1997–98 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team

American college basketball season

1997–98 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball

Sun Belt Regular season co-champions
Sun Belt tournament champions

NCAA tournament, first round

Conference| Sun Belt Conference
Record| 21–7 (14–4 Sun Belt)
Head coach|

* Bob Weltlich (1st season)

Home arena| Mitchell Center

Seasons

<- 1996–97

1998–99 ->

1997–98 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team | W |  | L |  | PCT |  |  | W |  | L |  | PCT
South Alabama † | 14 | - | 4 |  | .778 |  |  | 21 | - | 7  |  | .750
Arkansas State | 14 | - | 4 |  | .778 |  |  | 20 | - | 9  |  | .690
Southwestern Louisiana | 12 | - | 6 |  | .667 |  |  | 18 | - | 13  |  | .581
Arkansas–Little Rock | 10 | - | 8 |  | .556 |  |  | 15 | - | 13  |  | .536
Louisiana Tech | 9 | - | 9 |  | .500 |  |  | 12 | - | 15  |  | .444
New Orleans | 9 | - | 9 |  | .500 |  |  | 15 | - | 12  |  | .556
Lamar | 7 | - | 11 |  | .389 |  |  | 15 | - | 14  |  | .517
Jacksonville | 6 | - | 12 |  | .333 |  |  | 8 | - | 19  |  | .296
Western Kentucky | 6 | - | 12 |  | .333 |  |  | 10 | - | 19  |  | .345
Texas–Pan American | 3 | - | 15 |  | .167 |  |  | 3 | - | 24  |  | .111
† 1998 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997–98 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team represented the University of South Alabama as members of the Sun Belt Conference during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Jaguars were led by head coach Bob Weltlich and played their home games at the Mitchell Center. They finished the season 21–7, 14–4 in Sun Belt play to finish in first place. They won the Sun Belt tournament to earn an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA tournament as the 12 seed in the Southeast region. In the opening round, the Jaguars lost to No. 5 seed Illinois.[1]

## Roster

[edit]

1997–98 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball team

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

G | 5  | Rusty Yoder | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |

| Sr |

Head coach

* Bob Weltlich (Ohio State)

Assistant coach(es)

* * *

Legend

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

* Injured
* Current redshirt

[2]

## Schedule and results

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|

Non-Conference Regular season
Nov 29, 1997*
|  | Alcorn State | W 72–41 | 1–0
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Dec 9, 1997*
|  | Southern Miss | L 47–52 | 1–1
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Dec 12, 1997*
|  | vs. Alcorn State
Indiana Classic | W 52–42 | 2–1
| Assembly Hall
Bloomington, Indiana
Dec 13, 1997*
|  | at Indiana
Indiana Classic | L 56–64 | 2–2
| Assembly Hall
Bloomington, Indiana
Dec 16, 1997*
|  | at Kansas City | W 79–52 | 3–2
| Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 22, 1997*
|  | Washington | W 69–52 | 4–2
| Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Sun Belt Regular season
Dec 28, 1997
|  | at Arkansas State | L 66–82 OT | 4–3
(0–1)  | First National Bank Arena
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jan 3, 1998
|  | at Jacksonville | W 72–59 | 5–3
(1–1)  | Jacksonville Coliseum
Jacksonville, Florida
Jan 5, 1998
|  | Lamar | W 48–44 | 6–3
(2–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 8, 1998
|  | Arkansas–Little Rock | W 68–49 | 7–3
(3–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 10, 1998
|  | Western Kentucky | W 68–48 | 8–3
(4–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 15, 1998
|  | Louisiana Tech | W 61–50 | 9–3
(5–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 17, 1998
|  | Arkansas State | W 78–68 | 10–3
(6–1)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 24, 1998
|  | at Louisiana Tech | W 62–48 | 11–3
(7–1)  | Thomas Assembly Center
Ruston, Louisiana
Jan 26, 1998
|  | at New Orleans | L 55–71 | 11–4
(7–2)  | Lakefront Arena
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 29, 1998
|  | Jacksonville | W 52–31 | 12–4
(8–2)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Jan 31, 1998
7:35 pm |  | Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 105–70 | 13–4
(9–2)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Feb 5, 1998
|  | at Southwestern Louisiana | L 53–67 | 13–5
(9–3)  | Cajundome
Lafayette, Louisiana
Feb 7, 1998
|  | at Lamar | L 62–66 | 13–6
(9–4)  | Montagne Center
Beaumont, Texas
Feb 10, 1998
|  | Southwestern Louisiana | W 71–55 | 14–6
(10–4)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Feb 14, 1998
|  | New Orleans | W 68–50 | 15–6
(11–4)  | Jaguar Gym
Mobile, Alabama
Feb 19, 1998
7:30 pm |  | at Texas–Rio Grande Valley | W 87–54 | 16–6
(12–4)  | UTPA Fieldhouse
Edinburg, Texas
Feb 21, 1998
|  | at Western Kentucky | W 55–50 | 17–6
(13–4)  | E.A. Diddle Arena
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Feb 23, 1998
|  | at Arkansas–Little Rock | W 61–43 | 18–6
(14–4)  | Barton Coliseum
Little Rock, Arkansas
Sun Belt Conference tournament
Feb 28, 1998*
| (1)  | vs. (9) Western Kentucky
Quarterfinals | W 61–47 | 19–6
| Cajundome
Lafayette, Louisiana
Mar 1, 1998*
| (1)  | vs. (4) Arkansas–Little Rock
Semifinals | W 79–48 | 20–6
| Cajundome
Lafayette, Louisiana
Mar 3, 1998*
| (1)  | at (3) Southwestern Louisiana
Championship game | W 62–59 | 21–6
| Cajundome
Lafayette, Louisiana
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1998*
| (12 W)  | vs. (5 W) No. 22 Illinois
First round | L 51–64 | 21–7
| ARCO Arena (14,920)
Sacramento, California

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

[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Illini Defense Shuts Down South Alabama". The New York Times. March 13, 1998. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
2. ^ "1997-98 South Alabama Jaguars Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
3. ^ "2019-20 South Alabama Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of South Alabama Athletics. Retrieved March 4, 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
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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[PCT]: Winning percentage