It’s hardly breaking news, but the transfer portal is revolutionizing the college basketball landscape.
Love it or hate it, the transfer portal has created quite the spectacle for this offseason. Players are changing programs at a rate that we’ve never witnessed before. Unsurprisingly, the lion’s share of the headlines is being dominated by the major programs. Teams in major conferences are using the transfer portal to bolster their rosters, and some of the nation’s most powerful programs are dipping into the mid-major ranks to accomplish this.
However, there is the opposite, which isn’t being covered quite as much. Players from schools in major conferences that are unhappy with their current playing situations are also looking for new homes. One program in particular, the South Alabama Jaguars, has set itself up to be an interesting case study to follow this year. Head coach Richie Riley seems to be looking at the portal as a slot machine of sorts, gambling that this wil
Richie Riley confirms South Alabama’s 2-for-1 series with Nate Oats, Alabama still a go
Updated Apr 07, 2021;
Posted Apr 07, 2021
South Alabama head coach Richie Riley instructs players against Appalachian State in the first half of a NCAA basketball game Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell/AL.com)
Facebook Share
For the next three seasons, he’ll get his wish.
The Jags head coach confirmed the 2-for-1 deal with Nate Oats and Alabama - in place prior to the pandemic - is still on, even if it is a year late.
“We’re going to play Alabama in Tuscaloosa, then the following year they’ll come back here,” Riley told Lee Shirvanian and me on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 on Wednesday. “Then, we’ll go back there just like we did with Auburn.”
CJ Editorial Board
Mar 5, 2021
North Laurel High School sophomore standout Reed Sheppard has attracted national attention this year. Averaging 33 points per game, he has helped lead his North Laurel Jaguars to an undefeated record of 19-0. Caleb Lowndes
âI will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.â
Legendary University of Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp was known to have tweaked this bit of the 121st Psalm to reference the source of talent on some of his greatest teams: Appalachia. The mountains and hills of Eastern Kentucky.Â
Indeed, some of the most beloved Wildcats of all time hail from this part of the state. Wallace âWah Wahâ Jones of the âFabulous Fiveâ â the team that truly put Rupp and UK on the NCAA map â was a Harlan boy. Johnny Cox, an All-American and 1958 national champion, was from Hazard. Jerry Bird came out of Corbin to be All-SEC in 1956. The 1970-71 team,
Short-handed South Alabama heads to Georgia Southern for Sun Belt opener
Updated Jan 01, 2021;
Facebook Share
More than a week away from the basketball court hasn’t fixed South Alabama’s biggest problem this season.
The Jaguars are extremely limited in numbers as they head to Georgia Southern for their Sun Belt Conference opener at 5 p.m. Friday. Thanks to injury, opt-outs and other departures, South Alabama (6-3) will likely have only nine players available including walk-ons against the Eagles (6-3).
“I think right now in this climate that you’re excited to play either way,” South Alabama coach Richie Riley said. “Obviously, I would be lying if I didn’t say I had concerns and worries just from a sheer standpoint of our numbers. We’re already extremely low numbers, probably lower than anybody in the country right now. But that doesn’t change what the mission is. We’ve got to go and compete for 40 minutes to win a game, and you either win or you lose. A