Jags host Southern Miss
South Alabama Basketball Doubleheader Wednesday @ 5:05 PM!
The South Alabama Men’s Basketball Team will host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Wednesday night, December 7th at the Mitchell Center in the second game of a doubleheader. Tip-off for the men’s game will be 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Lady Jags versus the Spring Hill College Badgers scheduled at 5:05 p.m. Tickets start at $5 and one ticket is good for both games. Take advantage of $1 Hot Dogs from 4-7 p.m. Come out and support Head Coach Ronnie Arrow, Sun Belt Conference Pre-Season Player of the Year Augustine Rubit, and the Jaguars as they go for four wins in a row.
You may purchase your tickets in advance at the south side Ticket Office inside the Mitchell Center Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. You may also purchase tickets at any walk up ticket window the day / night of the game. Tickets start at $5. One $5 ticket is good for both games. For more information you can call 461-1USA or visit www.usajaguars.com.
Upcoming Home Basketball Games:
Wednesday, December 7 at the Mitchell Center
South Alabama Women’s Basketball vs. Spring Hill College @ 5:05 p.m.
South Alabama Men’s Basketball vs. Southern Miss @ 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, December 10 at the Mitchell Center
South Alabama Women’s Basketball vs. Talladega @ 7:05 p.m.
Sunday, December 11 at the Mitchell Center
South Alabama Men’s Basketball vs. Alcorn State @ 3:05 p.m.
Monday, December 19 at the Mitchell Center
South Alabama Men’s Basketball vs. Georgia Southern @ 7:05 p.m.
Go Jags!
Lady Jags vs Troy Tonight! Wear Pink and get a free ticket!
Lady Jags vs Troy in the Pink Zone
The South Alabama Women’s Basketball Team will be in action Wednesday, February 9 at the Mitchell Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. versus the Trojans of Troy University. This game will be the Pink Zone game, as fans are encouraged to wear pink for breast cancer awareness. Anyone wearing pink to the game will receive a free ticket to the game. Join us early, between 6-7 p.m., where Corn Dogs and Pepsi are for a dollar! Come out and support Coach Rick Pietri and the Jaguars Wednesday night in the Mitchell Center.
Go Jags!
“South In Your Mouth” No More?
Athletic Director Joey Erdmann decided that the cheerleaders, dance team and pep band cannot lead the crowd in their traditional “USA, South In Your Mouth” chants after a successful Jag free throw. He cited the University’s intent to move away from potentially “politically incorrect” statements.
The chant has been used in the Mitchell Center for over a decade. It has even been featured in several SBC Tournaments, nationally televised games on ESPN and more regionally televised games on Comcast SportsNet. But now the University feels that the chant is not a proper representation of South Alabama Spirit.
The USA Outlaws was told by USA Marketing Director Travis Toth that they should consider new strategies and chants. They even had their latest T-Shirt design denied by the University because it featured the slogan on the back.
But in a good sign, the move has already been met with harsh resistence. Fans and students both have been making their voices clear that they do not share the the University’s view on the subject.
Can you come up with a better chant? Do you want to come up with another chant? We will have to wait and see what the cheerleaders come up with and if they intend to try to chant over the fans and students who insist on chanting “South In Your Mouth” in defiance.
Madison Salter, representative of the Outlaws mentioned, “We’ve been asked to move on but we can’t make anyone change overnight.” I’m sure the administration has implied some sort of punishment to the student organization if they defiantly chant the traditional saying. However, I hope that is not the case.
The University of Alabama prohibited the band from leading the crowd in their traditionally victory song, “Rammer, Jammer” several years ago. However they changed their mind after defiant fans and students continued to sing the song. Now it is a fixture at Alabama victories.
So it remains possible that “South In Your Mouth” could make a comeback. It’s more “politically correct” than ‘Rammer, Jammer” is in my book, and I consider myself an Alabama fan.
April 12th Vanguard Sports Poll
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Let your vote be heard by posting below. The best comment will be appearing in the April 12th issue of The Vanguard.
If you wish to be published in the paper, please leave your first name and which class year you represent.
As always, thanks for visiting and also for voting. Please continue reading the Vanguard and Thunderjags.com.
February 22nd Vanguard Poll Question
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Your vote can now be heard by by posting below with the best comment appearing in the March 1st issue of The Vanguard.
If you wish to be published in the paper, please leave your first name and which class year you represent.
Thanks for voting and please continue reading the Vanguard and Thunderjags.com.
Latest News About South Alabama Sports February 16, 2010
Football
Earlier this month, the Jags signed 22 players for their 2010 class. Their process to get to Football Bowl Subdivision play will continue this week as they return to the practice field for Spring workouts.
On Thursday, they will begin working out for 15 practices which includes four full-contact practices and three scrimmages. Their practice period will end on March 10th when they will conclude their spring drill session with a 6pm scrimmage at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Admission and parking will be free. The other 14 workouts will be held at the Jaguars on-campus practice facility near the Football Fieldhouse. All events are open to the public and free.
Head Coach Joey Jones says things will be different from last year. “I expect the first day to be a really good day, as opposed to waiting three to five days to get things going last spring. Last year, we were starting from scratch. Nobody knew terminology or each other, but now we’ve started to build a team. We’ve gone through a summer program, a year and an offseason, so our kids know each other and what to expect from us as coaches. We should be able to pick up from where we were at the end of the season and progress from there.”
The opening week of spring drills will have the Jags out on the practice field for workouts on Thursday at 7:30am and Friday at 7am in only helmets. Then drills on Saturday at 9am with pads but no tackling. Four other full pads practices without full contact are scheduled for February 22, February 24, March 1, and March 8 all will begin around 7am. Their first full-contact practice is scheduled for Tuesday, February 23 at 7:30am with more scheduled for February 25, March 2 and March 4.
The Jags first scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday, February 27 at 9am. Other scrimmages are scheduled on Saturday March 6 at 11am and their final scrimmage on March 10 at 6pm. On Tuesday, March 9 at 9am, the Jags will work out only in pads in preparation for the scrimmage the next day.
Men’s Basketball
Bryan Sherrer went down with a knee injury early in the February 11th game against Florida International. It was announced yesterday by Coach Ronnie Arrow that he tore his lateral meniscus and will miss 2-4 weeks.
Bryan has started the first 26 games of the season and averages just over 10 points per game, which is third best on the team. He also ranks eighth in the nation in free-throw percentage at 90.8%.
This will be a big loss for the Jags as the Sun Belt Conference tournament begins in just about two and a half weeks in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The tournament is the only hope the Jags have to make the NCAA Tournament this season after losing two key players for the rest of the season back in January.
Martino Brock, a freshman, was named the Sun Belt Conference’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Monday. This was his first honor of his collegiant career.
His contributions over the last week lead the Jags to two wins by averaging 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds. He also recorded two double-doubles. He ranks second on the team in two categories, with a season average of 12.3 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Women’s Basketball
After starting off strong (9-0) in the Sun Belt, the Lady Jags have cooled off with two 3 game losing streaks recently. They are now sitting at 4th place (of six) with a 9-6 record in the Sun Belt eastern division and in 6th place overall in the SBC.
Arkansas-Little Rock and Middle Tennessee State are leading their divisions, both with 13-1 records in the Sun Belt. UALR has the overall edge for the season with a record of 20-5 to MTSU’s 18-5.
However, it just came to our attention that Tashley Gaines has been dismissed from the team. She was the Jags leading rebounder and their third leading scorer. It is unknown why she was dismissed from the team at this time as no official announcement has surfaced.
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.
SBC Tournament Quarterfinal Results
The South Alabama Lady Jaguars advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament on a strong defensive performance against Troy on Saturday. Their next opponent is the top seeded MTSU Women at 12:30pm on Monday.
Troy would take the early lead by as much as four points two times in the first nine minutes of the game but USA would take the lead for the first time in the game at the 11:06 mark of the first half. But USA’s lead would be short lived when Troy connected on a jumper less than a minute later.
USA would take the lead again when Tashley Gaines was fouled by Kirsten Smith and connected on both of her foul shots. This would spur the beginning of an 11-2 run by USA over the next four plus minutes to take a seven point advantage 20-13.
USA’s largest lead of eight points would come at the 2:53 mark of the first half and would go into the locker room with a seven point lead at 28-21.
The second half would begin with nearly two minutes of scoreless play with USA missing three shots and blocking three shots on the defensive end. USA would extend their lead to 13 points with a 7-1 run in about a minute and a half.
Troy could not cut the USA lead any closer than nine points in the second half. USA cruised to their 13 point point victory over the final minutes, winning 52-39.
Troy’s Kylie Morrissy would lead all scorers with 18 points. Alyce Shearing would be the only other Trojan to score double digits with 12 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.
USA also had a pair of double digit scorers with both Shakira Nettles and Jessica Starling scoring 13 points each. Shaniece Brunner added 10 rebounds. Tashley Gaines also added four blocks for the majority of USA’s seven blocks for the game.
In other action Saturday:
Middle Tennessee State 82 – New Orleans 47
Arkansas-Little Rock 52 – Louisiana-Monroe 40
Denver 67 – North Texas 63
The match-ups for Monday:
#5 USA vs #1 MTSU at 12:30pm
#3 Denver vs #2 UALR at 3:00PM
Men And Women Both In Action Tonight In SBC First Round Games
The 5th seeded Lady Jaguars kick off the night of basketball with a 5:00pm tip-off at the Mitchell Center when they host #12 seeded Florida International in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.
The 6th seeded men’s team will host the #11 seeded New Orleans Privateers for a scheduled 7:30pm tip-off for their first round match-up of the Sun Belt Tournament. New Orleans is a 12 point favorite currently.
Winners of these games will advance to the remaining rounds of the tournament that will be held in Hot Springs, Arkansas from March 7th through March 10th. The Women’s Championship game will be televised on ESPN-Plus. The Quarterfinals games of the Men’s bracket will be available on ESPN-Plus with the Championship game being aired on ESPN2.
As for the NCAA Tournament, its simple. Win four in a row and you’re in! Winners of the SBC Championship receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament
So come out to the Mitchell Center and help the Jaguars start their run to the Tournament off on the right foot. USA Students receive free tickets to the game so you do not have an excuse not to come.
GO JAGS!!!
USA Men And Women Both Host Teams In First Round Of SBC Tournament
On Sunday afternoon both the Jaguar Men and Women learned that they will host teams for the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.
The Lady Jaguars will host Florida International at 5pm on Wednesday to open a double header in the Mitchell Center. The second half of the double header will have the Men hosting New Orleans with a tip-off scheduled for 7:30pm.
The Lady Jags regular season came to a close on Saturday with a 19-9 record and going 10-8 in the Sun Belt. They were in a tie with Denver, Troy, Western Kentucky and Arkansas State. The Sun Belt’s tie-breaking system seeded USA 5th and will host the 12 seeded Florida International.
The Men’s team finished the season on Saturday night with a 17-12 record overall and 10-8 in the SBC. USA finished tied with Middle Tennessee for 5th place but was on the losing end of the tiebreaker to be seeded 6th in the tournament and will host the 11th seeded New Orleans Privateers.
The winners of these match-ups will advance to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the rest of the Sun Belt Tournament held March 7th through March 10th with the Men’s Championship game being broadcast on ESPN2 and the Women’s Championship game being broadcast on ESPN-Plus.
Come out and SUPPORT YOUR JAGS!!!