SWAC preview 2009

Excerpt:


Men: Is the glass half-empty?

1. What’s the state of SWAC men’s basketball?
Simply put, it’s not good. Sixteen years ago, when Southern upset Georgia Tech in the 1993 NCAA Tournament, the Jaguars were a No. 13 seed. These days, the mere thought of a 13th-seeded SWAC team is laughable.

Of the 31 conferences in Division I men’s basketball, the SWAC currently ranks dead last; teams often spend their nonconference season playing “guarantee” games, and they all have grim records to show for it. Alabama State has the best record at 3-7. Southern is 0-12 — but two more teams, including Texas Southern, have it worse at 0-13. Of course, with that in mind, maybe the Jaguars have a shot at a decent conference record.

Women: Or is it half-full?

1. Has the SWAC improved? According to the latest RPI ratings, it still ranks 31st among Division I conferences. Still, SU ninth-year coach Sandy Pugh said she thinks the SWAC has improved. “When I came into this league, I basically walked in with four players — and of those four players, two of them were the top two players in the league,” Pugh said. “The recruitment here in the conference has grown.” So has the coaching pedigree. It started with Freda Freeman-Jackson at Alabama State and continued with Pugh. More recently, Cynthia Cooper-Dyke has turned Prairie View from also-ran to league favorite in a short time.

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