South Alabama’s 2013 Football Signing Class
South Alabama signs 25 student-athletes in all to their 2013 signing class. Of the signees 17 signed National Letter-Of-Intents and two signed grants-in-aid on Wednesday.
Each recruiting site ranks the Jaguars differently in the Sun Belt Conference. Scout.com ranks the Jags third in the conference, Rivals.com ranks the Jags tied for seventh with Florida International while 247Sports puts the Jaguars recruiting class as #2 in the conference behind Louisiana-Lafayette. No matter how you look at it, it’s an impressive recruiting class for a program entering its first season as a full FBS and Sun Belt Conference member and only their fifth recruiting class in their short history.
The lure of competing for a Sun Belt Conference Championship and a bowl game berth aided the Jags in signing a class of good student-athletes on Wednesday.
“The reason we were able to get several of these really good football players is because we can go to a bowl game and we can win a championship,” Jones said in his press conference. “The last few years we have been selling South Alabama, facilities, the city of Mobile, which are all great things to sell, but at the end of the day you’re going to get better players when you tell them you’re going to be on television a lot, go to bowl games and compete for a championship.”
“There’s no doubt it especially helps with junior-college kids because they’ve only got a couple of years to play,” he continued. “They really don’t want to sit and wait for you and your program to evolve. They want it to happen right now. That’s the reason why I think we signed more quality junior-college kids.”
Among the 25 who signed with South Alabama, six junior college transfers signed in December while five more signed on Wednesday with 14 freshmen. The players had offers from schools like Alabama, Florida State, South Carolina, Michigan, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Clemson, Kansas State, Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Utah State, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Colorado State, Southern Miss, Boise State, Georgia Tech, Troy, Georgia State, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Western Kentucky, Texas State, Louisiana Tech, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, Memphis, UAB, Tulane, Ohio, Toledo, Marshall, Bowling Green and UMass.
Their primary focus was on defensive linemen and defensive backs on the defensive side of the ball while focusing on skilled playmakers on the offensive side of the ball.
Caleb Alves is a 6’3” 175-pound Wide Receiver from Palm Bay Senior High School from Melbourne, Florida. He ranked seventh in the Orlando Sentinel’s MidEast Florida Super 60 and was selected to the third team All-State team his senior season. He chose South Alabama over Bowling Green, Florida A&M, FIU, UMass and Memphis.
Noah Armstrong is a 6’7” 300-pound offensive lineman from Lawrence County High School in Moulton, Alabama. Rivals.com rated him a 3-star recruit and among the top 100 offensive linemen in the country. He had offers from Arkansas State, Western Kentucky and Southern Miss.
Kaleb Blanchard, 6’ 200-pound native of Denham Springs, Louisiana and running back for Denham Springs High School, committed to South Alabama after visiting Mobile for an official visit in late January on Senior Bowl weekend. He had actually committed to Arkansas but after a coaching change his recruitment opened back up. Three recruiting services has him ranked as a three-star recruit while one had him as a four star recruit.
Blanchard is listed as clocking a 4.45 40-yard dash. Rivals.com has him ranked as the #35 nationally at his position and #15 in the state of Louisiana while 247Sports has him ranked as the #42 player at his position. Despite injuries in his junior year, he still gained 400 yards rushing with six touchdowns. He was then named offensive MVP of the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl back in December. He was offered scholarships by Arkansas, Cincinnati, Louisiana Tech and Louisiana-Lafayette among others.
Blanchard’s skill and potential explosiveness could give that extra punch that the Coach Matthews spread attack needs to open up both the running and passing games.
Roman Buchanan is a 6’2” 205-pound safety from Daleville High School in Daleville, Alabama. He was a four-year starter at his high school and was a first-team All-State selection by the Alabama Sport Writers Association in his senior year. As a junior, he had 72 solo tackles, 45 assists, four sacks, three forced turnovers, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions and four passes defended. Then he also added a blocked field goal.
Jacob Chaffin is a 6’3″ 260-pound defensive tackle from Spain Park, AL. Chaffin had 38 solo tackles, 8 tackles for loss and three sacks as a junior. He was rated a three-star recruit by ESPN.com which also ranked him among the top 10 defensive tackles in Alabama.
Devon Earl is a 5’10” 185-pound cornerback from Hoover High School in Hoover Alabama. He had 61 tackles, 5 interceptions, 10 pass deflections and 3.5 TFL’s as a junior. He was ranked fifth in Alabama at cornerback according to ESPN.com.
Dejon Funderburk, a native of Pensacola and wide receiver at Booker T. Washington high school, committed to the Jags back in the summer of 2012 and stayed firmly committed even though he had been pursued by several programs. Funderburk had offers from Rutgers, Alabama, Alcorn State, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Florida State, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Florida, Troy, UAB and Western Kentucky.
The Hilltoppers were the last to try to woo Funderburk but he stayed with his initial commitment. He contributed his choice to playing close to home so friends and family could see him play. His big play ability will be used in Coach Matthews spread offense.
DeMarion Harper, a 6’4” 275-pound strong side defensive end originally from Vicksburg Mississippi and Fort Scott Community College. He redshirted last fall at CC but was credited with 38 tackles in 2011 at Highland CC. He was being recruited by Louisiana Tech, Kansas, Ohio and Toledo among others. He will come to South Alabama with two years of eligibility as well.
Caleb Hayman is a 6’3” 215-pound wide receiver and tight end prospect from Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Florida. He was selected first-team All-State after helping lead his school to the state title last season.
Tony Johnson, a 6’3” 250-pound linebacker from Summit Mississippi and Southwest Mississippi Community College is rated a two-star by some recruiting services but is rated a three-star by the 247Sports composite ratings. He was originally verbally committed to Louisiana Tech but flipped to the Jaguars at the last minute. He also had an offer from UAB. He is listed as having a 4.8 40-yard dash speed. He could very well step in and fill the shoes left by Jake Johnson’s graduation.
Xavier Johnson is a 5’11” 170-pound running back from Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida. He rushed for 1,736 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior. He was ranked among the top 30 running backs in Florida by ESPN.com and was an honorable mention for All-State in 2012.
Akeem Lewis is 5’11” 230-pound defensive end from Abbeville, Louisiana by way of Los Angeles Harbor CC. He totaled 14.5 TFL’s and nine sacks and ranked in the top three in the league last season.
Jerome McClain, a 6’2” 295-pound defensive tackle from Pensacola and Northwest Mississippi Community College. He is rated as a three-star recruit by recruiting services. He had offers from Arizona State, Indiana, FIU, Memphis, Minnesota, Ohio, Southern Miss and Western Kentucky. He is listed as clocking a 5 second 40-yard dash. He’s another addition to a defensive line that became quite thin last season due to injuries and will have a number of seniors graduating after next season.
McClain finished with 51 tackles and 10 tackles for loss last season. Northwest Mississippi CC finished in the top 10 in NJCAA last year.
Tevaris McCormick is a 5’10” 170-pound wide receiver from Biloxi High School in Biloxi, Mississippi. He racked up 769 yards receiving, 213 yards rushing and 265 yards on kick returns with 16 total touchdowns. He played in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic last year. He was rated a two-star from all of the national recruiting services.
Brandon McKee is from South Forsyth High School in Georgia and got on the Jaguars radar when he participated, and won, a punting and kicking competition in Mobile. But McKee did not stop there, he also won competitions at Appalachian State and Western Carolina, finished second at Auburn’s punting camp and was eighth out of 200 overall at the Kohl’s National Scholarship Camp in Wisconsin. He was a first-team All-State, All-Region and All-County selection last year.
During his senior season he had 33 punts for an average of 45 yards per punt and a long of 63. He also booted 10 other kicks over 50 yards each. McKee also went a perfect 25-for-25 on PATS and 8-of-9 in field goal attempts with a long of 45 yards. Another very impressive stat was 40 touchbacks on 45 kickoffs. All of those stats earned him First Team All-State honors in 6A.
McKee had interest from Arkansas, Auburn, Duke, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss and Oklahoma State plus some lower division schools. Texas A&M wanted him to join the program as a preferred walk-on. However he chose to verbally commit to South Alabama. The staff is primarily interested in him for punting duties since Scott Garber, who has handled the punting duties for the program’s first four years and has another year of eligibilty remaining is considering leaving.
But McKee may have an opportunity to placekick as well. Michel Chapuseaux graduated from the program leaving an opportunity for someone to earn his spot.
Theo Rich, a 6’3” 270-pound defensive tackle/strong-side defensive end from Portal High School in Portal Georgia and Itawamba Community College. He is ranked as a two-star prospect by some of the recruiting services. He signed with NC State before leaving the team in 2012 and going to Itawamba CC. He had offers from Middle Tennessee State and Georgia State but chose South Alabama in the end.
Rich will come to South Alabama with two years of eligibility remaining and will help to add depth to a defensive line that is full of seniors. He will also give the Jags experience on the defensive line next season as well.
Brett Sheehan, a 6’3” 184-pound quarterback from Suwanee Georgia and Collins Hill High School signed with South Alabama over Georgia State and FIU. He is considered a pocket passer and clocked a 4.93 40-yard dash. He is rated as a two-star recruit by some of the recruiting services.
DeVonta Staples is a 6’1” 190-pound safety from Valley High School in Lanett, Alabama. He was named to the All-State team by the Alabama Sports Writers Association
Jalen Wells is a 6’5” 230-pound defensive end from Dublin High School in Dublin, Georgia. He was projected at a number of positions by recruiting services such as tight end and linebacker. He had interest from Florida, Georgia, NC State, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech. Wells was rated a three-star recruit according to Scout.com and was named first-team All-Region and All-Middle Georgia last year.
Below are junior college transfers who signed with the Jaguars in December.
Cristobal Dinham is a 5’10” 210-pound running back from Lithonia Georgia by way of Independence Community College in Kansas. He ranked fifth in the NJCAA after rushing for 1,012 yards in 2012 with 10 touchdowns.
The Fuller twins are from Scooba, Mississippi and attended Kemper County High School. They both attended East Central Mississippi CC. Steffon Fuller is a 6’4″ 205-pound safety who recorded 54 tackles and four pass break-ups last season to be named first-team Mississippi Association of Community and Junior College’s First-Team All-State. He recorded eight tackles in three of the Warriors’ nine games including against nationally-ranked East Mississippi CC.
Steven Fuller is also 6’4″ weighing in at 200-pounds. He played in the secondary, at wide receiver and on special teams until last year. Defensively he had 20 tackles, three of them for loss, two pass defenses and a blocked kick. Offensively he caught seven passes for 95 yards while collecting 13 pancake blocks on run plays.
Montell Garner is a 6’1″ 185-pound cornerback originally from Colleyville, Texas and transferring from Navarro Junior College. He tallied eight pass break-ups in the season which tied him for fifth in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference. He also added 23 tackles and an interception. The Bulldogs finished ranked fourth in the NJCAA poll with a 10-2 record. Against nationally ranked Kilgore Junior College, Garner tallied 10 tackles in the 42-14 win. Then against Blinn JC he tallied seven tackles, three passes defended and an interception in the win.
Jay Jones is a 5’9″, 180-pound running back from Horn Lake, Mississippi and transferring from Northwest Mississippi Community College. Jones rushed for 504 yards and three touchdowns to rank in the top 50 in the nation rushing. He also added 11 pass receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown. He began the season with an 83-yard, one touchdown rushing performance with another 23 yards on three catches against Copiah-Lincoln CC. He followed that up with a season-high of 157 yards rushing on 29 carries in a win at Jones County CC. He then followed that performance with a 126 yard rushing performance with a touchdown against Holmes CC. He also had a 51 yard reception during the season.
Desmond LaVelle is a 5’11″ 230-pound linebacker from Decatur, Alabama who transfers to USA from Northwest Mississippi CC. He tied for fourth on the team with 53 tackles, with 4.5 of them for a loss, two fumble recoveries an interception and a pass defended while earning first-team All-Conference honors. His team finished 8-2 on the season ranked ninth in the final NJCAA rankings and a defense ranked 14th in the nation with 316.6 yards per game. As a freshman in 2011, LaVelle collected 25 tackles, two of them for loss, an interception and a fumble recovery.
Jaguar fans should be quite pleased with this recruiting class. If recent patterns continue, the staff should should do a great job of developing their talent to translate into outstanding play on the field. The defensive line and secondary added some very high quality depth. Offensively, the Jags added some big play threats and much needed depth at running back and wide receiver. They also picked up a huge offensive lineman, which was their target number for this class.
With the ability of back-signing the December JuCo signees to 2012, coach Jones said that he had five open scholarships and were still in the recruiting process for this class. The staff will have their eyes open for receivers to help build more depth and big play potential to the position.
Congratulations guys! We are glad that you chose South Alabama and look forward to watching you develop your abilities for the Jaguars.
Lady Jags Picked 2nd In Conference, Three Players Picked To All-SBC Team
The South Alabama Softball team was chosen to finish second in the regular season behind five-time defending regular-season champion Louisiana-Lafayette this season by a vote by conference head coaches. The Jags are the defending Sun Belt Tournament champions and earned eight of the nine second-place votes.
Also three Lady Jaguar student-athletes were named to the 2013 All-Sun Belt Conference Team on Monday.
Hannah Campbell a junior pitcher, Blair Johnson a sophomore outfielder and Britany Campbell a senior At-Large choice were selected to the 17 person team as voted by conference head coaches.
Hannah finished the season last year with a 2.03 ERA while winning 24 games and striking out 199 batters that she faced while pitching 28 complete games. She earned four consecutive wins in the Sun Belt Conference tournament, striking out 14 batters and had a 0.32 ERA on her way to earning the Most Outstanding Player in the Jags first-ever postseason conference title. In 2011, she was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year then in 2012 she was named Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Also, she is a two-time All-Conference and National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Regional selection. Hannah is from Satsuma, Alabama.
Johnson, coming off of an outstanding freshman season, earned All-Sun Belt Conference in the outfield. She started all 57 games for the Jaguars, was fourth on the team with a .315 batting average, had a slugging percentage of .414, and a .372 on base percentage. She was tied for first on the team with 57 hits and 14 doubles. She accumulated 33 runs, 27 RBI’s, 12 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games. Johnson is from Kimberly, Alabama and Mortimer Jordan HS.
Britany Campbell is a regular in center field for the Jaguars. She recorded a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 2012 while also leading the team in stolen bases with 24. She batted .237, while scoring 24 times and earning 13 RBI’s. She set a Jaguar single-game record for RBI’s in a game against Southeastern Louisiana with six. She had a five-game hit streak and a nine-game on-base streak last season. Britany is from Phoenix, Arizona and Thunderbird HS.
Congratulations and good luck in 2013!
Jags Down UALR 70-66 In Little Rock On Saturday
Mychal scored 16 points against UALR, including two key shots and a block near the end. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
The Jaguar men’s basketball team held on to defeat Arkansas-Little Rock 70-66 on Saturday. The Jags held a 15-point lead in the first half but needed a key shot by Mychal Ammons and some defensive stops to hold onto the win.
The win by the Jags improves their overall record to 12-9 on the season and 9-4 in Sun Belt play. Arkansas-Little Rock falls to 14-10 overall and 8-5 in Sun Belt play. The Jags continue to hold onto second place in the Eastern Division but are now solely in possession of second place overall in the conference. USA trails Middle Tennessee (20-4, 12-1 SBC) by three games. UALR falls into a tie with Arkansas State atop the Western Division but both have a four game lead over third place in the Western Division ULL (8-16, 4-9 SBC).
Augustine Rubit and Antoine Allen would both score a game-high 17 points each. Rubit would earn his 12th double-double of the season by adding 11 rebounds. Rubit also hit nine of his 12 attempts from the foul line.
Allen would go 3-of-7 from outside the arc while hitting on 11 of his attempts from the floor and dishing out three assists.
“I’m just really proud of our team,” interim head coach Jeff Price said after the game. “We did a great job of following the game plan. Our guys are buying to what we have to do to win. I thought we were extremely patient on the offensive end, which is what we talked about, we held them to 34 percent, we won the battle at the free throw line and they just did what we asked them to do.”
“Our team is always going to be better when we’re making perimeter shots,” Price said. “Antoine shot the ball well and it certainly helps, and I thought he was solid on the defensive end too. Everybody chipped in — the starters, the bench — it was just a great team effort.”
With 6:38 left in the game, the Jags held a 13 point advantage but they would see the Trojans cut it down to only two points in a span less than five minutes.
Following a Jaguar time out, Ammons would drive the right baseline for a key layup to give South Alabama a 66-62 advantage with 48.3 seconds left in the game.
“We were up two, called a play, got good execution and got a great basket from Mychal,” Price explained in the post game conference.
Ammons was not done though. On the defensive end on the UALR possession, be would block a shot that led to an Allen layup with 33 seconds left in the game.
Jaguar players would then go on to miss three of their last four foul shots to allow UALR to make it a one possession game. Ammons would come through again by hitting his final attempt of the game with 10.9 seconds left in the game to make the final score 70-66.
The Jags held the Trojans to 34.4% from the floor, the lowest allowed by a Jaguar opponent this season. In the first half, USA would force five consecutive missed shots and two turnovers over a four-and-a-half minute span in the first half for a 7-0 run to gain a 12 point lead on the Trojans.
“Home teams are going to make runs,” Price explained. “These guys hadn’t lost a league game at home yet, so you know they’re going to make a run. We talk about that all the time and I thought our guys did a good job of sticking their chest out, being resilient and fighting off the run at the end of the game.”
“We were just focused on the defensive end,” Price said. “We watched tape, we talked about it and I didn’t think we did a very good job at Arkansas State (Thursday). We did a really nice job of guarding the ball. They’re a very set-oriented team. I thought they were well scouted, we knew their offense and they had hard time in their sets.”
In the second half, UALR only managed to shoot 32.4% from the floor and were held to 4-of-17 shooting from outside the 3-point line.
Ammons would end the game with 16 points, one short of sharing the game high with Rubit and Allen. Ammons also made his only three-point attempt of the game.
Ben Dillard led the Trojans with 15 points while Josh Hagins added 13 points. Will Neighbour had a team-high 10 rebounds.
Jags will return home to face Troy to begin a three-game homestand.
USA Get Verbal Commitment From JuCo Pass Rusher
National Signing day is quickly approaching and the Jags got a verbal commitment from a much needed pass rusher on Thursday.
Akeem Lewis, a 6’3″ 242-pound Louisiana native, had an offer from Southern Miss but chose South Alabama to continue his college career. He totalled 17.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks last year in his sophomore season. He visited campus in early December and had since gotten interest from Washington and Arizona State then added Michigan, Illinois and Houston all showed interest later in his recruitment.
He told 247Sports that his family was a big factor in choosing South Alabama over other suitors. “Well, I’m from Louisiana, so it would be close to home,” he said. “My mom could come see me play, so it’s just the best fit for me right now. Just getting closer to home.”
Verbal commitments are non-binding. National Signing day is Wednesday, February 6th.
Jags Fall To ASU 74-62
The South Alabama men’s basketball team fought back from a 16-point deficit against Arkansas State but could not overtake the Red Wolves Thursday night and fall on the road 74-62.
The Jags fall to 11-9 on the season and 8-4 overall in Sun Belt play as their season-best three-game winning streak was snapped. ASU improves to 13-8 overall for the season and 7-5 in Sun Belt play. The Jags hold onto second place in the Eastern Division and is currently tied for second place overall in the Sun Belt Conference standings. The Jags now trail Middle Tennessee by three games and lead FIU by two games in the Eastern Division. UALR leads the Western Division by one game over ASU.
Arkansas State’s Rakeem Dickerson scored 18 points, all of them in the second half and 14 of them from the foul line. Trey Finn also scored 18 and three steals for the Red Wolves.
Augustine Rubit led South Alabama with 18 points, while going 12-for-12 from the foul line. He also finished with nine rebounds, two short of a double-double, and two blocks. Javier Carter scored 11 points (10 in the first half) off the bench to tie a season high while added three blocks and two steals.
It was nearly 15 minutes into the game before the Jags got their first offensive rebound of the game.
The Jags trailed the entire second half but worked hard to battle back with runs of 6-0 and 7-0 to close within two points each time. However ASU would respond each time with runs of 7-0 and 8-0 of their own.
“It was an extremely physical game,” interim head coach Jeff Price said after the game. “It was hard-fought and intense on both ends. We put them on the line a lot. We got to the free throw line too but it’s hard to battle 43 free throws. We just couldn’t get a flow to the game because the flow stopped so much with the fouls. We were bending but we weren’t breaking. We kept fighting back but every time we had a chance to get over the hump we just couldn’t do it.”
“We just couldn’t make baskets when we needed to,” Price continued. “We were getting stops and then all of the sudden we’d foul and they’d make free throws. We missed a couple of easy shots we should have made. It’s hard to play on the road in this type of environment against a good basketball team. We just have to keep plugging away.”
Arkansas State went 30-of-43 from the free throw line with Dickerson going 14-of-16 and Finn went 8-of-10. Arkansas State opened up a 16 point advantage around midway through the first half, however a Jagaur run of 16-5 would cut the Red Wolves lead to 35-29 at halftime.
The Jags will face Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday for a 7pm tipoff before returning home for another three-game homestand. The game can be heard on 105.5 WNSP and WNSP.com on Saturday.
Jags Look To Extend Three Game Win Streak At ASU
The South Alabama Jaguars men’s basketball team will try to extend their three game winning streak when they face Arkansas State tonight in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The Jags completed a three-game sweep at home with wins over Louisiana-Monroe, Western Kentucky and Florida International.
The Jags enter the game with an 11-8 record overall and an 8-3 record in Sun Belt play. Arkansas State holds a 12-8 record overall and a 6-5 record in Sun Belt play.
Arkansas State has won two of their last three games coming off of a 63-38 rout of Florida Atlantic on Saturday. ASU holds a 9-2 record at home. The Jags have won their last three games including a 60-58 win over Florida International last Saturday. The Jags are 5-3 on the road.
Augustine Rubit leads the Jags in scoring and rebounding averaging 19.1 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game. Mychal Ammons is next with 10.9 points per game average and 7.2 rebounds per game average. The Jags will be without Freddie Goldstein for the second consecutive game after he suffered a broken colarbone against Western Kentucky.
The Jags are 45th in the nation in blocked shots with 4.8 blocks per game with Javier Carter leading the Jags with 38 blocks this season.
Ed Townsel is leading the way for the Red Wolves with an average of 14.8 points per game. Brandon Peterson is the only other Red Wolf that averages double-digits scoring with 11.4 points per game. Peterson also added an average of 9.6 rebounds per game and 23 blocks on the season.
The Jags and the Red WOlves are set to tip off at 7:05pm in Jonesboro, Arkansas. THe game can be heard on 105.5FM WNSP and WNSP.com.
Jags Land Highly Rated Recruit
On the heels of the announcement that Terrence Upshaw had decommitted from South Alabama and committed to Samford, the Jags landed another running back, and a big one at that.
Kaleb Blanchard was among the large group of recruits who visited South Alabama over the weekend of January 25. He saw what the school and the city had to offer with tours of the football facilities and the school itself as well as taking in a Mardi Gras parade and the Senior Bowl.
According to multiple sites, he seemed to liked what he saw and was ready to commit.
Blanchard is rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports, ESPN Recruiting Nation and Scout.com while being rated a four-star prospect by Rivals. He is listed as having offers from Arkansas, Louisiana-Lafayette, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Louisiana Tech and Tennessee by the recruiting sites.
He is listed as a 6′ 200-pound running back from Denham Springs High School in Denham Springs, Louisiana. According to Scout.com he is listed as having a 4.45 40-yard dash. 247Sports has him ranked at the #42 player at his position. Rivals.com has him ranked #35 nationally at his position and #15 in the state of Louisiana.
Blanchard suffered and injury that cut his Junior season short yet still managed 400 yards rushing with six touchdowns. In more recent news he was named the offensive MVP of the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl in December.
His recruiting opened back up after the new staff hired by Brett Bielema at Arkansas pulled his offer recently.
Jags Add Southern Utah To 2013 Football Schedule
There are reports that South Alabama will open the 2013 season against Southern Utah at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on a Thursday night on August 29.
Head coach Joey Jones and the University of South Alabama football team have completed their 2013 football schedule. The Jags have added a fifth non-conference game to fill the 12 game schedule after Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic negotiated their early exit from the conference this summer.
The Jags 2013 schedule of 12 games will be evenly split between road games and home games. They will have four Sun Belt Conference games at home and three road games. Of the Sun Belt teams returning this season, the Jags played road games against Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe and Arkansas State while playing a home game against Troy. The Jags did not face Western Kentucky last season.
This season the Jags will face ULM, ULL, Arkansas State, Troy and Western Kentucky with new additions of Georgia State and Texas State. They will have five non-conference games with only two of them scheduled to be at home. The newly added Southern Utah will visit Mobile on August 29 as mentioned before and Kent State will visit on October 19th.
The Jags will travel to play Tulane on September 7, University of Tennessee on September 28 and Navy on November 16.
The official Sun Belt Schedule will be released this spring. That is when we will know for certain who the Jags will face, where they will face them and when they will face them.
As for Southern Utah, they went 5-6 last season playing as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
Roberson Arrested As Suspect In Burglary
Xavier Roberson photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
KLTV in Tyler, Texas reports that former South Alabama basketball player Xavier Roberson has been charged for a home burglary that took place on Christmas eve.
Roberson was suspended indefinitely in December by interim head coach Jeff Price for breaking then unidentified team and University rules.
Roberson, according to the report, was identified as one of the suspects and was arrested by the Humble, Texas police department on January 21 then transferred to Tyler, Texas on January 24.
The KLTV posts states that the Tyler Police responded to a burglary alarm on December 24 at a residence. Upon arrival, they discovered that a burglary had occurred. Dispatch received a call from a person who gave a vehicle description for a suspect. Another police officer saw the vehicle and attempted to stop them. The suspects threw stolen jewelry from the vehicle as they managed to get away. One of the suspects was identified as Roberson later.
He is being held on $300,000 bond as the police are still trying to identify two other suspects.
This is a very sad development for a gifted student-athlete.
The full report can be seen here.
Jags Hold Off FIU For 60-58 Win
The South Alabama men’s basketball team held off Florida International to sweep a three-game home stand, 60-58. The Jags needed a steal in the final seconds of the game to help preserve the win. South Alabama improves to 11-8 overall and 8-3 in Conference play.
Augustine Rubit earned his eleventh double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds while Dre Conner had a career-tying four steals in the game, including the final one to seal the game. Conner also finished with with a career best six assists as well.
The Jags would take a 31-22 lead into the locker room at halftime. At the 15:12 mark in the second half and leading 37-30, the Jags would hit a cold streak. FIU would go on a 15-2 run to take a 45-39 lead over the next three-and-a-half minutes.
A three pointer by Antoine Allen would cut the six point FIU lead in half and get the Jaguars momentum back. With just under five minutes left in the game, Dre Conner would make a layup and also sink the foul shot for a conventional three-point play to give the Jags a 52-51 lead. Barrington Stevens III would hit a three-pointer shortly after to regain the lead again for good with 3:29 left in the game.
Neither team was able to score in the final minute-and-a-half of the game and only one shot fell from the floor in the final 3:29 of the game.
Allen finished the game with 11 points and Stevens III finished with 10 points including all three of his shots from outside the arc. Mychal Ammons would add nine points and five rebounds as well.
Jerome Frink and Malik Smith scored 12 points each to lead FIU in scoring.
“That was fun,” interim head coach Jeff Price said after the game. “It was probably a lot more fun to watch than to coach. I just can’t say enough about our guys on how resilient they are, and how they fight and continue to overcome things. We got tired in the second half and I thought the first five minutes we really didn’t start well. I felt we got fatigued after that and got our heads down. But we found a way to fight back. It was just a great team effort, I’m just really happy for our guys.”
“I thought Barrington stepped up and made a couple of shots,” Price said. “We’ve got to start relying more on Barrington to have a two-guard mentality because he’s a really good shooter. He knocked down a couple of shots. It’s going to be like this for this season. We have five guards and we can move Mychal out there if we have to. We feel like Mychal is more effective inside, though.”
“South Alabama is a very good team with really good players,” FIU head coach Richard Pitino, son of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, said after the game. “Jeff (Price) is a very good coach. They hit some good shots because they are good players. You have to give all the credit to them. They won the game. Our guys competed in the second half the way I wanted them to, but all the credit goes to South Alabama.”
FIU falls to 11-9 on the season and 6-5 in conference play. The Jags continue to hold onto second place in the Eastern Division, trailing Middle Tennessee State by two games and leading third place FIU now by two games.
The Jags will now have a two-game road swing through Arkansas with their first contest coming in Jonesboro against Arkansas State on Thursday for a 7:05pm tipoff. ASU won the first game between the two teams 63-54 back on December 29 in Mobile. Jags hope to add to their three-game winning streak.