When looking at the University of South Alabama men’s basketball team’s 2011 signees, there’s a theme: they’re all guards.
Which means the Jaguars’ returning post players will be taking on a lot of the leadership next season.
For sophomore Augustine Rubit, senior Antione Lundy and junior Javier Carter that role will be thrust upon them since the team loses four of its top five scorers, all of which are guards or swing players.
The coaching staff, led by head coach Ronnie Arrow, filled in the missing spaces accordingly, which leaves three players with a combined 3 ? years of experience to shoulder the load.
As far as Rubit is concerned, he’s ready.
“I’ve thought about it,” he said on being a leader. “I work hard; actually, all the post players coming back work hard and give great effort. We need to lead the new players and show them how things are done around here. I feel like I can lead this team and have a positive role.”
With so many new players to break into a new system and fit into a certain style of basketball, Arrow is looking to the returnees to help the transition.
“Those three guys have got to be our leaders,” he said. “They’ve got more playing time than anybody in this program and they have to be leaders on and off the court. They’re to the point in their career where they can accept that and do it.”
Rubit led through his play last season, earning the Sun Belt Conference’s Freshman of the Year award after averaging 13.1 points and a league-best 11.0 rebounds. He earned national recognition by the Basketball Times and CollegeInsider.com and was a dominating force inside.
“Aug had valuable experience in the year he was off,” Arrow said. “He was able to watch the team and see how physical this level was. He gained valuable experience off the court —he had a really good year academically. And with all that, he was able to put it together for a really good freshman year—player of the year, mid-major all-American and all-conference. All of that has to be put into a capsule where this year he takes it a step further and becomes the MVP of this conference. I don’t want to put a lot of pressure on him, but Aug knows of what he can do now. He needs to work on his dribbling from the outside where he can beat people off the dribble because they already respect his inside game. He has to take it step further and establish the outside game.”
Lundy, on the other hand, was forced to sit out most of the season due to an ACL injury he suffered during preseason workouts. He returned in early February but was not able to fully get up to speed in the limited time he had on the court. Now he has a complete offseason to prepare himself for the year.
“(The offseason) is going to be real important,” Lundy said. “Since it’s my last year here, it’s going to be on me to bust my butt and work harder than the rest of the guys. I wasn’t able to do as much as the other players last year because I was hurt, so I want to take a role as a senior leader and push others to work hard as well, not just myself.”
“He should be the hungriest guy in Division I basketball,” Arrow noted. “I know he was disappointed because of his injury. Nothing could be done about it, but what can be done is use that hunger to come back this year and work even harder in the offseason. He has to keep his weight down so he can be a better ballplayer and not put extra stress on that knee. He played a little in junior college at 225 (pounds) and if you ask him, he’ll tell you that’s the best he’s ever felt. He’s stronger than he’s ever been, now he has to get the mobility back. There shouldn’t be a ‘4’ or ‘5’ man in the country that can shoot 3-pointers better than him.”
Carter is the relative veteran of the group, having appeared in more games with more starts than any active player. The team’s active leader in blocks, Carter has one rejection for every game he has played (60).
“I’m trying to become a leader,” he said. “I have been more of a role player the last few years. It would be nice to get some acknowledgement at the end of the season. I want to be the Defensive Player of the Year in the Sun Belt. I think we have a chance for at least three of our guys to be on an all-Sun Belt team.”
Arrow believes that a defensive player of the year award for Carter is far from an unrealistic goal.
“There’s no reason why Javier shouldn’t be one of the top five shot blockers in the country. He just has to want to do that on a consistent basis. There were games last year where he had five blocks and a lot where he had none. There has to be a consistency. He has to want to be one of the five best shot blockers in the country.”
Carter has saved his best work for the end of the season. He started 14 of the last 15 games during his freshman campaign, setting single-game highs in points and blocks over that span. He earned a starting nod in the last five outings in 2010-11 and averaged 9.4 points and totaled a team-best nine blocks.
“He came a long way this past year,” said Arrow. “When the season started he couldn’t finish inside. He struggled with traffic around him. By the end of the year he was finishing really well. He has a taste of what he can do. I don’t think Javier understands how good he can be, especially in shot blocking. Brett Royster from Florida Atlantic should be his model for the type of player he can be, except Royster couldn’t shoot like he can from the outside. Javier already has the good outside shot, he needs to work on beating people off the dribble. But more than anything else, he needs to learn to be a lot like Aug, where he sticks his nose in traffic and comes up with a rebound or act like the lane is his domain. Nobody gets in without getting it thrown back out.”
Additionally, the Jaguars have junior DeAndré Hersey, entering his fourth year in the program after redshirting the 2008-09 season, and sophomore Andre Gowins, who will be in is in his third campaign due to missing 2009-10 with an ACL injury.
“Hersey’s been in the program for three years and we’re hoping that this is the year that he comes out strong and is another post man that has ability to shot-block, score inside and take his man off the dribble,” said Arrow. “We have Gowins who has gotten better. He’s got to keep his weight off and we hope that he’ll bring the power that we need. He’s worked on his leaping ability. We feel that with those five guys, no team should have a stronger inside game. All of our inside guys, with the exception of maybe Gowins, has the ability to step outside and shoot the ‘3.’”
For Carter, work on the 2011-12 season started right away, beginning just as last season ended.
“I was ready right when the tournament was over because I just felt like we let this year slip away,” he said. “We had a lot of tools that could’ve helped us win this year, but coming into next season I know we have a lot more proven offensive weapons and people who are willing to commit defensively. Guys who are ready to give their bodies on ‘D,’ to play ‘D’ with heart. That’s the key, our passion for playing defense.”
Rubit shares the enthusiasm.
“I’m very excited. I’m anxious because now I know how it is, so I feel like I know the things I can do that will make me a better player. I think I’ll be ready and able to do better this upcoming year.”
The drive to succeed on the court has fueled their off-the-court preparations as well. The team will be participating in their usual intense workouts with the strength and conditioning staff to prepare for the upcoming season.
“In the offseason we’ve gotten a lot stronger with Justin (Schwind) and Joey (Choron) of our strength and conditioning program,” said Arrow. “Our guys feel stronger and more agile. We’ve got four of those guys that can bench over 300 pounds and the other is at 290. So we’ll be a lot stronger.”
Rubit and Lundy find themselves in a position Carter was in last year: a year of experience under their belt and knowledge of what it takes to succeed at this level.
“When we played the big schools I got tired quicker because they had bigger and stronger guys,” said Rubit. “I know now how much work you have to put in; I have to go extra hard this year.”
“The game was much faster than when I played in junior college, so conditioning is a must as is getting stronger,” Lundy said. “And defense is a key, so working on that will really help me be successful my last year. I think that working with Coach Choron in the summer time will help with that a lot.”
The offseason work can not only pay dividends with the players physically, but can pay off mentally as well, a trait that Arrow believes is found in leaders.
“I want them to continue to get stronger, to continue to work on their agility and not only physically get stronger, but mentally get stronger where they take pride in guarding the hole, muscling inside to score and finishing. All of these post men are no longer young freshmen and sophomores; they have to be the backbone of this team.”
