MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama men’s basketball assistant Andrew Helton has been named head coach at Eastern New Mexico University, leaving Jaguars head coach Ronnie Arrow to fill a spot on his staff.
Helton will be the 11th head coach in Eastern New Mexico history. He takes over a team that finished 4-23 last season. Eastern New Mexico is a Division II program in the Lone Star Conference.
Helton spent the past eight seasons on Arrow’s staff, including the last two at South Alabama, where he helped the Jaguars to consecutive 20-win seasons.
Basketball Adds Two Junior College Signees
Arrow also announced the signing of two junior college transfers to National Letters of Intent.
Tim Williams of Pontiac, Mich., will transfer from Motlow State Community College in Lynchburg, Tenn., and have two seasons of eligibility. He averaged 21.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game and led his team with 55 3-pointers and 52 steals.
Raymond Sims, a 5-foot-9 guard from Philadelphia, will transfer from Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas, and also have two seasons of eligibility. He averaged 5.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game for a team that went 25-6. Paris has averaged 27.3 wins over the last two seasons and won a school-record 30 games in 2007-08.
The two join Augustine Rubit, Javier Carter and Andre Gowins, who signed with South Alabama in November.
Softball Heads to Sun Belt Tournament
Coach Becky Clark’s softball team will make its second appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Championship, which North Texas hosts in Denton, Texas, from May 6 through May 9.
The Jaguars, 26-26-1 overall and 10-12 in Sun Belt play, earned the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3 seed Western Kentucky (32-17, 14-9) on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
The other first-round matchups are No. 1 Louisiana-Lafayette against No. 8 Louisiana-Monroe, No. 2 Troy against No. 7 Florida Atlantic and No. 4 Florida International against No. 5 North Texas.
Baseball Wins Twice at Louisiana-Monroe
Steve Kittrell’s baseball team lost 14-3 at Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday before traveling to Monroe, La., for a weekend series against Louisiana-Monroe. The Jaguars won both games played, 12-9 and 11-9. Sunday’s series finale was canceled because of weather.
South Alabama is 23-23 overall and 11-12 in the Sun Belt, fifth in the conference standings. The Jaguars are 2 1/2 games behind Florida International and 7 1/2 games out of first place.
Seven Home Games Remain
After five days off, the Jaguars close the regular season with seven home games at Stanky Field, unless the Louisiana-Monroe game is rescheduled. Florida International visits for a three-game series beginning Friday, Southern Miss comes to Mobile on Tuesday, May 12, and Troy closes the regular season with a three-game series beginning Thursday, May 14.
The Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament begins May 20 in Troy.
