Alabama Southern finished at 27-5 last season, winning the Southern Division before being eliminated by eventual state champ Wallace-Hanceville in the post-season tournament. The 2009-10 season was a great one, but the Eagles may be hard pressed to equal their numbers from a year ago during the upcoming campaign.

 

"It was a great year," said Alabama Southern coach Ben Hicks, who was named the NJCAA Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. "We were 15-1 in the conference. We were ranked 19th in the country."

 

The Eagles lost some key players from last year's club, among them Rico Sanders (6-3,170), the Player of the Year, who opted to go to the University of South Alabama this season. Nate Watkins (6-1, 185), who averaged 11 points per game, has transferred to Meridian (MS) Community College and, as a result, the Eagles lost almost all of their scoring, according to Hicks.

 

"Well, we lost about ninety percent of our scoring," Hicks said. "Robert Marable (6-2, 190) is coming back this year. He was a great role player last year and should compete for a starting position this year."

 

Jordan Butts (6-1, 185), a Rome, Georgia product, returns this season and should play a key role. Butts was a back-up guard last year.

 

"I feel like I recruited some good talent," Hicks said. "I'm definitely going to have to rely on my freshmen class coming in. They're all good kids, hard workers. I'm excited about this year's team, but I am concerned about the leadership and the maturity."

 

Hicks is excited about incoming freshman Darius Crutcher, a prep star at Huntsville Hazel Green High School, along with Deonte Jethro, a 6-4 guard, who is expected to have an immediate impact in the scheme of things. Jethro could not play during the 2009-10 season because of a knee injury.

 

"Jethro can really score the basketball. He can score in bunches," Hicks said. "Rashad Beckham (6-7, 215), out of Jackson, Mississippi, will come in and compete for some playing time. He actually had some heart problems late in the season last year, but he has recovered now. I'm excited about him coming in as well."

 

Hicks is a defensive-minded coach, but the Eagle philosophy is to score in transition.

 

"We really try to push the ball down the floor," he said. "If we don't - and I tell my guys all the time - the quick shots that we take, we can take those late in the shot clock. We try to spread the floor with four out, dribble, drive and shoot a lot of threes. We also run a lot of pick and roll to isolate and utilize the talent that my guys have.

 

"Our offense actually feeds off of our defense. I'm a big defensive guy. I guess I always have been. I would say that seventy-five percent of our practices are devoted to defense. We're full-court, man-to-man; we just try to create chaos. I pretty much call it organized chaos. We have a unique style of play that's hard to prepare for in two days."

 

"One thing we try to do is to wear teams down. I play up to twelve guys, but if you watch us play you will notice that in the last five minutes of the game I will have my best guys on the court and try to control the game, especially if we have the lead."

 

Repeating as division champs is an attainable goal for Hicks and his Eagles, but he says there are a couple of teams that loom as major obstacles.

 

"I'd say Faulkner State has to be the favorite," he said. "And also Southern Union. They had a great freshman class that played a lot of minutes last year.  The state tournament will be played at Shelton State this year, so don't count them out."