were all on the same page, and that was the most pleasing thing – to bring that many people together and get them all going in the same direction. We really had a bunch of great people.”

One of the last questions asked was what it means to the program to win all seven games this season. “Number one it makes a statement that South Alabama is here to build a Division I football program,”he said. “The 7-0 thing is a confidence builder. Success breeds success and losing breeds losing, so I would much rather be 7-0, because I think that carries over. It’s not that if we had lost a bunch of games that we wouldn’t have had a chance to have a great program, but any time you win kids get used to it and it’s harder for them to lose down the road.”

South Alabama Sports Update 2009-09-28

September 28, 2009 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's, Soccer, Volleyball · Comments Off on South Alabama Sports Update 2009-09-28 

Basketball

The 2009 Coors Classic schedule was released on Monday. The December 19 matchup will be a doubleheader on CSS the University and the GMAC Bowl announced Monday.

The first game will tip-off at 5:30pm with South Alabama taking on UAB which will be followed by Kansas State facing the University of Alabama 30 minutes after game one concludes.

Soccer

On Friday night the Lady Jaguar soccer team dropped its first Sun Belt Conference game 4-3 in Jonesboro, Arkansas to Arkansas State in overtime. However Katie Berry, USA’s goalkeeper, broke the teams single-game saves record with 18 saves against Arkansas State.

USA fell to 2-7-0 (0-1-0 in the SBC) after the loss. The Jags took and early 1-0 lead in just the sixth minute of the match on a Landi Wilson goal. But ASU would score two goals before the end of the first half to take a 2-1 lead. The Jags would answer back and tie the game 2-2 with a Wilson assist to Brandi Smith’s goal in the 49th minute.

ASU would score again to regain the lead 3-2 in the 66th minute before a second goal by Smith in the 75th minute to tie the game again at 3-3.

In overtime, ASU would score the game-winner off of a corner kick in the 96th minute.

On Sunday the Jags played the University of Arkansas-Little Rock to a tie in Little Rock, Arkansas. UALR who is 3-6-1 for the season and 0-1-1 in the Sun Belt gained a two goal advantage into halftime leading the Jags 2-0. The first goal happened in the first minute of the game with the second coming in the 36th minute.

However the Jags scored to tie the game in the second half with a goal in the 82nd minute and again in the 84th minute by Liz Clark and Brandi Smith respectively. But neither team could pull out a win and thus the match ended in a tie, 2-2.

The Lady Jags (2-7-1, 0-1-1 in the SBC) will return to Mobile to take on fellow Sun Belt opponent Western Kentucky on October 2nd with kickoff scheduled for 7pm at The Cage.

Volleyball

On Friday, the Jaguars volleyball team also opened their Sun Belt schedule against Florida Atlantic in Jag Gym. However the Jags would fall in straight sets (22-25, 20-25, 24-26).

Then on Sunday hosted Florida International at Jag Gym and fell for the second straight match, again in straight sets (15-25, 15-25, 17-25).

After these two losses, the Jags fell to 9-6 on the season and 0-2 in the Sun Belt after opening conference play.

The Jags will travel to Troy for a 7pm match.

South Alabama Sports Update 2009-09-18

September 18, 2009 · By · Filed Under Baseball, Basketball, Men's, Soccer, Volleyball, Women's · Comments Off on South Alabama Sports Update 2009-09-18 

Baseball

Due to wet field conditions South Alabama head baseball coach Steve Kittrell has been forced to postpone the start of fall practice until Sunday afternoon at the earliest. The Jags were expected to start their 45-day practice period Thursday afternoon. Kittrell made the decision to postpone due to NCAA rules that only allow 45 days for team workouts during the fall, and those begin with the teams first official practice.

Depending on the weather, the Jags may start practice on Sunday at 2pm.

Basketball

Men’s

The matchups have been announced for the second annual South Alabama Thanksgiving Classic. Coach Ronnie Arrow announced that Utah Valley, Georgia State and Alcorn State will play in the tournament on November 25 and 26 at the Mitchell Center.

Wednesday, Georgia State and Utah Valley will begin the tournament at 5pm followed by South Alabama and Alcorn State at 7pm. On Thursday, the consolation game will start at 2pm and the Championship game will begin at 4pm.

Women’s

Dr. Joel Erdmann, South Alabama’s Athletic Director, announced on Tuesday that Lady Jag coach Rick Pietri has received a contract extension through the 2013 season. Last season the Lady Jags finished 21-11, which is the first back to back 20-win season by the Lady Jags in 21 years. They also advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the first time since 2003 and only the second time since 1989.

On February 14th, Pietri grabbed his 150th career win at the collegiant level and ranks second in overall wins in South Alabama’s all-time coaching chart with 154 and ranks first in Sun Belt victories with 75.

Soccer

Kickoff of Friday’s soccer match between USA and Georgia State has been moved up from 6pm to 3:30pm due to a change in venue. Originally scheduled for a 6pm kickoff at GSU’s home field, they have moved to Atlanta Silverback’s Park due to unplayable conditions. Siverback’s Park has synthetic turf similar to USA’s football practice field.

Coach Varga was very grateful to head football coach Joey Jones for allowing the Soccer team to also use the football practice field to practice this week. He said, “We were very fortunate Coach Jones allowed us to practice on their field this week. I’m very grateful he allowed us that opportunity.”

Volleyball

This weekend will be the final tournament of the regular season for the Lady Jaguars before they begin their Sun Belt schedule. They are traveling to Prairie View A&M for the Lady Panther Invitational and will take on Nicholls State at 1pm on Friday then will take on Prairie View A&M and Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday.

Coach Arrow Announces Promotions Within His Staff

September 10, 2009 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Coach Arrow Announces Promotions Within His Staff 

South Alabama’s head basketball coach has announced staff promotions and changes for the 2009-2010 season.

Former associate head coach Andy Helton left the program to accept the head coaching position at Eastern New Mexico earlier this year leaving the position open. So today Coach Arrow announced that assistant coach Chuck Taylor has been promoted to associate head coach and assistant coach Michael Floyd has been promoted to first assistant coach.

Taylor came to South Alabama in 2007 after serving a year at North Texas and winning the SBC tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Prior to North Texas, Taylor was the head coach at Richland (Texas) Junior College where the Thunderducks was 24-8 under him.

Floyd is a Mobile native and was a two-year letterwinner at South Alabama under coach Arrow from 1994-1996. He was previously head coach at Alabama Southern Community College where his team went 18-12 in the 2005-2006 season. He then spent one season at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi with Coach Arrow and returned with him to Mobile in 2007.

Coach Arrow had the following to say about coaches Taylor and Floyd, “For what we’ve been able to accomplish as a program the last few years, I feel really good about promoting Chuck and Michael. They are not only good x’s-and-o’s coaches but they have been able to bring the players along and maximize their potential. Their efforts have been very much appreciated and noticed.”

The Jags will have an exhibition game against West Florida on November 5, tip-off time is yet to be determined. Then the season starts at Rice when they take on Houston Baptist on November 13 in the Rice Basketball Challenge. The Jags complete schedule can be found here.

Men’s Basketball Team Begins Individual Preseason Workouts

August 26, 2009 · By · Filed Under Basketball, Men's · Comments Off on Men’s Basketball Team Begins Individual Preseason Workouts 

Its time to take a short break from all of the buzz around football to talk about basketball.

Head basketball coach Ronnie Arrow and his staff have started its preseason individual workouts. They will begin working two hours per week in preparation for the 2009-2010 season.

However there are alot of questions about this team that have yet to be answered and probably won’t be answered until the season starts. With the loss of DeAndre Coleman, Brandon Davis and Ronald Douglas to graduation and the transfer of DeAndrae Ross and C.J. Garner away from the program, it leave Coach Arrow with few experienced players.

Phillip Tabet, a senior, and Charles Tabet, redshirt Junior, have experience inside and are both letterwinners on the inside, but neither started a game last season. DeAndre Hersey redshirted last season. That leaves Bryan Sherrer and LaShun Watson, both seniors, as the only other experienced players left over from last season.

But Coach Arrow isn’t too worried. He said, “We will be bigger, quicker and better shooters on the outside than we were last year. LaShun Watson, Tim Williams and Martino Brock bring a lot of size and quickness to the wing.”

Coach Arrow has brought in a mixture of JC transfers and freshmen signees to fill out the ranks for the season, so its not like the Jaguars will be a group of inexperienced players. “The seniors have shown good leadership and have been able to share their knowledge in how to do the drills and what we expect of them,” Coach Arrow said. “The newcomers have put forth a good effort in learning the system.”

One of those newcomers that has put forth a good effort is Rob Phillips. He was a 2006 high school graduate that averaged 23.1 points per game, hitting 57% from 3-point range and 92% from the free-throw line at Charis Prep, one of the top prep schools in the country. He has a history of hard work off the court and leadership on the court. His outside shot will definitely benefit the Jaguars this season.

It will be interesting to see how the preseason workouts go and who Coach Arrow will replace long-time assistant Coach Andy Helton with.

South Alabama Sports Round-Up 2009-05-28

May 28, 2009 · By · Filed Under Baseball, Basketball, Football, Men's, News · Comments Off on South Alabama Sports Round-Up 2009-05-28 

Baseball

The Jaguars baseball teams season ended early in the Sun Belt Championship falling first to Troy 4-10 then again to Lousiana-Monroe 8-13. These two losses to end the season leaves the Jaguars with a 25-30 overall record for the season.

Head Coach Steve Kittrell said, “It was a tough loss, I hate for our seniors to go out like this. We’ve just got to regroup and get South Alabama back on top next year.”

However David Doss was named a Louisville Slugger third team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Doss hit .378 with 20 doubles, 12 homeruns and 59 RBI’s as a senior. He was a four-year letter winner.

Men’s Basketball

Head Basketball Coach Ronnie Arrow announced on Tuesday that DeAndrae Ross and C.J. Garner will leave the program and transfer to another school.

Ross is a shooting guard that played in 27 games last season with six starts. He averaged 3.8 points per game.

Garner started 16 times as a point guard and appeared in 28 games last season. He averaged 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game as well as 37 assists for the season.

Coach Arrows’ comments about them were, “Both of these young men contributed significantly to our team development last year and helped us get to the finals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.” He further added, “But they both decided it would be in their best interest to transfer and we wish them the best.”

Football

Head Coach Joey Jones and his staff are teaming up with LifeSouth Community Blood Centers to help save lives in Mobile and Baldwin counties with the Community Champions Blood Drive.

On Saturday, from 10AM to 3PM, Jones and his staff will be at LifeSouth’s donor center at 967 Hillcrest Road to donate blood and to encourage others to do the same. Also they will be delivering a piece of history that one lucky Jaguar fan will get.

The entire coaching staff have signed a football that will be given away on June 27th. During the month of June, every donor has the opportunity to enter a drawing to win the ball in addition to a signed banner that will be displayed during the first ever USA Football game on September 5th, 2009.

Additionally, the incoming players are now on campus and taking summer courses and getting prepared for the Fall season.

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