2009 Verbal Commitments to USA
Here is a list of verbal commitments to the University of South Alabama. While they have not currently officially signed their Scholarships they have verbally committed to the Jaguars however until they have signed their National Letter of Intent they can change their mind.
Randon Carnathan from Leeds HS, Leeds Alabama. He is a 6’0″ 250lb 2 star recruit playing Defensive end. Carnathan recorded 119 tackles, 30 for a loss and 18.5 sacks. He caused four fumbles recovering two of them and an interception. He also rushed 88 times for 793 yards and 13 touchdowns during his schools undefeated championship season. ASWA All-State DL and Lineman of the year for 3A.
Keiron Wilson from W.P. Davidson HS in Mobile. He is a 6’0″ 195lb 2 star recruit playing Safety. Keiron had 88 tackles and three sacks during his junior season, no stats were available for his senior season.
Limebric Windham from Alma Bryant HS in Irvington Alabama. He is a 6’1″ 195lb 2 star recruit playing Wide Receiver. Windham broke his schools record for receptions during his junior season with 58 catches for 759 yards and four touchdown. He averaged 14.3 yards per catch.
Corey Waldon from Central HS in Tuscaloosa Alabama. He is a 5’8″ 161lb 2 star recruit who is listed at having 4.66 speed in the 40yrd dash at Wide Receiver. Waldon had 38 catches for 858 yards and 10 touchdowns in his senior season and racked up over 1,500 yards of total offense. He was named to Tuscaloosa News Super 11, selected West Alabama All-Star 5A Player of the Year. In 2007 he had 36 receptions for 896 yards and eight touchdowns. He also returned 12 punts for 400 yards and two touchdowns and eight kickoff returns for 205 yards. In addition to his 4.66 40-yard dash he also had a 31.5″ vertical jump.
Alex Phifer from Greenville HS in Greenville Alabama. He is a 5’10” 185lb 1 star quarterback.
Ellis Hill from Hillcrest HS in Tuscaloosa Alabama. He is 5’8″ 190lb 1 star recruit at running back and is listed as having 4.50 speed in the 40yrd dash. Ellis had 255 carries for 1,421 yards and 20 touchdowns in his senior season and was named to the Tuscaloosa News Super 11. He ends his HS career with 3,795 yards and 56 touchdowns. He started for his school since 10th grade and has a 3.58 GPA. In 2007 he had 134 carries for 941 yards and 12 touchdowns, 12 receptions for 147 yards and a touchdown, 22 kickoff returns for 682 yards and 1,777 All-Purpose yards.
Tony Threatt from Leeds HS in Leeds Alabama. He is a 6’4″ 190lb 1 star recruit who plays strong side linebacker. He recorded 74 tackles and five interceptions during an undefeated championship season in the 3A division and was selected all-state first team DB. In 2007, he made 67 tackles, three sacks and four forced fumbles with two fumble recoveries as well as 24 receptions for 34 yards and four touchdowns on offense.
South Alabama Signing Day To Be Broadcast Online
Fans and supporters of South Alabama Football who cannot be at the Mitchell Center Wednesday will be able to watch a live stream online. The USA Athletic Department announced on Tuesday that the schools first ever recruiting class will be broadcast live on USAJaguars.com starting at 4pm.
In order to view the stream you will be required to have Windows Media Player.
The stream can be accessed through the schedule for live audio/video events on the multimedia page of the site. It will be underneath the ‘Countdown to Kickoff’ on the righthand side of the website.
If you are in Mobile and want to be a part of history, this event is free to the public in the Mitchell Center. Afterwards you can stay for the USA Women’s Basketball team hosting North Texas with tip-off scheduled for 7:05pm.
GO Jags!
Women’s Basketball Roundup 2009-02-03
The lady jags have gone 2-2 over the last four games since I last wrote about them on this site. Thus its time for a Lady Jag Roundup.
On January 21st the Jags hosted the SBC west division leading University of Arkansas Little Rock at the Mitchell Center. But despite Ra’Shawna Sippio’s third straight double-double USA fell 53-44.
Sippio tied a career high in scoring with 22 points and added 10 rebounds. She was the only Jag in double digits for the game. She added three blocked shots for the game as well. Chastity Reed of UALR lead all scorers with 28 points and 13 rebounds while Anshel Cooper chipped in with 11 points as well.
While USA came into the game with the second best average of 8.2 3-pointers per game, they were held to a mere 2-15 from outside the arc. Combined with 32% shooting from the floorand 71% from the free-throw line, it was obviously a long night for the Lady Jags.
On January 24th the Lady Jags traveled to Lafayette Louisiana to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns. A really good start in the first half helped the Lady Jags to come out with their 14th victory of the season and 5th in the Sun Belt Conference.
In the first half the Jags outshot ULL 57%-30% from the floor, 47%-17% from 3-point range but missed both free-throw attempts while ULL connected on 6 of 8 attempts.
The second half was even with the Jags hitting 9-23 from the floor, 2-12 from 3-point range and 5-12 from the free-throw line. While ULL went 12-30 from the floor, 3-8 from 3-point range and 2-3 from the free-throw line. So the 8 point lead at halftime led to a 14 point win.
The Lady Jags had four in double digits scoring. Shakira Nettles led the way with 18. Ra’Shawna Sippio added 13 points and 12 rebounds for yet another double-double. Shaniece Brunner and Jessica Starling both scored 11 points.
On January 29th the Lady Jags traveled to Denver Colorado to take on the Pioneers at Magness Arena. However another Ra’Shawna Sippio double-double could not lead the Jags to a win in overtime, 61-56.
Both teams were scoreless for the first two and a half minutes of overtime until Denver University scored. They then took a 60-53 lead on two consecutive buckets before Karina Sproal got USA on the board with three free throws. However USA could not come up with baskets in the closing seconds to lose by six.
Ra’Shawna Sippio lead all scorers with 21 points and 10 rebounds but no other Jag scored in double digits for the game. Denver had two double digit scorers: Britteni Rice with 18 and Ketlyn Murdoch with 11.
However the telling stats are from overtime. Denver going 3-6 from the floor, 1-2 from 3-point range and 1-2 from the free throw line while USA went 0-6 from the floor, no attempts from outside the arc and 3-3 on free throws.
On January 31st the Lady Jags hosted UNO in the second half of a double header at the Mitchell Center. The Jags captured their 15th victory of the season in their 68-60 victory.
Shakira Nettles lead all scorers with 23 points on 8-15 shooting from the floor while going 5-9 from 3-point range and 2-2 from the free-throw line. Ra’Shawna Sippio scored 14 with 10 rebounds for her sixth straight double-double. Morriah Smith and Jessica Starling both added 11 points.
UNO’s Jada Frazier scored 17 points, Brittany Helm added 14 and Cookie Johnson chipped in with 11 in the loss.
The lady Jags will host North Texas Wednesday night with tip-off scheduled for 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
Come out and support the Jaguars!
Jaguars Break Losing Streak, Down UNO 56-53
This was the fourth consecutive game decided in the final seconds but this time the game went in favor of South Alabama. After having lost three consecutive games on the last possession, it was a huge relief to the Jaguar faithful to be on the winning side of one.
USA lead the entire first half and went into the locker room with a nine point lead. However, in the first five minutes of the second half the Jags would see their lead fizzle away when a trey with 11:38 left in the game would give UNO their first lead of the game.
The game would stay close throughout the rest of the second half with the lead changing hands once more to the Jags and five ties. Jags held the lead at 54-53 with 33 seconds left when a 3-pointer by T.J. Worley missed its mark. DeAndre Coleman gathered in the rebound and UNO was forced to foul. Coleman made both free-throw attempts to cap off the win.
The Jags won even though they shot 30% from the floor compared to 43% for UNO. The Privateers hit 50% of their 3-pointers compared to 44% for the Jags. However, USA went to the free-throw line 24 times making 16 of them compared to UNO’s 13 trips and 7 made shots.
Points in the paint was even with 18 each, pts off turnovers USA 13, UNO 9. Second chance points USA 21 – UNO 7, fast break pts UNO 11 – USA 2, bench scoring USA 16 – UNO 0.
DeAndre Coleman lead the scoring for USA with 16 on 3-8 shooting, making his only 3-point attempt and sinking 9 of 14 free-throw attempts. Brandon Davis came away with a double-double by scoring 13 points on 5-10 shooting and going 3-4 from the free-throw line. He added a career high 16 rebounds, 13 defensive in the game.
Ronald Douglas made his first appearance since Jan. 17. He injured his shoulder during practice and had to sit out to let it heal. He did not score but did come down with four rebounds.
New Orleans T.J.Worley scored 25 points to lead all scorers going 10-19 from the floor, 4-8 from outside the arc and hitting his only free-throw attempt. Kyndall Dykes scored 11 to be the only other UNO player in double digits.
Coach Arrow said after the game, “I think we kept our poise, but the difference in this one was we ran our plays better, we got a couple of easy buckets and when they fouled we made our free-throws.” Arrow also added “Coleman’s second free throw was supposed to be a miss, but we were positioned in the right spots.” as an indicator that this game was meant for them to win.
South Alabama hosts North Texas on Thursday night at the Mitchell Center with tip-off scheduled for 7:05pm.
Come out and support your Jaguars!
Denver Edges USA On Last Second Shot 56-54
This was the third consecutive game where the game was decided in the final seconds and it also marked the third consecutive loss for the Jaguars.
The first half saw Denver shoot 67% from the field and from 3-point range as well as 60% from the free-throw line. While USA struggled only shooting 48% from the field and missing on all six attempts from outside the arc.
Denver had pulled away throughout the first half and went into the locker room with a 37-28 lead.
Defense tightened up for both teams in the second half. Both teams combined to shoot 34% from the floor with both teams suffering long field goal droughts. Denver shot 32% from the floor and only hit one of 11 3-point field goals and 4 of 9 free-throws. USA shot 37% from the field with no attempts at a 3-pointer and hit 12 of 18 free-throws.
The Jags went without a field goal for the final 5:58 of the game. Denver did not convert a shot over a 7:33 span late in the game. But Nate Rohnert hit a lay-up with a mere 5.1 seconds left in the game to break the tie at 54. Denver took a quick timeout so USA set up a quick play to try to tie the game and go into overtime. Coach Arrow said after the game, “The plan was either to go inside to Brandon Davis or Domonic Tilford was going to have the ball. We passed it a little too late.”
Tilford took the shot but it was waved off by the officials. Unsure if he actually got the shot off before the buzzer the officials congregated and talked it over. Eventually going to the game officials to watch a replay of the final shot and determined that, indeed it was too late.
DeAndre Coleman lead all scorers with 17 points on 4-7 shooting and connecting on 9 of 10 free-throws. Brandon Davis added 15 points but was in foul trouble late in the game. Denver had two players in double digits. Nate Rohnert scored 12 and Rob Lewis scored 11.
After the game, Lee Shirvanian talked with Coach Arrow. “I don’t know what to say. I feel bad for the guys. Yeah, we make the key mistakes but we play hard enough to win. We’ve played three games in a row that we’ve lost at the buzzer that we played hard enough to win. It’s got to change…”
Hopefully it will change for the Jags on Saturday when the Mitchell Center will host a double header. The men will take on New Orleans with tip-off set for 2pm and it will also be televised on CSS. The lady Jags also take on New Orleans with tip-off scheduled for about 7:05pm or about 30 minutes after the men’s game concludes.
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-01-28
Lee Shirvanian is on the road with the Men’s basketball squad as they travel to Denver for their match-up tomorrow night. Brian Stross is taking his place on the radio show and he has recruiting coordinator Brian Turner and Wide Receivers coach Dameyune Craig. With just one week to go until National Signing Day is upon us we will talk a little about recruiting, the Signing Day Party, the unique situation these kids are coming into and a possible tradition to start for game one.
USA will host about 9 or 10 potential recruits this weekend for their official on campus visits. As for recruiting, Sunday it goes ‘quiet’. That means they can have recruits on campus but the coaches cannot leave campus to recruit. Then on Monday it begins the recruiting dead period. The coaches may only call a recruit one time a week during the dead period to check in with them. During open recruiting they can call as many times as they wish.
They spoke about the Signing Day Party that is scheduled for 4pm on February 4th at the Mitchell Center. Joe Gottfried will speak about the football program, Coach Jones will speak about the signing class and the position coaches will speak about the position players. They are at work on compiling videos to show for each of the recruits they sign.
In previous shows they talked about how the facilities are a huge recruiting tool for USA. They spoke today about the impact the Senior Bowl will be to incoming recruits as well. They really think its going to help with landing recruits because if a player is good enough for the Senior Bowl and with USA’s proximity to the game they will definitely look for talent nearby.
The situation at USA will be very unique. New kids will be coming in but they will not have older guys to learn from so the coaches must work extra hard to teach them in a way that they will understand so they can go out on the field and execute. However, thier teaching will extend beyond the sidelines of the stadium. They will have to mentor them about what they should and should not do off the field and on campus. They expect to see them get better and better as time goes on.
Looking ahead to fall football, a caller asked about when the football team would arrive at Ladd-Peebles Stadium for the game. Dameyune said they would normally arrive two hours before the game to being their warm-ups and such. Brian Stross also asked about possible traditions like what Clemson, Alabama and Auburn have and others like Georgia have picked up recently with their walks to the stadium. Coach Jones is eager to start a tradition like that from Game 1. He is thinking about having the buses let them off on Virginia Street somewhere and have them walk the rest of the way to the Stadium.
Get your football season tickets now, also come out and support the Jaguar basketball teams. Go Jags!
Jags Fall On The Road With 3-Pointer At Buzzer
Down by one point with time expiring, Randell Daigle put up a despiration shot from 35 feet away. Everyone watched on both sidelines and arena seats as it fell to give the Jaguars their first road loss in the Sun Belt this season.
In the first three-plus minutes of the game, the Jags quickly ran out to a 7-0 lead. The Ragin’ Cajuns would end the scoreless drought by tipping in a missed shot, but would only make one of thier first 11 attempts from the floor.
ULL would counter the Jags early run with a 12-2 run of their own to give them their first lead of the game. The Jags would only lead once more in the first half at 13-12.
USA would get within two points with about four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half at 25-23 but would only be able to connect on two more field goals over the rest of the half.
In the first half the Jags committed eight turnovers and forced only three of their own and trailed in free-throw attempts by 13-2. They would go into halftime down nine points 37-28.
Most of the second half was the Jaguars slowly chipping away at the ULL lead. Domonic Tilford would cap off a 7-0 by the Jags with 4:14 left in the second half to put the Jags up 62-59. ULL would hit two jumpers to retake the lead with just under two minutes to go.
USA would turn the ball over three times and ULL would miss four shots from the field in the final three-plus minutes of the game. Domonic Tilford would hit a shot with 2.4 seconds left to give the Jags a 65-64 lead but would watch Daigle’s despiration shot fall at time ran out to give the Win to Louisiana-Lafayette.
DeAndre Coleman would lead all scorers with 26 points on 7-12 shooting, missing his only 3-point attempt but sinking 12-15 free-throw attempts. Coleman also added 14 rebounds with 11 coming on the defensive side. Domonic Tilford would add 16 points for the game to be the only other Jaguar in double digits scoring.
Travis Bureau would pace the Ragin’ Cajuns with 18 points on 5-11 shooting while going 2-8 from outside the arc adn 6-9 from the free-throw line. Chris Gradnigo would add 13 points and Tyren Johnson would score 11 to round out the double digit scorers for ULL.
USA would hold the advantage of scoring in the paint 28-14, pts off turnovers 12-11 but ULL would out score USA 21-5 from the bench.
USA would edge ULL in shooting percentages, 44%-35% from the field, 44%-26% from 3-point range and 77%-74% from the free-throw line. However the percentages work out, ULL had more shooting attempts 58-54 FG, 27-9 3-point and 27-17 free-throw.
USA drops to 11-9 for the season and 4-5 in the Sun Belt while ULL is 7-11 and 4-4 in the Sun Belt.
The Jaguars will finish out their two-game road swing when they visit Denver on Thursday for an 8pm tip-off. The game will be televised regionally on FSN Rocky Mountains.
Go Jags!
USA Loses On Layup In Finals Seconds Against UALR
A basket in the finals seconds allows University of Arkansas Little Rock to pull out a victory for the Jags at the Mitchell Center. A UALR layup with 15 seconds left ended a game that saw eight lead changes in the second half.
Most of the first half was played pretty tight with the largest UALR lead being six on two occasions before the Jaguars had a rough end to the first half when UALR scored six consecutive points in the finals 70 seconds to take a 34-25 lead into the locker room for halftime. A total of 25 fowls were committed in the first half with both teams visiting the charity stripe 29 times.
USA, over a two minute stretch in the second half, made their first run to get back into the game with an 8-2 run. But then UALR would extend the lead back out to seven with back-to-back shots in a 25 second span.
The Jags would then have a 7-0 run for gain a one point advantage at 44-43. Then over the next four minutes the lead would change hands five times with each teams advantage being one point until a 3-pointer put UALR up by two.
USA would regain the lead at 51-50 when Brandon Davis would convert three points the old fashioned way by making a basket while being fouled and sinking the free throw.
The trojans would pull out to a 59-55 lead in the waning minutes. The Jags would then score four points to tie the game at 59 over a 1:16 stretch. UALR would then have possession of the ball with 40 seconds left. Then Shane Edwards would lay in a basket with 15 seconds left to seal the game for the trojans at 61-59.
Domonic Tilford would lead USA in scoring with 15 on 6-19 shooting and 3-9 from beyond the arc. DeAndre Coleman scored 12 and pulled down 13 rebounds for a second double-double in the last two games. Brandon Davis rounded out the double digit scorers for USA with 11 and 8 rebounds.
The Trojans Shane Edwards lead all scorers with 23 points on 8-11 shooting, 1-2 from 3-point range and sinking all six free throw attempts. Matt Mouzy with 12 points was the only other trojan in double digits scoring.
USA out rebounded UALR 41-29 but were outshot in the game 41%-36% from the floor, 42%-19% from 3-point range. Both teams sank 14 free throws with USA going to the line 24 times, once more than UALR for the contest.
USA took the court without Ronald Douglas who injured his right shoulder in practice on Wednesday. He is expected to miss at least one week. The 6′ 8″ Douglas has averaged 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and leads the team with 39 blocked shots.
The Jaguars fall to 11-8 (4-4 SBC) for the season, 0-4 at the Mitchell Center this season but are 4-0 on the road in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars will start a two game road swing when they travel to Louisiana-Lafayette for a Saturday match-up with tip-off scheduled fro 7:15pm.
GO Jags!
Coach Joey Jones Show Recap 2009-01-21
Lee Shirvanian was in the studio with Brett Bedsole while Coach Jones was on the while being on the road recruiting in New Orleans.
The beginning of the show was Lee asking Coach Jones about his experience at the Senior bowl when he was a Senior at Alabama since the Senior Bowl is coming up this weekend at Ladd-Peebles Stadium right here in Mobile, Alabama. Currently NFL coaches and scouts are in town looking at potentially draftable players in this all-star game.
They also started talking about the signing day festivities that will happen at the Mitchell Center on Wednesday, February 4th starting at 4pm. Coach Jones said that Joe Gottfried will be speaking first then Coach Jones will about the overall recruiting class. Then individual position coaches will speak about the recruits a little more in depth and somewhere along that timeline they will show some short videos that have been compiled about the recruits.
Recruiting right now is open for all coaches right now. This weekend is another on-campus recruiting visit weekend. A total of 13 potential recruits came last weekend to tour the campus and see the facilities. As many as 18 could come in this weekend and next weekend they may have about 8 or 9 recruits coming in for visits. The number could go up or down depending on how many recruits verbally commit while here. January 30th will be the beginning of a recruiting dead period from then through signing day on February 4th.
Brett Bedsole, Director of Football Operations, who was in the studio since Coach Jones was out recruiting were talking about season tickets with Travis Toth, USA’s marketing director. The season tickets are on sale and priced based on a 6 game home schedule. However, they basically have a 7th game locked in and are also working on an 8th game. If you order tickets now, the $75 for sidelines and $49 for endzone tickets will include these extra games for no extra charge. However, they will be a cutoff date in which the price will go up. Possibly in March or April.
When asked about what caliber teams USA will be playing in 2009, Coach Bedsole and Mr. Toth could not say precisely who USA would be playing but they did say that they will be playing teams that they can compete against. A good example would be Hargrave, which is a school that some schools will place recruits who do not clear for those Division I schools.
When asked about recruiting and recruits attitudes toward USA and their visit here Coach Bedsole said they have been receiving very positive words. They are enjoying their times here, part of it could be just being away from home and family in a way. But USA also houses them at the Battlehouse Hotel, which is very nice in downtown Mobile, Alabama.
Lee Shirvanian and Coach Jones seemed to indicate that Wednesday February 4th will be the last episode of the Joey Jones Show for this season. I expect it to pick back up in the fall before football season starts. But many listeners, readers and myself will miss the insights that we have gotten from the show thus far.
Go Jags!
Jones Says Propst And Mumme Not Coming To USA For OC Position
As wrote about before, Rush Propst will not be returning to the Mobile area to be the offensive coordinator with the Jaguars. He publicly released this to shoot down the unrest in the community in Colquitt County Georgia. He won five state championships at Hoover before leaving amid some controversy in 2007.
Propst has been eyeing collegiant jobs but no one offered any positions to him after leaving Hoover. He took head coaching position with Colquitt County last season and improved on a 2-8 season to go 4-6 his first season.
Another name mentioned for the Offensive Coordinator job was Hal Mumme who went 11-38 in four seasons at New Mexico State before being fired this year. But is probably more recognizable from his stint at Kentucky from 1997-2000 replacing Bill Curry.
Mumme revitalized Kentucky football which was reeling from 6 losing seasons out of seven under Curry, his lone exception was a 6-6 season that ended with a loss to Clemson in the Peach Bowl. Mumme brought in what he called the “Air Raid” offense lead by sophomore quarterback Tim Couch. His offensive coordinator through 1999 was Mike Leach who is now head coach at Texas Tech but left Kentucky to go to Oklahoma at the time.
However, the 2000 season would see questions popping up and investigations concerning NCAA rules violations. Replacing their starting quarterback with an untested freshmen seemed to alienate his team, then coupled with the off field problems lead to a 2-9 season although many games were close and the offense producing huge numbers. But nearing the end of the season it was becoming apparent that many significant NCAA rules violations had been committed by staff.
Mumme resigned after terminating his recruiting coordinator, his defensive coordinator and his football operations director being put on an eight-year “show-cause” order which blackballed him from college sports for those eight years, he resigned on national signing day in February 2001.
Coach Jones did confirm that Propst and Mumme were among the “seven or eight” coaches he has interviewed but neither would be coming to USA. Jones declined to indentify any other potential coaches who might have been interviewed. He did say he has talked with former Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin but he said it was not an interview and that Franklin is not under consideration for the position.