MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama basketball completed its first weekend of preseason practice with eight newcomers at guard, and coach Ronnie Arrow said the early sessions have centered on teaching his system to the new backcourt.
Arrow said the learning curve was what he anticipated with so many new players at one position.
“The post men know from years past what we’re doing,” Arrow said. “For the guards, it’s a whole new ballgame. We’ve only been going a couple of days but yesterday we had a good practice. They showed that they learned a lot from the first day–not everything, but that’s expected.”
Rubit Leads Returning Post Group
While the backcourt is almost entirely new, the frontcourt returns experience. Forward Augustine Rubit, the 2011 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, leads a post group that also includes Javier Carter, Antoine Lundy and DeAndre Hersey.
“Needless to say, Aug and Javier are doing well and Lundy has come back wanting to do really well this year,” Arrow said. “He’s lost a lot of weight and is moving so much better. He’s looking like the old Lundy that we recruited, going after rebounds and doing those types of things.”
Arrow also cited progress from Hersey.
“Hersey has been a pleasant surprise, he’s showing more physicality and finishing power, which we were hoping to see,” Arrow said. “All of our post men are competing.”
Breaking Down the System
With the season opener set for Nov. 12, the coaching staff is building the guards’ knowledge of the offense and defense step by step. Arrow compared the approach to his first season back at South Alabama four years ago, when the staff and system were new to the entire roster.
“We’re trying not to overdose them right now,” Arrow said. “We’re trying to break it down as much as possible. I’ve tried to go back to four years ago when we had a really good team and I was new, the coaching staff was new and the players didn’t know our system. When you have all new guards, that’s pretty much how it is.”
Arrow said the newcomers have been hesitant at times as they absorb the material, but he saw improvement during Sunday’s workout.
“They don’t react the way you want because their brains are still learning and it’s keeping them from going all out, but yesterday (Sunday) I saw a lot of improvement from guys that were bewildered out there,” he said.
Exhibition Opener Set
The Jaguars play their first exhibition game Wednesday, Nov. 2, against Spring Hill, with tipoff scheduled for 7:05 p.m. South Alabama competes in the Sun Belt Conference and plays home games at the Mitchell Center.
