1980–81 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team

1980–81 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball
1980–81 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball
Sun Belt Regular season co-champions
NIT tournament, quarterfinals
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
	East Division
Record	25–6 (9–3 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Cliff Ellis (6th season);
Home arena	Jaguar Gym; Mobile Municipal Auditorium

1980–81 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
VCU †	9	–	3	.750	24	–	5	.828
	9	–	3	.750	25	–	6	.806
UAB	9	–	3	.750	23	–	9	.719
South Florida	7	–	5	.583	18	–	11	.621
Jacksonville	4	–	8	.333	8	–	19	.296
UNC Charlotte	3	–	9	.250	10	–	17	.370
Georgia State	1	–	11	.083	4	–	23	.148

† 1981 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1980–81 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team represented the University of South Alabama during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Jaguars were led by head coach Cliff Ellis, in his sixth year as head coach. They played their home games at the Mobile Civic Center, and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. South Alabama finished the season 25–6, 9–3 in Sun Belt play to finish tied for first place. They were invited to the NIT tournament, where they lost to Tulsa in the quarterfinals.

Roster

1980–81 South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F		Rory White	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Tuskegee, Alabama
F	15	Ed Rains	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr	Ocala, Florida

Head coach

Cliff Ellis (Florida State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1980*		Wisconsin–Parkside	W 86–58	1–0	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 3, 1980*		Middle Tennessee State	L 79–80	1–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 5, 1980*		vs. Texas–El Paso Worcester County Classic	W 77–66	2–1	Hart Center Worcester, Massachusetts
Dec 6, 1980*		vs. Holy Cross Worcester County Classic	W 77–53	3–1	Hart Center Worcester, Massachusetts
Dec 11, 1980*		Tennessee Tech	W 67–48	4–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 13, 1980*		Prairie View A&M	W 101–53	5–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 16, 1980*		at No. 7 Ohio State	W 76–67	6–1	St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio
Dec 18, 1980*		at Akron	W 52–49	7–1	Memorial Hall Akron, Ohio
Dec 29, 1980*		Navy Senior Bowl	W 65–47	8–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Dec 30, 1980*		Fordham Senior Bowl	W 79–61	9–1	Mobile Municipal Auditorium Mobile, Alabama
Jan 2, 1981*		Mississippi Valley State	W 98–67	10–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 6, 1981	No. 15	at VCU	W 76–62	11–1 (1–0)	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Jan 8, 1981		at UNC Charlotte	W 92–61	12–1 (2–0)	Belk Gymnasium Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 10, 1981		Georgia State	W 74–54	13–1 (3–0)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 13, 1981		UNC Charlotte	W 80–63	14–1 (4–0)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 17, 1981*		Nicholls State	W 95–62	15–1	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 22, 1981	No. 11	VCU	L 70–86	15–2 (4–1)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Jan 24, 1981*		at McNeese State	W 64–60	16–2	Lake Charles Civic Center Lake Charles, Louisiana
Jan 27, 1981		at Jacksonville	W 55–48	17–2 (5–1)	Jacksonville Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Jan 31, 1981		at UAB	L 70–73	17–3 (5–2)	Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (16,131) Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 5, 1981		South Florida	W 54–50	18–3 (6–2)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 8, 1981		Jacksonville	W 86–65	19–3 (7–2)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 10, 1981		at Georgia State	W 82–49	20–3 (8–2)	GSU Sports Arena Atlanta, Georgia
Feb 12, 1981		at South Florida	L 52–70	20–4 (8–3)	USF Sun Dome Tampa, Florida
Feb 17, 1981		UAB	W 77–57	21–4 (9–3)	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Feb 19, 1981* 7:30 p.m.		at Illinois State	W 50–44	22–4	Horton Field House (4,572) Normal, Illinois
Sun Belt Conference tournament
Feb 27, 1981*	(2)	vs. (7) Georgia State Quarterfinals	W 79–41	23–4	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida
Feb 28, 1981*	(2)	vs. (3) UAB Semifinals	W 86–59	23–5	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum (5,271) Jacksonville, Florida
NIT tournament
Mar 11, 1981*		Texas–Arlington First round	W 74–71	24–5	Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama
Mar 16, 1981*		at Georgia Second round	W 73–72	25–5	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
Mar 20, 1981*		at Tulsa Quarterfinals	L 68–69	25–6	Mabee Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

^[1]^[2]

References

^ "2019-20 South Alabama Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of South Alabama Athletics. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
^ "1980-81 South Alabama Jaguars Men's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 15, 2024.

[1] "2019-20 South Alabama Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of South Alabama Athletics. Retrieved July 15, 2024.

[2] "1980-81 South Alabama Jaguars Men's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 15, 2024.

[1]

[2]

South Alabama Jaguars men's basketball
Venues	Jaguar Gymnasium (1968–1998) Mobile Civic Center (alternate, 1968–1998) Mitchell Center (1998–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25