NEW ORLEANS – Highlighted by first-team selection Tra Minter, seven members of the University of South Alabama football team earned all-Sun Belt Conference honors as announced by the league office Wednesday.

In addition to Minter, who was recognized as an all-purpose back, seniors Jeffery Whatley and Travis Reed picked up second-team and third-team accolades, respectively.  South also had four individuals named honorable mention all-conference, with the group including Kawaan Baker, Sean Brown, Riley Cole and Jacob Shoemaker.

Minter set school season records with 1,057 rushing yards — making him the first player in South's history to surpass the 1,000-yard mark — and 1,943 all-purpose yards as he enters the weekend ranked first in the league and third in the country with 161.92 all-purpose yards per contest.  The senior running back from Ellaville, Ga., also ended the regular season fifth in the Sun Belt in rushing yards per game and third with an average of 21.2 yards per kickoff return, and he caught 32 passes for 209 yards as well.  Minter recorded 200 or more all-purpose yards on four occasions in 2019.

Whatley was credited with at least one tackle for loss in each of the Jaguars' last seven contests, and after ending the season with 14½ — a number that stands third on South's season record list — the defensive lineman currently ranks second in the conference with an average of 1.21 per game.  He also shared the team lead with 4½ sacks while finishing the campaign with 39 stops, as his tackles, stops behind the line and sack figures were all more than his three-year totals entering the year.  A native of Midland City, Ala., Whatley finished with a career-high six stops against Georgia Southern and posted a career-best 2½ tackles for loss at Texas State.

A Meridian, Miss., resident, Reed posted 10 passes broken up and intercepted three others, leading the team while ranking among the top 10 in the Sun Belt in both categories.  The senior intercepted and/or broke up multiple passes in four of the team's eight league games, including picking off two passes and breaking up another in the annual "Battle For The Belt" at Troy as well as recording a career-high three pass breakups in a season-ending win over Arkansas State.  Reed's 41 total tackles, which included three behind the line of scrimmage, also led Jaguar cornerbacks.

It's the second season in a row that Baker, who topped the Jags with 35 catches for 574 yards, has earned honorable mention all-league recognition.  The junior from Atlanta, Ga., had multiple receptions in 10 of 12 contests this fall — including posting four for a career-best 126 yards against Georgia Southern — while pacing the team in catches five times and receiving yards on five occasions.

A native of Pleasant Grove, Ala., Brown recorded career-high totals in both total tackles (28) and stops behind the line of scrimmage (three) his final season at the collegiate level.  The defensive lineman posted all but five of his stops in conference action, highlighted by a stretch in which he made at least one tackle for loss in three straight outings.

Cole posted career-high totals after ending the campaign with 59 stops, nine tackles behind the line and three sacks, and he was credited with an additional four quarterback hurries.  The junior linebacker, who hails from Oneonta, Ala., recorded a career-best 11 tackles at Troy while he posted a career-high two stops for loss in both of South's games against top-25 opponents at Nebraska and against Appalachian State.
In his first season with the program, Shoemaker stands second amongst the team's offensive linemen in overall, assignment and technique grades as well as second with 63 knockdown blocks.  The junior from Gulfport, Miss., received an overall mark above 80 percent on five occasions while grading out at 80 percent or better on assignments following nine contests, and he ended the season with a career-best 11 pancakes in the Jags' win over Arkansas State.

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

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