MOBILE, Ala. — Guard Isaiah Matson and wing Ladon Carnegie are the newest South Alabama basketball signees, the program announced Wednesday, after both signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Jaguars beginning in the 2013-14 season.
The two signings bring South Alabama’s early-period class under head coach Ronnie Arrow to five players.
Matson Brings Shooting From State Champion Wenonah
Matson is a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Birmingham who attends Wenonah High School, the two-time defending Class 5A state champion.
He was named to the 2012 Class 5A All-State second team by the Alabama Sports Writers Association. In Wenonah’s state championship game victory, Matson scored 19 points on five 3-pointers and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. The Dragons finished 29-7 last season.
Matson averaged 16 points per game last season and made 118 3-pointers. After his junior season, The Birmingham News named him to its All-Metro and All-West teams.
“Isaiah is just a born shooter,” Arrow said. “You can’t have too many shooters on the team. He comes from a very good program that plays very hard and physical. He comes from a winning program and you always want to get kids from winning programs because they know how to win.”
Carnegie Arrives With Two Years of Eligibility
Carnegie, a 6-foot-5 swing player, is attending Odessa College in Texas and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining when he joins South Alabama.
He spent the previous season at Paris Junior College in Texas, where he played for former South Alabama assistant coach Chuck Taylor. As a freshman at Paris, Carnegie averaged 6.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 27 games for a team that went 23-6 overall and 15-4 in conference play.
Carnegie played high school basketball at Grand Rapids Union in Michigan, where he was part of three consecutive OK Black Conference championship teams and twice earned all-state honors. As a junior in 2009-10, he averaged 21.3 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots per game and was named to the Grand Rapids Press All-Area team and The Associated Press first-team all-state squad.
As a senior, he averaged 17.2 points and 9.7 rebounds, earning a second Grand Rapids Press All-Area selection and AP all-state honorable mention.
“Ladon is a good athlete that can shoot the ball,” Arrow said. “He’s a ‘2’ or ‘3’ player that can go inside and score also. He fits our mold of getting up and down the court and shooting the ball. When you get an assortment of shooters that are tough kids and that can get up and down the court, good things can happen.”
Sun Belt Play Begins Thursday
The current Jaguars open their Sun Belt Conference schedule Thursday at Florida Atlantic, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. Central.
