Spivery out at Southern University

 Spivery leaves the Jaguars with a 37-87 career record, an
 NCAA APR score of  847 and a two scholarships loss.

Southern University has decided to fire men’s basketball coach Rob Spivery — though that’s hardly news to him. The university released a brief statement late Friday afternoon that said Spivery will be terminated effective April 21.

The statement also revealed for the first time that the university informed Spivery of its decision on March 18, eight days after a face-to-face meeting between Spivery and SU Athletic Director Greg LaFleur to discuss the direction of the program. The news release, in its entirety, reads:

“Rob Spivery’s tenure as head basketball coach at Southern University and A&M College will end April 21.

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SU Jaguars hold off A&M rally

When the final horn sounded and the Southern women’s basketball team walked off the floor with its 12th consecutive victory Monday night, players smiled, high-fived each other and hugged a few die-hard fans.

Their sense of joy was noticeable. But it was matched by a sense of relief. “This one got to me,” said coach Sandy Pugh, who watched her team hold off Alabama A&M for a 65-57 win. “I’m happy with the win, but not happy with our defensive performance in the second half.”

One look at the final statistics showed why.

Alabama A&M-SU women: By the numbers

Southern’s losing streak continues

Yet again, in a desperate attempt to keep up with an opponent, the Southern men’s basketball team tried almost everything Monday night against Alabama A&M.

The Jaguars took timeouts. They substituted liberally. They changed defensive schemes and tried an array of offensive sets. In the end, it was the same song, eighth verse.

The visiting Bulldogs spent the entire second half building on their lead, and pulling away for an easy 64-45 victory in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

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Southern Jaguars rally falls short at Grambling State

Southern University Coach Sandy Pugh

It happened again. In keeping with a decade-long pattern, the Southern men’s basketball team played hard at Grambling on Saturday night. In fact, the Jaguars needed only one or two strong possessions to overtake their archrival on the road. They simply didn’t get what they needed.

Southern’s wild second-half rally fell just short when after Blake Sanford missed two 3-pointers with less than 1:30 remaining, helping the Tigers hold on for a 61-57 victory Saturday night before a crowd of 1,387 at the Grambling Assembly Center.

“First of all, we got behind big, and we spotted them too many points,” SU sixth-year coach Rob Spivery said.

Poor execution costs SU against Grambling

GRAMBLING — Another year. Another trip to Grambling. Another disappointment. Missing shots and failing to execute its halfcourt offense with much success Saturday night, the Southern women’s basketball team suffered a surprising 48-43 loss against Grambling on Saturday night, one that snapped the Jaguars’ two-game win streak to begin Southwestern Athletic Conference play.

It was certainly not what 11th-year coach Sandy Pugh expected.  “Look. I mean, we just didn’t ... I mean, this was one of those games where you say, ‘you’ve got to be kidding,’” said Pugh, who described herself as “frustrated” after the game.

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Slow-starting LSU Tigers heat up late to pull away from Southern Jaguars

Not long after the LSU men’s basketball team pulled away from Southern in the second half for a 62-41 victory Monday night, fans trickled out of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and headed into the night, many of them surely searching for updates on the just-under-way Saints-Falcons game.

By then, the temperature in Baton Rouge had dipped to 31 degrees and headed toward the 20s. How fitting. For much of Monday night’s game between these two struggling teams, the Jaguars and Tigers were both ice-cold from the floor.

Assessing basketball season as SWAC play nears

Yes, the Southern men’s basketball team lost to LSU by 21 points on Monday night, 62-41.

Yes, it was the Jaguars’ ninth straight loss.

No, they probably won’t sniff a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.

They probably won’t finish above fifth.

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Xavier (N.O.) knocks off Southern U. 72-58

BATON ROUGE, La. – Michael Harvey scored a season-high 20 points and Xavier (N.O.), a NAIA program, never trailed in a 72-58 victory over Southern University on Monday night. Anthony Simmons added 14 points for the Gold Rush (12-0), who are No. 9 in NAIA Division I.

Xavier shot 50 percent from the field (23 of 46), 85.7 percent from the free-throw line (18 of 21) and outrebounded the Jaguars 41-29. Jamann Kenner hit a 3-pointer to give the Gold Rush a 12-2 lead with 15:46 left in the first half. Xavier extended the margin to 28-13 on Harvey's dunk with 6:25 left before halftime.

Southern (1-9) cut the lead to 47-43 on Blake Sanford's jumper with 11:17 to play, but the Gold Rush pushed the lead to...

Xavier-N.O. keeps Southern reeling

Unable to hit an outside jumper or grab a key rebound, Southern forward Quinton Doggett wore warmups and watched Monday’s game from the bench in the northeast corner of the F.G. Clark Activity Center. He had barely settled into his seat when Xavier players started burning up the nets.

Running down loose basketballs, racing down the floor in transition and sinking a flurry of outside shots, the Gold Rush opened a big lead in the first half and finished strong down the stretch in a 72-58 victory, handing the Jaguars their seventh consecutive loss.

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Southern relies on six vets to rebound

For Southern men’s basketball coach Rob Spivery, the best news from an otherwise terrible 2009-10 season came more than a month after the Jaguars played their last game. That’s when Rivals.com named Spivery its Southwestern Athletic Conference coach of the decade. The website was serious.

To be sure, Spivery had earned the honor, having won three conference titles since 2001: two at Alabama State and another in 2005-06, his first season at SU. Since then however, the SU program has crumbled, managing 13 wins in the past two years. The Jaguars finished 5-25 overall last spring — the worst record in school history — and they finished ninth in the league standings, missing the SWAC tournament for the first time.

Southern coach urges patience

First-year Southern head football coach Stump Mitchell said he's not surprised by his team's struggles this season, but he urged patience with better days ahead. "This (2-6 overall, 1-5 SWAC record) was coming," Mitchell said on Monday. "The last two years we finished 6-5 and 6-5. We had some problems with guys that we're still paying for.

"It was my option as a coach and they're not on this football team. We're talking about guys who are academically ineligible, guys who would have been starters. I was hoping they would do what needed to be done...

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Bitter End to Tough Year on the Bluff for Southern Jaguars

Southern University athletic director Greg LaFleur is a former LSU tight end and retired St. Louis Cardinals football player. As always, next season will be a more fruitful year for the SU Jaguars and the former 3rd round NFL draft pick.

Some 2 1/2 months ago, near midcourt at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, members of the Southern women’s basketball team gathered, overflowing with joy. They donned T-shirts and hats, commemorating their newly won Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship. Smiles and hugs were aplenty. For the SU athletic department, it was the brightest moment in an otherwise brutal year.

Football season started with loads of promise. It quickly turned into a disaster. The Jaguars were lifeless at the Bayou Classic, and a nutty, wild chain of events led to a gruesome last-minute loss at Texas Southern in the season finale. As a result, SU dumped iconic coach Pete Richardson after 17 years, five SWAC championships and four black college national titles. Even to Richardson’s critics, his dismissal was painful to watch, in part because officials hammered it out so swiftly — on a gray Monday afternoon, 48 hours after the TSU loss. It was also painful because Southern bought out the final year of Richardson’s contract — even at a time of severe budget cuts, layoffs and furloughs at the university.

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Southern basketball class grows by two more

Southern University men's head basketball coach Rob Spivery.

All too often, during a long, grim season for the Southern men’s basketball program, Rob Spivery watched his offense disappear for minutes on end. The result was predictable. All too often, Southern lost. “There were times last year when we just couldn’t buy a basket,” said Spivery, who enters his sixth season as SU’s coach. So as the offseason began, Spivery made his top priority Spartan simple: He vowed to recruit a few scorers. In adding to his signing class Tuesday, Spivery said he believes he has found two more: Mike Celestin, a 5-foot-11 point guard from Mount Laurel, N.J., and Fred Coleman, a 6-5 forward from Memphis, Tenn.

Celestin spent last season at Trinity-Pawling, a prep school in New York, where he averaged 17.0 points, 4.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He will have four seasons of eligibility. oleman spent the last two seasons at Marion (Ala.) Military Institute, where he averaged 12.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He will have two seasons of eligibility. Celestin and Coleman join Arsenio Francis, a 6-foot-4 forward from Baton Rouge Community College; Marceis Davis, a 6-4 guard/forward from Richwood High in Monroe; and Lloyd Hickerson, a 6-6 forward from Western Nebraska Community College.

“I think all these guys we’ve brought in, they have that scoring element to them,” Spivery said. “I think we’ve got a pretty good crew.”

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Rebuilding effort begins at Southern

United and confident, the Southern men’s basketball team rolled into Hammond on a cool, breezy December night, ready to build on a bit of success. The Jaguars were coming off their best effort of the young season: a five-point home win over the University of New Orleans that was supposed to serve as a blueprint for the rest of their schedule: Work hard, play defense, rebound, and win games down the stretch.

But four days later, when the bus pulled up the University Center, a blowout awaited. From the opening tip, Southeastern Louisiana ripped Southern apart. The Jaguars changed defenses. They took timeouts. They tried different players. Nothing worked. By halftime, Southern trailed by 18 points. By the final buzzer, a small but happy crowd cheered as two walk-ons came off the bench in the final few minutes in a 94-48 disaster. It only got worse from there.

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