MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama men’s basketball coach Ronnie Arrow spoke to the media Wednesday morning via video teleconference at the Sun Belt Conference Media Day and the league announced its TV schedule for the 2011-12 season.

The Jaguars will have three games televised on the Sun Belt Network. The network is a partnership between the conference and Cox Sports Television (CST) and Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS).

South Alabama will make its first Sun Belt Network appearance at 2:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve at Middle Tennessee. A week later, the Jags host Denver on Jan. 7 at 3:30 p.m. and on Jan. 14, USA travels to Troy for an 8 p.m. start.

USA’s home contest against Troy on Jan. 29 has been moved to 5:05 p.m. to accommodate the women’s televised game at 3 p.m. The men’s game that day will not be on TV.

Arrow participated in the league’s annual media day Wednesday and was interviewed by members of the media. Following is a transcript of the highlights of his comments.

OPENING STATEMENT
“We feel like we’ve recruited, just like the other schools in our conference, to make us better this year. We also feel like we have a very good player coming back in Augustine Rubit, but we don’t just want to be known for Augustine Rubit. We’re high on our new players just like I’ve heard from the other coaches this morning. Besides schools like Florida Atlantic, Denver and Arkansas State, who have a lot of players back, everybody else in our conference has gone out and recruited six to eight players. The Sun Belt has always been known for very good guards. In the past few years, that might have gone down for whatever reason. But we’ve had Courtney Lee, Demetric Bennett and Bo McCalebb–I don’t know if there has been the caliber of those guards in our league, but everybody has gone out and gotten good guards and good post men too. The league is going to be very competitive. Our preseason schedules are looked at across the country as far as playing SEC and ACC schools. Those games will help all of our teams when we get into conference (play).”

ON THE EXPECTATIONS OF YOUR NEW GUARDS AND WHO HAS IMPRESSED SO FAR
“We have all of our post men back, which is good, but Division I basketball now is a guard’s game–you have to have good guards. The biggest challenge for us right now is having our guards understand our system. Our posts are going to have to carry us early in the season. Trey Anderson averaged about 20 points and eight assists and Neosho County Community College. He started out at Saint Mary’s when he was a freshman and was on a Sweet 16 team. Xavier Roberson is one of the best 3-point shooters we have. He played at Paris Junior College in one of the toughest junior college leagues in the country. He was one of the top two or three 3-point shooters there. Wendell Wright can play two or three different positions for us. We’ll have much bigger guards than what we’ve had in the past, especially at the point guard spot. Both of those guys can play the point—one is 6-4 and the other is 6-3. Freddie Goldstein—when I talk about big guards I go down to him and he’s 5-10—he can really shoot the ball. He was a junior-college all-American at Motlow Junior College. Dallas Jones was one of the best 3-point shooters in his league in Texas. He’ll be a sophomore. He came from a junior college but he’ll have three years left. Those are the main guards we have coming in to go along with our post men.”

ON THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IN AUGUSTINE RUBIT NOW FROM 12 MONTHS AGO
“I think it’s the experience. With all of the accolades he got last year, I think he was the most surprised that it turned out that way. He’s just that type of person. (He’s got) the experience of playing against big-name schools and big-name players, and when it’s crunch time, wanting the ball to win the game for us. He’s worked very hard in the offseason to get the ball and score away from the bucket, which I think will make him a total player.”

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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