South Alabama Releases 2014 Women’s Soccer Schedule
South Alabama released the 2014 women’s soccer schedule on Tuesday. Out of the 20 matches scheduled, 11 of them will be in Mobile.
A home exhibition match against Jacksonville State on August 15th will get their schedule underway before the regular season debut when they host UAB on August 22. UAB defeated the Jaguars 3-2 last season in Birmingham as they finished the season 11-7-2. Nicholls State will visit on August 24, they finished the 2013 season with a record of 12-6-2 with one of their two ties coming against the Jaguars in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
The following weekend the Jags will travel to Troy for the Trojan Classic where the Jags will face Tennessee Tech and Kennesaw State on August 29 and 31 respectively.
On September 5 they will return home to host Southern Miss before three-consecutive games on the road against Southern (September 7), Mississippi State (September 12) and Alabama A&M (September 14).
South Alabama will then host the Jaguar Classic to start a five-match homestand which will also begin conference play for the Jaguars. USA will face North Florida and Fancis Marion on September 19 and 21 respectively. Then they will begin their Sun Belt Conference schedule with Troy on September 26, Louisiana-Monroe on October 3 and Louisiana-Lafayette on October 5.
The Jags will then rotate between pairs of road and homestands to finish out the season. It will begin with a two match road trip at Texas State on October 10 and Appalachian State on October 12. Followed up with a two match homestand against Georgia Southern and Georgia State on October 17 and 19 respectively.
They will then finish out the season with two matches on the road against Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock on October 24 and 26 respectively.
The Jags will look to defend their Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship on November 5-9 at The Cage on the South Alabama campus.
“The opening weekend is going to be big for us,” coach Winkworth said. “We play two teams that we failed to beat last season, so we know we’re going to be in for a test.”
“Our conference schedule is very tough,” Winkworth continued. “We have a lot of traveling to do with flights and long bus rides, so that’s going to be very difficult. The hardest thing is that we’re going to have such a young squad and getting them used to the rigors of such intense travel is going to be difficult, but we have some pretty good leadership with the 10 that are returning so I’m excited about that.”
South Alabama Announced Kickoff Times For Mississippi State, Troy Home Games
Jaguar Pat Moore closes in on Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell in the first quarter of the Jaguars 30-10 loss to the Bulldogs on September 22, 2012.
The University of South Alabama announced the times for two more football games this fall.
The Jaguars home opener against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, September 13 will kick off at 3pm (CDT) at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. It will also be be nationally televised on ESPN News.
The Jags game against the Bulldogs will be the second game in a 2-for-1 series. The Jags traveled to Starkville in 2012 and will return to Starkville in 2016 in the third and final game of the three-game series.
The Jaguars will host Sun Belt Conference and in-state rival Troy on Friday, October 24 with kickoff time scheduled for 6:30pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. In the third meeting between the two schools, it will also be the third time that their match-up will be televised. This season it will be televised on ESPNU nationally.
Last season the Jaguars trailed 24-7 early in the third quarter but the Jaguars scored 20 points in the fourth quarter with the 65 yard touchdown pass from Ross Metheny to Jereme Jones and a two-point conversion from Metheny to Corey Besteda to take a 33-27 lead with 0:48 left in the game. However a desperate heave into the endzone by Corey Robinson was caught by Eric Thomas to tie the game with the extra point giving the Trojans a one point lead 34-33 with 0:07 left in the game. The Jags were unable to get it into the endzone with one second left from their own 32 yard line.
Tickets for the Mississippi State home game are currently available only as part of a 2014 Jaguar Football season ticket plan with limited availability on the West side of the stadium. According to the South Alabama Ticket Office, single-game ticket availability is not guaranteed. A season ticket purchase will give you ticket to Mississippi State and Troy along with Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Texas State and Navy. Visit the South Alabama Athletics home page for tickets or call the South Alabama Ticket Office by calling 251.461.1USA.
Coach Fowler Announces Promotion And Hiring On Women’s Basketball Staff
South Alabama Women’s Basketball head coach Terry Fowler announced the promotion of Mallory Luckett to assistant head coach and the hiring of Matthew Daniels as the new director of basketball operations on Monday.
Luckett served as the director of operations for the women’s team last season. She served on coach Fowlers staff at the University of North Alabama for the previous three seasons. Her first two seasons she served as a graduate assistant before moving into an assistant coaching position for the 2012-2013 season at UNA after earning her master’s degree in criminal justice.
She arrived at UNA after playing four seasons at Murray State where she was a walk-on. She earned a scholarship her sophomore year and became a starter for her junior and senior seasons. During her senior season she became the only Racer to earn a triple-double when she posted 14 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against Jacksonville State.
During her first season with coach Fowler she helped guide the team to a 21-7 record and a first place finish in the Gulf South Conference East Division. They advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 1994.
Daniels joins the program after spending one season as Jacksonville University where he was a graduate assistant coach on the men’s basketball staff under Cliff Warren for the 2013-2014 season. As a graduate assistant with the Dolphins, he organized and edited video for scouting and player development and also scheduled team functions and events.
Daniels received his bachelors of science degree from UNA in 2012 and began working on his masters of education degree while at JU. While at UNA, Daniels served as a student manager for four seasons 2008-2012 for UNA’s head coach Bobby Champagne. As a senior he also worked as a student worker in the UNA Compliance Office. He has been a member of the Rising Coaches Elite since June 2011.
Congratulations Coach Luckett and welcome to JagNation Coach Daniels.
Jaguar Pitcher St. John Drafted By Detroit Tigers In 2014 MLB Draft
Locke St. John, a junior from Pell City, AL, was named the SBC Pitcher of the Week on Monday. This is the first for the Jaguars since March 25, 2013. He was selected in the 32nd round of the 2014 MLB First-Year draft on Saturday by the Detroit Tigers. | Photo by: Brad Puckett usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Locke St. John was selected in the 32nd round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft by the Detroit Tigers on Saturday with the 970th overall pick and one of 22 pitchers taken by the Tigers in their 40 picks.
St. John, a Pell City, Alabama native, finished the season with a 6-3 record for the Jaguars with a 3.24 ERA in 15 starts. He Struck out 52 batters and walked 29 in 97 1/3 innings pitched. He also pitched one complete game and combined for a shutout this season. He finished tied for sixth in the Sun Belt Conference in wins, seventh in ERA (sixth among pitchers) while his number of innings ranked fifth in the conference.
This is the second consecutive season a Jaguar lefty has been drafted after Kyle Bartsch was taken in the seventh round of last years draft.
St. John said he was humbled and that he and his family has some thinking to do. He also said that, “I know this would not be possible without the great teammates and coaches I have at South Alabama.”
St. John is a junior and would have one more season of eligibility left if he returns to the Jaguars for next season.
Phil Steele Selects League Leading 18 Jaguars To All-Conference Teams
Phil Steele, sportswriter and analyst who releases one of the most popular preseason magazines each season, recently released his preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team with South Alabama well represented.
In all 18 Jaguars made it into his list, which is tops for the conference. The next closest is co-defending conference champion Louisiana-Lafayette with 15, then co-defending champion Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe and Texas State with 13.
Shavarez Smith WR, Wes Saxton TE, Melvin Meggs OG and Aleem Sunanon K all received First-Team selections.
Drew Dearman OG, Chris May OT, Ucambre Williams OT, Maleki Harris LB and Montell Garner CB all received Second-Team selections.
Jay Jones RB, Danny Woodson WR, Jerome McClain DT, Qudarius Ford CB, Terrell Brigham S and TJ. Glover KR received Third-Team selections.
Marvin Shinn WR, Jimmie Gipson LB, and Jesse Kelley DT received Fourth-Team selections.
Last season the Jaguars only had eight selections to Steele’s Preseason team. This season, four of the five starting offensive linemen were selected to either the first or second team. Three players from the secondary were selected and three wide receivers were selected.
If his selections are any indications as to how the Jags may fare against Sun Belt opponents this season, the season looks bright for the Jaguars.
South Alabama opens the 2014 season at Kent State on September 6 and open their home schedule the following week when they host Mississippi State on September 13.
Jag Coaches To Provide Instruction At GoDaddy Bowl Youth Clinic
The GoDaddy Bowl is played at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama and typically pits a Sun Belt Conference team against Mid-American Conference team. | photo: godaddybowl.com
The University of South Alabama head coach Joey Jones and his staff will be instructing children from age 5 to 13 in the GoDaddy Bowl’s football clinic on Saturday, June 14 at Mobile Christian School.
The youth clinic will feature instruction by coach Jones’ staff in several areas of the game as well as in proper technique and football safety.
Participants will have the opportunity to take part in all of the drills provided which also includes offensive and defensive positions. It will also include proper blocking techniques, passing and pass-catching techniques as well as many other position-specific drills. They will also learn about the importance of character development and sportsmanship.
Participants must register online and bring the waiver included in the registration process with them to the clinic. Participants should wear cool, comfortable clothing and cleats and other equipment are not required. It is suggested that participants arrive early so things may proceed in a timely manner.
“We are excited to be hosting this event again this year and are looking forward to having coach Jones and his staff back with us,” Kelley Wright, director of ticket sales for the GoDaddy Bowl, told Alabama Media Group. “We had well over 300 kids at this clinic last year and look forward to great participation and attendance again this year.”
For more information visit the GoDaddy Bowl website or click here to go directly to the event page for the telephone number and email address to contact organizers from the GoDaddy Bowl or to register for the clinic.
USA Football Ranked 86th By Orlando Sentinel
Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel ranked South Alabama #86 in his ranking of all 128 FBS teams in the country for 2014.
While the ranking may not seem very high, that is truly a huge statement for a team that just finished their first season as a full FBS member and only the fifth year the football program has been in existence. Heading into last season the Jags were being ranked somewhere in the last five of the FBS teams after their 2-11 season as a FBS transitional team.
He wrote about last years team, breaks down the key losses, returning players, strengths and weaknesses of the team and the outlook for this season. He points to the loss of five defensive starters and Ross Metheny behind center as making it “tough to win enough games to earn one the Sun Belt’s limited bowl invitations”.
Head over to the Orlando Sentinel and read the whole thing for yourself and look at the other teams that they have ranked so far by clicking here.
USA’s Jereme Jones Selected One of 14 for ’14 Freakish Athletes In College Football
Jereme Jones was included in the list of 14 freakish athletes in college football for 2014 by Mike Huguenin on NFL.com. Jones will be a senior in 2014. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
Jereme Jones was selected as 14 for ’14 Most Freakish athletes in college football by Mike Huguenin.
The Jaguar fans were posting this all around on Social Media sites, for good reason. Jereme Jones was named #12 on the list with his 84 receptions and 10 touchdowns over the past two seasons. But little did many know that he was pound-for-pound the strongest guy on the Jaguars team.
According to the article he reportedly is 5’8″, 167-pounds, squats 545 pounds, bench presses 365 pounds and hang cleans 335 pounds. He also has been timed with a 4.48 40-yard dash can vertical jump 37.5 inches and broad jump 10’1″. He reportedly only has 7.5% body fat too.
But what they did not note was his consecutive games with a pass-reception streak is currently sitting at 39-consecutive games and also his ability to make some amazing catches. Jereme has the heart of a Jaguar with the hands that seemingly are coated with stickum spray.
Jones is in good company with players from Arizona State, Oregon, Iowa, Florida State, Northwestern, Georgia, East Carolina, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Syracuse, Auburn, Baylor and Louisville.
Congratulations Jereme! I know all of the Jaguar fans look forward to see what you do your senior season.
Head over to NFL.com and read the article for yourself. Click here for the link directly to the page.
Former Jaguar Campbell Earns All-American Honors For Second Consecutive Season
Hannah Campbell, selected third overall in the 2014 National Pro Fastpitch Draft is finished second in the nation in ERA and led the Jaguar pitching staff to a 1.29 ERA which was tops in the Nation. She is the first Jaguar student-athlete and first female in school history to be drafted professionally. | usajaguars.com
Former USA Softball pitcher Hannah Campbell earned All-American honors for the second consecutive season by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Campbell, a native of Satsuma, Alabama, is the Jaguars first and only All-American. She was named to the third team after her performance this season after being named to the second-team last season as an at-large selection. She was also an All-South Region selection in each of her four years with the Jaguars, three of those years she was named to the first team.
She finished the season with a 0.95 ERA, the program’s single-season best, and currently ranks second in the NCAA. She led the Jaguars pitching staff to the top ERA in the nation with a 1.29 combined mark. She allowed only 0.76 walks per seven innings this season, another program best and the third best mark in the NCAA.
In addition to being named a top-25 finalist for the 2014 Collegiate Player of the Year award, she was also named to the All-Sun Belt Conference First-Team for the second season in a row after leading the conference in ERA, strikeouts looking, saves, fewest earned runs allowed, fewest walks allowed and fewest home runs allowed.
She went 18-6 on the season with 176 strikeouts, 159 hits and 26 earned runs in 192. 1/3 innings pitched in 2014.
Hannah was drafted third overall in the 2014 National Pro Fastpitch draft by the Akron Races. She was the first-ever Jaguar softball player to make it to the professional level and the first-ever female Jaguar student-athlete to be drafted professionally.
Hannah will also be joined by her twin sister who played for the UAB Blazers collegiately. Like Hannah, she becomes the first-ever UAB softball student-athlete to rise to the professional level. The sisters will play together for the first time since they were at Satsuma High School.
Lannah earned All-Conference USA honors twice in four years with a second-team selection in 2012 and a first-team in 2013. He was also named to the NFCA Mideast Region Second Team in 2013 after leading the conference in saves (6) and led the team with 180 strikeouts. She also ranks second in UAB history with an average of 0.86 walks per game andgameseven innings mark this past season.
The Racers won their season opener against the Chicago Bandits last night by a score of 4-0. Neither of the Campbell sisters saw action on the mound.
Illegal Pitch Calls Against Farish Beard To Be Examined By SBC Officials
Junior Farish Beard (17-5) was charged with eight illegal pitch calls in the first inning of the first game of a double-header on Saturday against Georgia State. Conference officials will review the video this week. | Photo usajaguars.com
During the Jaguar softball team’s opening game of the Saturday double-header, Farish Beard was on the receiving end of eight illegal pitch calls in the first inning of the Jaguars game against Georgia State. Those calls were critical in the game as on each illegal pitch call, the runners advance a base which scored their only two runs of the game.
First base umpire Destinee Robinson called all eight illegal pitches against Beard and the Jaguars. Eventually Hannah Campbell came in as relief and shut down the Panthers for the rest of the game, but the Jaguars could only manage one run to fall to the Panthers 2-1 in the game.
The illegal pitch call was because Robinson said that Beard’s foot came off the mound before the pitch was thrown.
Beard returned to the mound in game two with Robinson behind home plate umpiring and pitched all nine innings of the game and was not called for an illegal pitch in the game.
Since the call is a judgement call made by an official, the likelyhood that it is appealable is very slim, but the Sun Belt office is aware of it and almost certainly going to review the video.
Head coach Becky Clark said after the double-header, “You’ve got a pitcher who has thrown 117 innings (this season) and hasn’t had that called all year, and you get it called eight times in one inning.”