CHARLOTTE, N.C. – University of South Alabama running back Tra Minter was named preseason second-team All-America by The Sporting News, it was announced by the publication on Wednesday.

The Ellaville, Ga., native, was chosen as an athlete after leading the Sun Belt Conference and ranking eighth nationally with 150.25 all-purpose yards per game a year ago.

The rising senior was also among the top 10 in the league in rushing after posting 801 yards on 183 carries as well as with an average of 24.48 yards per kick return.  After adding 23 receptions for 201 yards and running back six punts for another 91 while scoring a total of seven touchdowns, he was named second-team all-Sun Belt as both a return specialist and all-purpose back.

Minter was the team's leading rusher nine times during the 2018 season, accomplishing the feat in each of the last five contests highlighted by a school-record 203-yard performance in a win over Coastal Carolina in the finale; he caught two passes for 49 yards in the contest as well to be chosen the conference's Offensive Player of the Week.  He also picked up Sun Belt Special Teams Player-of-the-Week honors in mid-October after returning three punts for 88 yards — including a 75-yard return for a touchdown — and two kickoffs for another 73 in defeat of Alabama State.

A preseason all-conference selection by both Phil Steele Publications and Athlon Sports, Minter enters his final season at the collegiate level among the top five in South's record books with 1,142 rushing yards (third), 798 kick return yards (third) and 2,479 all-purpose yards (fifth).

Minter and the Jaguars will open the 2019 season with an 11 a.m. (CDT) game at Nebraska that will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

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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