MOBILE, Ala. – With an entirely new backcourt that features six new guards, it will be up to the Jaguars' talented and experienced post players to carry the load of the University of South Alabama men's basketball team through its tough early-season schedule.

The guard spots may be a question mark entering the season, but there’s no doubt what USA is getting with sophomore Augustine Rubit, juniors DeAndré Hersey and Javier Carter, and senior Antione Lundy.

“I really believe, from A to Z, our post men will be as good as any that we’ll play this season,” said head coach Ronnie Arrow.

That belief isn’t too far-fetched considering Rubit was named the Sun Belt Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year and Carter is the program’s active leader in blocks and is the team’s second-leading returning scorer. Lundy is the best 3-point shooter in the bunch and Hersey made 48.1 percent of his shots last season, including 54.5 percent from mid-December on.

So while all four can be prolific offensively, it is the other end of the floor where Arrow believes that group can help the most in weathering the early-season storm of road games at Mississippi State, Florida State and LSU.

“What they have to do early in the year is talk on defense and help the guards understand our defensive philosophy,” said Arrow. “Our guards have to grow up and not rely on the post men rebounding. The guards have to rebound on outside shots and in the middle of our zone. But the biggest thing is, if the guards get beat outside, we need shot blocking inside. If the ball comes off the rim, we can’t stand around; we have to go get it. If we shoot the ball, we have to be active on the offensive boards. All of that comes with experience.”

The experience factor will be key with the Jags facing two SEC and one ACC opponent before Thanksgiving. Even though he’s only a sophomore, Rubit played 850 minutes last season—second most on the squad—and started a team-high 27 games. Only Carter (33) has more career starts than Rubit.

Rubit was a dominant force from the beginning when he recorded the first of his 14 double-doubles in the season opener. His double-double total was only surpassed in the conference by senior George Odufuwa of North Texas and was out-ranked by one freshman in the nation in that category: Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, the national freshman of the year.

“Aug has gotten a lot stronger and more knowledgeable since last year,” Arrow said. “His biggest adjustment is getting more aggressive. He has to go out there every day and show people he’s as good as they say he is. To do that, you have to bring knowledge and energy. There’s no question in my mind that he’s one of the top sophomores in the country, and now he has to go out and prove that.”

Carter improved his scoring output from 4.2 per game in his freshman season to 5.3 in 2010-11, but his best attribute is his defense. He led the team two years ago in blocks and was second this past season and has placed in the league’s top 10 in each year. He averages one block per game in his career, but Arrow believes his ceiling is much higher.

“Maybe I’m putting too much on him, but I really believe he can be one of the top five shot blockers in the country,” Arrow said. “He had one the other night and after watching the tape, there were two or three more he should have had, and that’ll put him in the top five in the country. He just has to want to be that good. It has to mean something to him.”

Rebounding means something to Lundy who was third in the NJCAA in rebounding his sophomore season at Neosho County Community College before arriving in Mobile. He didn’t have a chance to display those talents last year after tearing his ACL in preseason workouts. Lundy finally returned Feb. 3 but averaged just 14.1 minutes per game thereafter. Now with a full offseason and four weeks of practice under his belt, Lundy is ready to become the rebounding machine he was brought in to be.

“In junior college he was the third-best rebounder in the country,” Arrow said. “He has to want to be that good at this level. Sometimes he gets in these grooves where all he wants to do is shoot from the outside, even though he is a good outside shooter. He has to put it all together and score inside, rebound all he can and take some charges.”

The most experienced of the group in terms of seasons in the program is Hersey, who redshirted during the 2008-09 campaign before playing in 56 games over the next two years. Despite playing just 10.7 minutes per outing, Hersey ranked 15th in the conference in blocks per game (0.9) and two games with four or more rejections.

“He’s more of a finesse player than a power player, but he’s gotten more physical this year,” commented Arrow. “His biggest thing is that he has to get more consistent. In our first intrasquad game, he was the best post player on the court other than Augustine. Ever since then his stats have gone down and he needs to reverse that. He’s a good outside shooter and he’s another one that can shot block like crazy.”

The Jags’ hope their fearsome foursome in the post can provide enough leadership and production to allow the team to survive the early months and become a well-oiled machine leading in to conference play.

“It’s a guard’s game but you better have good inside players,” noted Arrow. “Until our guards get experience, our inside guys have got to bring it every night and help them be successful.”

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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