The South Alabama Jaguars represent the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

intercollegiate athletics. USA competes in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

; it is the conference's only remaining charter member from its inception. USA's athletics teams are nicknamed the Jaguars. Popular sports are

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. USA sponsors 8 men's sports teams and 9 women's sports teams. The board of trustees voted to start a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

and

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

. 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

Football

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 The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(Division I-A) by 2013. 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 Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) is a private, all-male, military boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Hargrave is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Christian values that focuses on a col ...

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

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 Juan D'Vaughn Pierre (born August 14, 1977) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2000–2013 for the Colorado Rockies, Florida/Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Ch ...

Adam Lind Adam Alan Lind (born July 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals. Lind has a ...

, Luis Gonzalez,

Jon Lieber Jonathan Ray Lieber (born April 2, 1970) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He stands tall and weighs . He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1994–1998), Chicago Cubs (1999–2002 and 2008), ...

Marlon Anderson Marlon Ordell Anderson (born January 6, 1974) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six teams, over 12 seasons. He was widely known for his clutch hits, and writers ...

and

David Freese David Richard Freese (born April 28, 1983) is an American former professional baseball Infielder, infielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was a key player during the 2011 Major Leag ...

. 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 Eddie Stanky Field is a baseball park in Mobile, Alabama. During the 1990s, it was the home of the Mobile BaySharks. It is currently home to the South Alabama Jaguars baseball team and was home to the 2007 Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament ...

. It features a natural grass playing surface and is named after former coach

Eddie Stanky Edward Raymond Stanky (born Stankiewicz (September 3, 1915 – June 6, 1999) was an American professional baseball second baseman, shortstop, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston ...

who compiled a 488-193 (.717) record in 14 seasons as coach. Stanky Field seats 4,500 spectators, and features the

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 Mark Calvi (born November 5, 1969) is an American college baseball coach, currently serving as head coach of the South Alabama Jaguars baseball team. He was named to that position prior to the 2012 season. Playing career Calvi lettered three ti ...

, pitching coach at

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

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. In 2011, alumnus

was named the

National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Nation ...

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and

World Series MVP The Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award is given to the Major League Baseball (MLB) player deemed to have the most impact on his team's performance in the World Series, which is the final round of the MLB postseason. The aw ...

Basketball

The men's basketball team has a strong history as a founding member of the

. 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 John Leslie Pelphrey (born July 18, 1968) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. After being named Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1987, he became a star college player at the University ...

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 Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

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 Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

bracket. They lost to the 3rd-seeded

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

, 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

in conference winning percentage (65.3% to WKU's 76.4%).

Men's golf

The men's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

team has won 10

championships: 1991–92, 1994–96, 1998–99, 2002, 2005, 2010.

Heath Slocum Tyler Heath Slocum (born February 3, 1974) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. Early years Slocum was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He attended St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School in Bunkie, Louisiana from ...

is the team's most successful professional golfer with four

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

wins.

Other sports

* Men's and women's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

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 Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

was added to South Alabama's sports in 2007. The softball team plays its home games at

Jaguar Field Jaguar Field is a softball field located on the University of South Alabama campus in Mobile, Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsvil ...

References

External links

* {{Alabama Sports