MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama head men's golf coach Ben Hannan announced Friday that Daniel Jansen has signed a Grant-In-Aid and will join the program next fall.

A native of Kristiansand, Norway, Jansen comes to USA from Faulkner (Ala.), where he helped lead the Eagles to back-to-back top-10 finishes at the NAIA national championship; at this year's event, conducted May 13-16, he tied for seventh in a field of 156 individuals with a 1-under-par 215 54-hole total while helping the squad tie for sixth place out of 29 teams.  He was an all-tournament team honoree for his efforts.

Jansen also posted a 217 score over three rounds to tie for fourth individually while leading the Eagles to their first-ever Southern States Athletics Conference championship.  In addition to making the all-tournament squad, he was named the SSAC Player of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection.  In March, Faulkner was the medalist at the Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta Invitational as Faulkner claimed the team won the tournament by 25 shots.

In the most recent Golfstat Cup standings, he was the fourth-rated NAIA player while ranking among the top 150 individuals in the country across all collegiate levels.

"Daniel was recruited as a junior transfer to help fill the void that is being left by Lane [Hulse] and Blake [Kelley], who graduated this spring," said Hannan.  "He already has a strong track record winning at the collegiate level, and shooting very consistent and competitive scores on a routine basis.  There will be an opportunity for Daniel to step in and compete right away, as well as add depth to the guys returning from this year's team."

The Eagles advanced to the NAIA national championship for the first time Jansen's freshman season, where he would tie for 28th individually — in addition to helping the team place eighth — after shooting 1-under par the final two days.  At the 2013 SSAC Championship, he carded a 4-under-par total to earn all-tournament accolades after tying for second in the individual standings; Faulkner placed second as a team as well.  Jansen would win three times as a freshman, leading the Eagles to three straight event titles by a double-digit margin, going on to be selected second team PING NAIA All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America as well as the league's Freshman of the Year.

"Daniel is a very good ball striker, an excellent iron player who gives himself a lot of opportunities throughout a round of golf," Hannan observed.  "He loves the game and has an outstanding work ethic. He understands our expectations, and putting him in an atmosphere where competition is high will only help to elevate his game as well as those around him.  We are very excited and looking forward to Daniel joining us next fall."

Jansen joins a Jaguar program that has earned at-large berths to an NCAA Regional each of the last two seasons.  USA is slated to return four letterwinners from a squad that recorded six top-three finishes during the 2013-14 campaign.

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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