1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team

American college basketball season

1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball

Sun Belt Regular season champions

NCAA tournament, first round

Conference| Sun Belt Conference
Division| East Division
Record| 23–6 (12–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach|

* Cliff Ellis (5th season)

Home arena| Jaguar Gym
Mobile Municipal Auditorium

Seasons

<- 1978–79

1980–81 ->

1979–80 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team | W |  | L |  | PCT |  |  | W |  | L |  | PCT
South Alabama | 12 | - | 2 |  | .857 |  |  | 23 | - | 6  |  | .793
UAB | 10 | - | 4 |  | .714 |  |  | 18 | - | 12  |  | .600
Jacksonville | 10 | - | 4 |  | .714 |  |  | 20 | - | 9  |  | .690
UNC Charlotte | 9 | - | 5 |  | .643 |  |  | 15 | - | 12  |  | .556
VCU † | 8 | - | 6 |  | .571 |  |  | 18 | - | 12  |  | .600
Georgia State | 4 | - | 10 |  | .286 |  |  | 6 | - | 21  |  | .222
New Orleans | 2 | - | 12 |  | .143 |  |  | 5 | - | 21  |  | .192
South Florida | 1 | - | 13 |  | .071 |  |  | 6 | - | 21  |  | .222
† 1980 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team represented the University of South Alabama during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Jaguars were led by head coach Cliff Ellis, in his fifth year as head coach. They played their home games at the Mobile Civic Center, and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. South Alabama finished the season 23–6, 12–2 in Sun Belt play to finish in first place. They were upset by Jacksonville in the Sun Belt tournament, but did receive an at-large bid to the 1980 NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. In the opening round, the Jaguars lost to Alcorn State, 70–62.[1]

## Roster

[edit]

1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball team

Players | Coaches
| Pos. | # | Name | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown

|
|
|
|
|
|

F |  | Rory White | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Jr | Tuskegee, Alabama
F | 15  | Ed Rains | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |

| Jr | Ocala, Florida

Head coach

* Cliff Ellis (Florida State)

Assistant coach(es)

* * *

Legend

* (C) Team captain
* (S) Suspended
* (I) Ineligible
* (W) Walk-on

* Injured
* Current redshirt

## Schedule and results

[edit]

Date
time, TV  | Rank# | Opponent# | Result  | Record  | Site (attendance)
city, state

|
|
|
|
|

Regular season
Dec 1, 1979*
|  | at No. 10 Louisville | L 73–75 | 0–1
| Freedom Hall
Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 3, 1979*
|  | McNeese State | W 61–58 | 1–1
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Dec 7, 1979*
|  | at Tennessee Tech | W 97–68 | 2–1
| Eblen Center
Cookeville, Tennessee
Dec 8, 1979*
|  | at Middle Tennessee | W 55–49 | 3–1
| Murphy Center
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Dec 13, 1979*
|  | at Hardin-Simmons | W 81–63 | 4–1

Dec 15, 1979*
|  | Oregon Tech | W 98–62 | 5–1
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Dec 17, 1979
|  | at VCU | W 60–56 | 6–1
(1–0)  | Richmond Coliseum
Richmond, Virginia
Dec 19, 1979
|  | at New Orleans | W 65–54 | 7–1
(2–0)  | Human Performance Center
New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 27, 1979*
|  | Rider
Senior Bowl | W 101–72 | 8–1
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Dec 28, 1979*
|  | Alcorn State
Senior Bowl | L 77–82 | 8–2
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 3, 1980*
|  | Missouri Baptist | W 105–47 | 9–2
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 5, 1980
|  | VCU | L 74–87 | 9–3
(2–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 7, 1980
|  | at Georgia State | W 70–61 | 10–3
(3–1)  | GSU Sports Arena
Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 9, 1980
|  | at Jacksonville | W 64–63 | 11–3
(4–1)  | Jacksonville Coliseum
Jacksonville, Florida
Jan 13, 1980
|  | South Florida | W 85–55 | 12–3
(5–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 16, 1980
|  | Georgia State | W 70–59 | 13–3
(6–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 18, 1980
|  | New Orleans | W 74–56 | 14–3
(7–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 24, 1980
|  | UAB | L 62–70 | 14–4
(7–2)  | Mobile Civic Center (10,513)
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 26, 1980
|  | at UNC Charlotte | W 80–69 | 15–4
(8–2)  | Independence Arena
Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 28, 1980
|  | at South Florida | W 88–72 | 16–4
(9–2)  | Curtis Hixon Hall
Tampa, Florida
Jan 30, 1980
|  | UNC Charlotte | W 66–65 | 17–4
(10–2)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Feb 4, 1980
|  | Jacksonville | W 65–58 | 18–4
(11–2)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Feb 7, 1980*
|  | at Georgia Southern | W 94–79 | 19–4
| Hanner Fieldhouse
Statesboro, Georgia
Feb 12, 1980*
|  | Georgia Southern | W 89–61 | 20–4
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Feb 15, 1980*
|  | Hardin-Simmons | W 76–64 | 21–4
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Feb 17, 1980
|  | at UAB | W 66–65 | 22–4
(12–2)  | BJCC Arena (8,352)
Birmingham, Alabama
Sun Belt Conference tournament
Feb 23, 1980*
|  | vs. South Florida
Quarterfinals | W 86–57 | 23–4
| Charlotte Coliseum
Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 24, 1980*
|  | vs. VCU
Semifinals | L 72–74 | 23–5
| Charlotte Coliseum
Charlotte, North Carolina
NCAA tournament
Mar 7, 1980*
| (9 MW)  | vs. (8 MW) Alcorn State
First round | L 62–70 | 23–6
| UNT Coliseum
Denton, Texas

*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
MW=Midwest.
All times are in Central Time.

[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Rutgers, Syracuse Fives Advance". The New York Times. March 11, 1979. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
2. ^ "2019-20 South Alabama Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of South Alabama Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2023.

* v
* t
* e

South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball

Venues|

* Jaguar Gymnasium (1968–1998)
* Mobile Civic Center (alternate, 1968–1998)
* Mitchell Center (1998–present)

People|

* Head coaches
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* List of seasons
* 1968–69
* 1969–70
* 1970–71
* 1971–72
* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
* 1976–77
* 1977–78
* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–2000
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[PCT]: Winning percentage