South Alabama Jaguars

University of South Alabama intercollegiate teams

Athletic teams representing University of South Alabama

South Alabama Jaguars

University| University of South Alabama
Conference| Sun Belt
NCAA| Division I (FBS)
Athletic director| Joel Erdmann
Location| Mobile, Alabama
Varsity teams| 17 (8 men's, 9 women's)[1]
Football stadium| Hancock Whitney Stadium
Basketball arena| Mitchell Center
Baseball stadium| Eddie Stanky Field
Softball stadium| Jaguar Field
Other venues| Jag Gym
Mascot| South Paw
Nickname| Jags
Colors| Blue, white, and red[2]

Website| usajaguars.com

The South Alabama Jaguars represent the University of South Alabama in NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics. USA competes in the Sun Belt Conference; it is the conference's only remaining charter member from its inception. USA's athletics teams are nicknamed the Jaguars. Popular sports are baseball and men's basketball. USA sponsors 8 men's sports teams and 9 women's sports teams. The board of trustees voted to start a football program that began play in the fall of 2009.

South Alabama has Sun Belt rivalries with all of the East Division schools (Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, and Troy). South Alabama's main Sun Belt rivals are Southern Miss and Troy.

Men's Sports: basketball, baseball, cross country, golf, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, football (FCS Independent 2011–2012, full Sun Belt Conference play began in 2013)

Women's Sports: basketball, softball, cross country, golf, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, volleyball, soccer

Though not officially recognized by the administration, the students of The University of South Alabama maintain a multi-sport battle cry "South in your Mouth." It is used widely across the school, though primarily heard in reference to football and basketball.

USA formerly used Lady Jaguars for its women's teams, but by the 2012–13 school year, only the women's basketball team was using "Lady Jaguars", and starting with the 2013–14 school year, that team also became simply the Jaguars.

## Sports sponsored

[edit]

Men's sports  | Women's sports

|

Baseball | Basketball
Basketball | Cross country
Cross country | Golf
Football | Soccer
Golf | Softball
Tennis | Tennis
Track and field† | Track and field†
| Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor.

### Football

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Main article: South Alabama Jaguars football

Sun Belt Conference logo in South Alabama's colors

On December 6, 2007, the school's Board of Trustees approved the addition of football to the intercollegiate athletics program. The team began play in 2009 with a planned full transition to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) by 2013.[3] On February 15, 2008, President Gordon Moulton and Athletic Director Joe Gottfried announced that Joey Jones, former University of Alabama and Atlanta Falcons receiver, would be the first head football coach in the university's history. In early August 2009, the President Moulton hired Dr. Joel Erdmann to take over as athletic director tapping into Erdmann's experience building sports programs and his experience with both football operations and game day programming. On September 5, 2009, the South Alabama Jaguars defeated Hargrave Military Academy 30–13 in their first ever game, and finished their first ever football season on November 12, 2009, with a shutout of an NCAA Division III team with a 35–0 victory over Huntingdon (Ala.) College. USA completed its first season undefeated at 7–0, outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 321–41. The 2010 schedule was made up of schools from National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I-FCS, NCAA Division II, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. USA finished the season undefeated at 10–0, outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 413–130. On September 17, 2011, South Alabama suffered its first loss in the new program's history when it traveled to Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, NC against the North Carolina State Wolfpack. After the week 3 game of the 2011-2012 football season S. Alabama's season record stood at 2–1, with an all-time record of 19–1.

### Baseball

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Main article: South Alabama Jaguars baseball

A South Alabama pitcher (left) tags out a Florida State baserunner during the 1987 NCAA Division I baseball tournament

The baseball team is typically a powerhouse in the Sun Belt Conference, and has produced a number of successful Major League players, such as Juan Pierre, Adam Lind, Luis Gonzalez, Jon Lieber, Marlon Anderson and David Freese. Since the creation of the Sun Belt conference in 1978, South Alabama leads with 12 Sun Belt Tournament titles; the next highest is The Louisiana–Lafayette with 4. In addition to the 12 conference titles, South Alabama has participated in the NCAA Tournament on 28 occasions.

The South Alabama baseball team plays its home games at Eddie Stanky Field. It features a natural grass playing surface and is named after former coach Eddie Stanky who compiled a 488-193 (.717) record in 14 seasons as coach. Stanky Field seats 4,500 spectators, and features the Jon Lieber Clubhouse and Luis Gonzalez Hitting Facility. The success of the Jaguars at Stanky Field continued under Steve Kittrell. Kittrell led the Jaguar baseball program to more than 1,000 victories, 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, and numerous Sun Belt Conference championships. On July 15, 2010, it was announced that Mark Calvi, pitching coach at College World Series Champion University of South Carolina, would be Kittrell's assistant coach for the 2011 season, and take over as the new head coach in 2012.[4]

In 2011, alumnus David Freese was named the National League Championship Series MVP and World Series MVP.

### Basketball

[edit]

Further information: South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball and South Alabama Jaguars women's basketball

The men's basketball team has a strong history as a founding member of the Sun Belt Conference. After a successful stint in the late 1980s and 1990s, South Alabama basketball declined in the early part of the 2000s. In 2002, John Pelphrey was named coach and brought the team back to its winning ways. In 2006, South Alabama won the Sun Belt Conference tournament, defeating Western Kentucky 95–70 in the championship game; thereby earning a bid into the NCAA tournament. This was their first since NCAA bid since 1998 and were seeded 14th in the Minneapolis bracket. They lost to the 3rd-seeded Florida Gators, 76–50, who went on to win the 2006 NCAA men's basketball tournament. The 2005-2006 basketball season marked the best turnaround in the nation for a Division I basketball program. South Alabama was 10–18 in 2004-05 and went 24–7 in 2005–2006. This yielded a 12.5 differential to lead the nation, ahead of Brigham Young and Memphis who both had 11.5 differentials. South Alabama followed that with three more 20-win seasons in a row, and in 2008 received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but lost to Butler University in the first round. Since the Sun Belt expansion to 13 members in the 2006–2007 season, South Alabama is second only to Western Kentucky in conference winning percentage (65.3% to WKU's 76.4%).

### Men's Golf

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The men's golf team has won 10 Sun Belt Conference championships: 1991–92, 1994–96, 1998–99, 2002, 2005, 2010.[5] Heath Slocum is the team's most successful professional golfer with four PGA Tour wins.

### Other Sports

[edit]

* Men's and women's tennis teams are consistently ranked among the nation's best.
* The men's track team has been consistent in recent years. David Kimani won a cross-country championship in 1999 and two individual titles in 2000. Vincent Rono won the NCAA Outdoor Championship in 2006. The indoor track team captured a conference championship in 2007.
* Women's softball was added to South Alabama's sports in 2007. The softball team plays its home games at Jaguar Field.

## See also

[edit]

* Cultural significance of the jaguar in North America
* Jaguar

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Football - University of South Alabama". www.usajaguars.com. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
2. ^ USA Brand Guidelines (PDF). Retrieved March 27, 2016.
3. ^ "BOARD OF TRUSTEES VOTES TO ADD NCAA FOOTBALL - University of South Alabama". University of South Alabama. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
4. ^ "Success breeds opportunity for Calvi | GoGamecocks". Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
5. ^ "2011–12 University of South Alabama Men's Golf Guide". Retrieved June 25, 2013.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of South Alabama athletics.

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

University of South Alabama

Located in: Mobile, Alabama

Academics|

* Colleges and schools: Pat Capps Covey College of Allied Health Professions
* College of Arts and Sciences
* Mitchell College of Business
* College of Education and Professional Studies
* College Engineering
* College of Medicine
* Doctor of Pharmacy Program
* College of Nursing
* School of Computing
* Honors College

Athletics|

* Football
* Baseball
* Softball
* Men's basketball
* Women's basketball
* Eddie Stanky Field
* Hancock Whitney Stadium
* Jaguar Field
* Mitchell Center
* Soccer Complex

Campus|

* WJGR

People|

* Michael Kearney
* Tony Waldrop
* Frederick Palmer Whiddon
* Tina Allen
* David Freese
* Eddie Stanky

Links to related articles

* v
* t
* e

Sun Belt Conference

Full members|

* Appalachian State Mountaineers
* Arkansas State Red Wolves
* Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
* Georgia Southern Eagles
* Georgia State Panthers
* James Madison Dukes
* Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
* Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks
* Marshall Thundering Herd
* Old Dominion Monarchs
* South Alabama Jaguars
* Southern Miss Golden Eagles
* Texas State Bobcats
* Troy Trojans

Associate members|

* Charleston Cougars1
* Mercer Bears1
* UNCW Seahawks1
* Kentucky Wildcats2
* UCF Knights2
* West Virginia Mountaineers2

Championships and awards|

* List of champions
* Baseball
* Football
* Men's basketball
* Women's basketball

* 1beach volleyball
* 2men's soccer

* v
* t
* e

College sports teams in Alabama

NCAA Division I|

* Alabama Crimson Tide
* Alabama A&M Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs
* Alabama State Hornets
* Auburn Tigers
* Jacksonville State Gamecocks
* North Alabama Lions
* Samford Bulldogs
* South Alabama Jaguars
* Troy Trojans
* UAB Blazers

NCAA Division II|

* Alabama–Huntsville Chargers
* Auburn Montgomery Warhawks
* Miles Golden Bears
* Montevallo Falcons
* Spring Hill Badgers
* Tuskegee Golden Tigers
* West Alabama Tigers

NCAA Division III|

* Huntingdon Hawks

NAIA|

* Faulkner Eagles
* Mobile Rams
* Oakwood Ambassadors and Lady Ambassadors
* Stillman Tigers
* Talladega Tornadoes

NJCAA Division I|

* Bevill State Bears
* Bishop State Wildcats
* Calhoun Warhawks
* Central Alabama Trojans
* Chattahoochee Valley Pirates
* Coastal Alabama Sun Chiefs
* Coastal Alabama–Brewton Warhawks
* Coastal Alabama–Monroeville Eagles
* Enterprise–Ozark Boll Weevils
* Gadsden State Cardinals
* Lawson State Cougars
* Lurleen B. Wallace Saints
* MMI Tigers
* Shelton State Buccaneers
* Snead State Parsons
* Southern Union State Bison
* Wallace Governors
* Wallace–Selma Patriots
* Wallace State Lions

* v
* t
* e

Sports teams based in Alabama

Baseball|

Birmingham Barons
Montgomery Biscuits
Rocket City Trash Pandas

Basketball|

G League
Birmingham Squadron

Football|

UFL
Birmingham Stallions

Hockey|

SPHL
Birmingham Bulls
Huntsville Havoc

Roller derby|

WFTDA
Rocket City Roller Derby
Tragic City Rollers

Soccer|

USLC
Birmingham Legion FC
MLSNP
Huntsville City FC
NPSL
AFC Mobile
North Alabama SC
USL2
Dothan United SC
Montgomery United FC

College athletics|

| NCAA Division I|

* Alabama
* Alabama A&M
* Alabama State
* Auburn
* Jacksonville State
* North Alabama
* Samford
* South Alabama
* Troy
* UAB

|

NCAA Division II|

* Alabama–Huntsville
* Auburn–Montgomery
* Miles
* Montevallo
* Spring Hill
* Stillman
* Tuskegee
* West Alabama

NCAA Division III|

* Huntingdon

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