MOBILE, Ala. – Dre Conner has signed a National Letter of Intent and will play for the University of South Alabama men’s basketball program, the school announced Wednesday.

Conner is a 6-0 guard that currently attends Labette (Kan.) Community College and will have two years of eligibility remaining.

“Dre solidifies the point guard spot for us,” said USA head coach Ronnie Arrow. “We wanted to get an experienced point guard in here. We feel like he can not only distribute the ball and make other people good, but he can also keep people honest offensively. He’s very physical and loves to guard. He’ll make life very difficult for other team’s guards.”

A First Team All-Region VI and First Team All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Eastern Division performer, Conner averaged a team-best 17.1 points (11th in the conference) and 6.0 assists per outing (third).

Of his 530 total points, 229—a conference best—came at the free throw line, including 19 conversions at the charity stripe in a game vs. Kansas City.

“Dre is a tough, hard-nosed point guard,” said Labette head coach Jonathan Raney. “He’s a winner; he came from a great high school program and has been coached really well. He can go to South Alabama and have a huge impact. As far as I’m concerned, South Alabama is getting a steal. I know he thought it was the right fit for him and they’re getting a really good player.”

Conner played his freshman season at Towson (Md.) University prior to transferring to Labette. While a member of the Towson program, he played in all 30 games—with 10 starts—while averaging 5.5 points and 2.4 assists per contest.

The Lauderhill, Fla. native shot 40.6 percent from the floor and 37.2 percent from 3-point land, and ranked second on the team in assists. Conner averaged 8.1 points while converting 58.8 percent from long range in the last eight games of his freshman campaign.

“We don’t consider him a junior college player; we looked at him as someone that already has Division I experience,” Arrow said. “The best thing we liked about him was he is a very physical player.”

As a prep at Ely High School, Conner paced the Tigers in scoring (18.3 ppg) and assists (4.4 apg) to lead EHS to a 26-1 record and a No. 22 national ranking. He earned MVP honors in the Dade vs. Broward All-Star Game and was the Miami Herald’s 5A Player of the Year for Broward County.

Conner was a four-year starter and totaled 1,054 points in his career at Ely.

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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