Date: 11/4
Position: Forward

Returning Letterwinners (Key stats): Josh Ajayi, Sr. (16.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 56.0 FG%, 44.4 3FG%, 70.3 FT%); Kevin Morris, Sr. (1.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 53.1 FG%, 0.0 3FG%, 44.4 FT%);

Letterwinners lost (Key stats): R.J. Kelly (4.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 39.0 FG%, 25.0 3FG%, 67.3 FT%)

Newcomers (Yr., Hometown/Previous school): Sam Iorio (Jr., Allentown, Pa./American/Parkland HS); Josh Ayeni (Jr., Zaria, Nigeria, St. Bonaventure)

Miscellaneous Notes
- Ajayi earned All-Sun Belt distinction for the first time last season after being voted to the second team
- Ajayi led the team in scoring (16.4 ppg) and field-goal percentage (.560); his field-goal percentage led the conference
- Ajayi also had 10 double-doubles – second in the league – which was the most by a Jaguar since 2013-14
- Ajayi was named First Team Preseason All-Sun Belt on Friday
- Ayeni sat out the 2019-20 season after transferring from St. Bonaventure
- Iorio transferred to South Alabama from American University and will redshirt the upcoming season

Richie Riley
- On how Ajayi has improved from last year: "The biggest improvement he's shown is a consistency in showing up to work. That was the biggest challenge with him when we got here; he wasn't comfortable coming and working every day in practice. That's something he's embraced. He's learned to have a consistency when it comes to his effort and energy. He's expanded his game too, a little bit. He's shooting the '3' at a high level. I don't know that he'll take a high volume of them, but he'll make a good percentage. I love how he's come in with a chip on his shoulder. Last year, I don't think he had that. That probably has something to do with how he's coached him, but he deserves the credit for it and he's playing with more toughness."
- On his expectations for Ajayi: "Last year he averaged around 16 (points) and 8 (rebounds), somewhere in there, so we expect him to be a guy that we're going to get the ball inside to quite a bit. One of the goals we have for him is to lead the country in field-goal percentage. It should be easier for him because he has better players around him. Last year there were nights where teams played so tight in the paint against us, there wasn't a lot of room for him to operate, and that was a reflection of our personnel. This year it will be hard to do that because we have a lot of other weapons that can score the ball. He's a preseason first-team all-league guy; we look at him as one of the best players in our league, and he needs to perform that way."
- On Ayeni: "He gives us some versatility inside. He can really shoot the 3-ball and has a great midrange game. He looks like he's more athleticism and physicality, but he's really more skilled when it comes to scoring the ball inside. He can really shoot it, has good vision as a passer and gives us some toughness defensively. He likes to mix it up. He's still trying to recover from his knee injury. He's back 100% practicing, but his knee's not at 100% yet. He's going to play for us early in the season and hopefully have a huge impact, but I think we'll see a different Ayeni at the back end of the season as his knee continues to strengthen and he gets comfortable playing again."

Josh Ajayi
- On his expectations: "I want to pick up from where I left off last year. I want to definitely increase my field-goal percentage, reduce my turnovers and increase my assists. My assist/turnover ratio is the biggest thing I've been focusing on. I want to keep being efficient in everything that I do. My efficiency and playmaking are two things I've really been focused on."
- On what he's doing to improve in those areas: "In practice we have a huge attention to detail on our turnovers. If you have a turnover, you have a 22 you have to run. The way Coach (Riley) implemented that, that's helped us value the ball more. Personally, I've worked on finding my teammates more and being able to deliver passes to them. I need to be strong with the ball and limit my turnovers."
- On Ayeni: "He definitely brings a big competitive spirit. He has a great skillset, is very active down low in the post and his defense is really good. That's really helped me, battling against him in practice. Like they say, iron sharpens iron. We've gotten better from competing against each other."

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