USA Men’s Basketball Open Season Tonight At The Mitchell Center
The South Alabama Men’s Basketball team will officially open the 2013-2014 season Friday night against Detroit at the Mitchell Center.
The Jags defeated Mobile 65-55 in an exhibition game on Tuesday. Even though the Jags started slow, they came to life in the second half to power their way to a win with a strong defensive effort as they held the Rams to only 174% shooting in the first half and 29.1% for the game.
“We’re really excited about our opportunity on Friday night to start the season of at home against a very good opponent in Detroit,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “The nice thing from the exhibition game is we have a lot of stuff we need to get better at, but at the same time, I thought from a defensive standpoint, we played pretty well.”
“We learned that offensively we have a long ways to go,” Graves noted. “We need to take care of the ball better and we need to play with a little more pace offensively, but at the same time, we’ve got guys that can turn it up. For example, Augustine (Rubit) really turned it up in the second half and I thought Mychal Ammons played well in the second half, so we have some guys that can turn it up and play at a higher level but we need to show that consistency throughout the entire game.”
“We held Mobile to a 29 percent field goal percentage and when you turn the ball over as much as we did, usually teams are getting layups and easy transition baskets, but despite our turnovers we were still able to get back and set our defense most of the night,” Graves explained. “We made it difficult for them to get open looks, so I was really pleased with that.”
“We forced things that really weren’t there,” Graves said. “We need to understand that when we come down the floor, we don’t need to attack off the first ballscreen or off the first pass. We need to let the offense work for itself a little bit, and the other thing we worked on yesterday in practice was, when we get a defensive stop and go in transition, we need to be opportunistic, but at the same time, it’s just not a free-for-all. We had several clips where we really defended for 20-25 seconds and made them take a tough shot and then ran down the floor and either turned it over or took a bad shot ourselves. All that hard work you put into the defensive end of the floor, you wasted on an (offensive) possession. We want to take away a few wasted possessions as possible.”
“They’re going to come in and they’re going to play very hard,” Graves said about their opening oppenent Detroit. “They do a great job defensively of getting out in the passing lanes. They forced 25 turnovers in their two exhibition games so that will be a great challenge for us. They do a great job of going to the offensive glass. Again, two things we emphasize: taking care of the basketball and blocking out are going to be tested right away in game one. Coach McCallum will have those guys ready and we’re excited to play them.”
“You’re looking at a program; they’ve been good for years and years,” Graves said. “They’ve got NCAA Tournament appearances and they play in a very good league. They have guys that understand the culture and have a toughness about how they play. Basketball is a little bit different in the Midwest. It’s what guys do. So we’re going to play a team, even though they’ve lost a lot of guys, those guys are going to understand how to play, be very tough and very physical. It’s going to be a great challenge for our young team on the first night.”
The opening tip against Detroit is set for 7:05pm tonight at the Mitchell Center. Come out and support your Jags!
USA Men’s Basketball Defeat Mobile In Exhibition Game
Head basketball coach Matt Graves coached his first game on the sidelines as USA’s head coach against Mobile in an exhibition game. | Photo by butler.edu.
The South Alabama Men’s Basketball team defeated the University of Mobile 65-55 in their exhibition game Tuesday night. The Jags held the Rams to 29.1% shooting for the game while Augustine Rubit recorded 18 points and 12 rebounds.
South Alabama’s defense held the Rams to 18.2% from outside the three-point line and forced 20 turnovers.
However the Jaguars first half was wasn’t much better for the Jags as they only scored 23 points while committing 24 turnovers with only six assists. Rubit scored 16 of his 18 points after halftime after an 0-for-4 effort from the floor in the first half. Rubit blocked four shots and went 6-of-7 from the foul line.
Freshman Ken “Juice” Williams added 13 points and two 3-pointers while coming down with six rebounds. Junior Mychal Ammons also came down with six rebounds while adding 12 points.
“I told the guys in the locker room after the game that I was really proud of their effort and if they continue to throw the ball all over the place like that I’m going to lose the rest of my hair,” head coach Matthew Graves said after the game. “It’s a learning experience for all of us and the thing I told them I was most proud about was the way they defended. Normally, when a team throws the ball all over the place, they don’t shoot a high percentage and they’re playing from 10, 12 points down. Right out of the gate I thought we did an excellent job of guarding them and making them take contested shots, so I was really pleased with our defensive effort tonight.”
“Walking up and down the side line it felt really good,” Graves said about his first game as a head coach. “It was a dream of mine to do that and making that dream become a reality. We have a great team and a great staff and it was a lot of fun tonight.”
The exhibition allowed the Jags to get some game-time experience in their new system. “It’s a new system, new time and I think we had four freshmen on the court at one time,” said Graves. “It’s a learning experience and I think what people can take from this is how good were going to be three games from now, five games from now, ten games from now. It’s going to be a growth process for this team.”
In the first half the Jags only hit 24% of their shots with 12 turnovers but they opened the second half with a 12-4 run to give USA the largest lead of the game. The Jags almost doubled their scoring in the second half as they hit 13-of-23 for a 56.5% clip.
The Rams ended the Jaguar’s threat to run away with the game with an 11-3 run to cut the Jaguar lead to 42-39 with 9:20 left in the game. Ammons hit two free throws to start a 6-0 run that ended up being a 13-2 run to put the game away.
USA blocked 10 shots as a team which included four from Rubit and two from Williams. Senior Antoine Allen was held out of the game for a violation of team rules.
South Alabama will open the season against Detroit on Friday. The game is scheduled for a 7:05pm tip.
USA Men’s Basketball Open Season In Exhibition Against Mobile Tonight
The University of South Alabama Men’s Basketball team will take on the University of Mobile in an exhibition game this evening.
This will be head coach Matthew Graves first time on the sideline as the Jaguars head coach during a game.
This will be the beginning of the final seasons for seniors Augustine Rubit and Antoine Allen. Rubit was just named the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year. He has a chance to become the University’s first four-time All-Sun Belt Conference honoree.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
Rubit Named SBC Preseason Player Of The Year, Ammons Named To All-SBC Team, USA Picked 2nd In Conference
Augustine Rubit was named to the All-SBC First Team and also SBC Preseason Player of the Year. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Augustine Rubit was named the 2013-2014 Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year.
Rubit, a senior from Houston, Texas, was voted the Player of the Year after last season and earns the preseason honor for the second consecutive season. He was named to first-team All-Sun Belt Conference Team and was joined by junior Mychal Ammons who was named to the third team.
Rubit lead the conference for the third consecutive season with 10.5 rebounds per game and finished second in the conference in scoring with a career-high 19.4 points per game. He recorded 16 double-doubles and set a new school record with 198 free throws made in a season. He is only 42 rebounds away from becoming USA’s career leader.
Ammons earned his first All-Sun Belt recognition. He was the team’s second-leading scorer and was third on the team in rebounding. He was also the team’s most-accurate 3-point shooter by connecting on 39.4% of his outside shots.
Western Kentucky was voted to finish first in the Sun Belt standings this season with a total of 91 points and five first-place votes. The Jags were voted to finish second with 78 points and two first-place votes. The full list of Sun Belt rankings are below.
1. Western Kentucky 91 (5)
2. South Alabama 78 (2)
3. Arkansas State 74
4. Georgia State 73 (2)
4. Louisiana Lafayette 73 (1)
6. Arkansas-Little Rock 48
7. Texas-Arlington 36
8. Texas State 34
9. Troy 26
10. Louisiana-Monroe 17
Along with the honors for Rubit and Ammons, the conference announced its TV package for the season. The Jags have six games scheduled for television coverage with a possibility of two other games being added during the season. USA’s road opener at Texas on November 12 will be shown on the Longhorn Network and the road trip to former Sun Belt rival Middle Tennessee on November 30 will be available on CSS while Root Sports will broadcast the USA vs Gonzaga game on December 14.
South Alabama will have three conference games broadcast on the Sun Belt Network including one home contest. The Jags vs ULM on January 18 in the Mitchell Center will tip off at 7:30pm (it was originally announced for 4:05pm).
The Jags two other Sun Belt Network appearances will be January 11 at Arkansas State (7pm tip) and at Louisiana-Lafayette on March 2 (3pm tip).
The Sun Belt Network is a joint partnership with Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) and Cox Sports Television (CST). Each broadcast game will be available in 13 states across the southeast and are often available on ESPN3.com and ESPN GamePlan outside of the CSS and CST market footprint.
Jags Men’s Basketball Show Progress In First Intrasquad Scrimmage
The South Alabama Men’s Basketball team held their intrasquad scrimmage Monday afternoon at the Mitchell Center. First year head coach Matthew Graves put the team through four eight-minute quarters with a variety of lineups to gauge the progress made after two weeks of practice.
Last season’s Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, Augustine Rubit, collected 17 points, 12 rebounds and a block in 26 minutes of playing time. Another returning starter for the Jags, Mychal Ammons, had six points, three rebounds and a block in 16 minutes of play.
Freshman guard Ken “Juice” Williams put in six points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Sophomore Barrington Stevens III put in 10 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Coach Graves did not point out any individuals, but said that certain guys had moments but that the team is still a work in progress. However, he said that they are heading in the right direction and is pleased with their progress over two weeks of practice.
The team will have Tuesday off before returning for two practices on Wednesday.
USA Men’s Basketball To Scrimmage Today At 4pm; Open To Public
The South Alabama Men’s Basketball team will hold an intrasquad scrimmage on Monday at 4pm in the Mitchell Center. It will be open to the public.
First-year head coach Matthew Graves will preview an early look at what the Jaguars will look like in a game-type situation.
The scrimmage will have four eight-minute segments and in each segment the coaches will mix up the teams. This will allow the coaches to get a look at different combinations so they can try to put groups of players together consistently.
They will have three officials who will call the game. Though it will be similar to what they have been doing during practice, the coaches expect the players to respond to playing with real officials by “turning it up a notch,” Graves told AL.com.
The Jags will have an exhibition on November 5 at the Mitchell Center against the University of Mobile.
There is no charge for the scrimmage.
Rubit Named To Two All-America Teams
SBC player of the year from last season, Augustine Rubit, earns two preseason All-America honors. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
Augustine Rubit of the Jaguar Men’s Basketball team was selected to two pre-season All-America teams on Tuesday. These are his first honors of the 2013-2014 season.
Rubit was named to the Lou Henson Preseason All-America team and was a finalist for the Lou Henson Award last season. The Award is named in honor of Lou Henson who retired after a great coaching career that spanned 41 years. The award is given each ear to the top Mid-Major player in Division I college basketball. ULL’s Elfrid Peyton joins Rubit on the preseason list as well.
He was also named to the College Sports Madness Preseason All-Mid Major team. He was named to the second team.
Rubit was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year as he averaged 19.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last season. He is the first player in conference history to lead the conference in rebounding for three consecutive seasons and is 120 away from setting a new Sun Belt Conference record.
The Jags will host an exhibition game at the Mitchell Center on November 5 against University of Mobile.
USA Men’s Basketball 2013-2014 Schedule Released
The South Alabama men’s basketball team released their 2013-2014 schedule on Monday. First year head coach Matthew Graves, his staff and team will face some challenges this season.
The Jags will be led by returning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Augustine Rubit and Junior Mychal Ammons. Four of their road games will be against Gonzaga, Arkansas, New Mexico State and Middle Tennessee State with a total of nine opponents who won at least 19 games last season.
They will begin the season with an exhibition game against the University of Mobile on November 5 at the Mitchell Center. They will have their season opener at home against Detroit on November 8.
Graves’ first road game will be at Texas on November 12. They will return to the Mitch to face William Carey before hosting the round-robin tournament the CBE Classic with Wright State, Southern Miss and Houston Baptist coming to the Mitchell Center to participate on November 22-24.
On November 30, the Jags will travel to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to face former SBC rival Middle Tennessee State. December 2 the Jags will face Spring Hill College before traveling to Houston, Texas to face Rice on December 7.
The Jags will travel to Seattle, Washington fo face Gonzaga on December 14. THey then return to Mobile to face Dillard on December 17 then have back-to-back road games against Arkansas on December 21 and New Mexico State on December 28.
This season, the Sun Belt will not be split into divisions, so they will play an 18-game home-and-home schedule against each team in the conference. The Sun Belt Conference schedule begins for South Alabama on January 2 at home against Western Kentucky.
Wright State was chosen to win the Horizon League this year and won 23 games last season. They return their top 10 players. Gonzaga is a perineal challenge and NCAA Tournament threat.
Coach Graves wanted to put together a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare the Jags for their conference schedule and it seems he has done just that. They have lots of work ahead of them but Graves and the team are up to the challenge.
Click here to see the full schedule.
Go Jags!
Jags Hire Russ Willemsen As Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach
USA Head Coach Matt Graves hires former Tennessee Tech assistant coach Russ Willemsen to fill vacant position on staff. | Photo collegechalktalk.com
South Alabama Men’s head basketball coach Matthew Graves has hired former Tennessee Tech assistant Russ Willemsen to fill the open position on his staff when former Butler player and USA assistant coach Ronald Nored left the program to join the Boston Celtics’ Development League.
While Willemsen was at Tennessee Tech, the Golden Eagles won 19 or more games in a season four times. As well as being an assistant coach on the court, he also serve as the camp director and oversaw the team’s academic progress at TTU. His work netted the program the 2007 and 2008 OVC Academic Achievement Award.
He got his start in coaching as an undergrad at Lee University in Tennessee as a student-assistant for two seasons before a full-time position in 2004-05. They had six players named to the NAIA All-America team as well as advancing to the round of 16 and the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament during his five seasons there.
He began his career at TTU as the director of basketball operations where he coordinated team travel, produced recruiting materials and film exchange. He is also a regular contributor to CollegeChalkTalk.com and wrote the introductory article for the website’s series on the legendary John Wooden.
Welcome to South Alabama coach Willemsen! Go Jags!
Graves Intends To Fill Position By First Day Of Class
Head basketball coach Matt Graves. | Photo by butler.edu.
South Alabama head basketball coach Matthew Graves told AL.com that he hopes to have the open position on his staff filled by the time classes start on August 19.
Ronald Nored, an Alabama native, left his position as an assistant under Graves when he was offered a position with the Boston Celtics development league team. His former coach at Butler Brad Stevens was hired as the new head coach of the Boston Celtic a few weeks ago.
Graves is going through various applicants and talking to some of his peers in the coaching ranks. Graves indicated that during his three and a half months on the job he has learned lots about the University and how they need to recruit going forward. This knowledge has helped him re-evaluate what exactly he needs in an assistant that will also be tasked with recruiting.
Graves said that he has an extra scholarship that is currently not used. He would not rule out using it for a mid-year transfer. If it is not used this year, it would be rolled into next years class.