1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team

1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball
1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball
Sun Belt Regular season champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
	East Division
Record	23–6 (12–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Cliff Ellis (5th season);
Home arena	Jaguar Gym; Mobile Municipal Auditorium
	Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

1979–80 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
South Alabama	12	–	2	.857	23	–	6	.793
UAB	10	–	4	.714	18	–	12	.600
Jacksonville	10	–	4	.714	20	–	9	.690
UNC Charlotte	9	–	5	.643	15	–	12	.556
VCU †	8	–	6	.571	18	–	12	.600
Georgia State	4	–	10	.286	6	–	21	.222
New Orleans	2	–	12	.143	5	–	21	.192
South Florida	1	–	13	.071	6	–	21	.222

† 1980 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team represented the University of South Alabama during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Jaguars were led by head coach Cliff Ellis, in his fifth year as head coach. They played their home games at the Mobile Civic Center, and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. South Alabama finished the season 23–6, 12–2 in Sun Belt play to finish in first place. They were upset by Jacksonville in the Sun Belt tournament, but did receive an at-large bid to the 1980 NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. In the opening round, the Jaguars lost to Alcorn State, 70–62.^[1]

Roster

1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F		Rory White	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Tuskegee, Alabama
F	15	Ed Rains	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Jr	Ocala, Florida

Head coach

Cliff Ellis (Florida State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1979*		at No. 10 Louisville	L 73–75	0–1	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 3, 1979*		McNeese State	W 61–58	1–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 7, 1979*		at Tennessee Tech	W 97–68	2–1	Eblen Center Cookeville, Tennessee
Dec 8, 1979*		at Middle Tennessee	W 55–49	3–1	Murphy Center Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Dec 13, 1979*		at Hardin-Simmons	W 81–63	4–1
Dec 15, 1979*		Oregon Tech	W 98–62	5–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 17, 1979		at VCU	W 60–56	6–1 (1–0)	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Dec 19, 1979		at New Orleans	W 65–54	7–1 (2–0)	Human Performance Center New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 27, 1979*		Rider Senior Bowl	W 101–72	8–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 28, 1979*		Alcorn State Senior Bowl	L 77–82	8–2	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 3, 1980*		Missouri Baptist	W 105–47	9–2	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 5, 1980		VCU	L 74–87	9–3 (2–1)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 7, 1980		at Georgia State	W 70–61	10–3 (3–1)	GSU Sports Arena Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 9, 1980		at Jacksonville	W 64–63	11–3 (4–1)	Jacksonville Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Jan 13, 1980		South Florida	W 85–55	12–3 (5–1)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 16, 1980		Georgia State	W 70–59	13–3 (6–1)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 18, 1980		New Orleans	W 74–56	14–3 (7–1)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 24, 1980		UAB	L 62–70	14–4 (7–2)	Mobile Civic Center (10,513) Mobile, Alabama
Jan 26, 1980		at UNC Charlotte	W 80–69	15–4 (8–2)	Independence Arena Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 28, 1980		at South Florida	W 88–72	16–4 (9–2)	Curtis Hixon Hall Tampa, Florida
Jan 30, 1980		UNC Charlotte	W 66–65	17–4 (10–2)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 4, 1980		Jacksonville	W 65–58	18–4 (11–2)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 7, 1980*		at Georgia Southern	W 94–79	19–4	Hanner Fieldhouse Statesboro, Georgia
Feb 12, 1980*		Georgia Southern	W 89–61	20–4	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 15, 1980*		Hardin-Simmons	W 76–64	21–4	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 17, 1980		at UAB	W 66–65	22–4 (12–2)	BJCC Arena (8,352) Birmingham, Alabama
Sun Belt Conference tournament
Feb 23, 1980*		vs. South Florida Quarterfinals	W 86–57	23–4	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 24, 1980*		vs. VCU Semifinals	L 72–74	23–5	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
NCAA tournament
Mar 7, 1980*	(9 MW)	vs. (8 MW) Alcorn State First round	L 62–70	23–6	UNT Coliseum Denton, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

^[2]

References

^ "Rutgers, Syracuse Fives Advance". The New York Times. March 11, 1979. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
^ "2019-20 South Alabama Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of South Alabama Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2023.

[1] "Rutgers, Syracuse Fives Advance". The New York Times. March 11, 1979. Retrieved May 6, 2023.

[2] "2019-20 South Alabama Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of South Alabama Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2023.

[1]

[2]

v t e South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball
Venues	Jaguar Gymnasium (1968–1998) Mobile Civic Center (alternate, 1968–1998) Mitchell Center (1998–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25