South Alabama basketball officially adds 3 transfers

South Alabama basketball officially adds 3 transfers

South Alabama’s basketball team on Tuesday officially added three incoming transfers.

Guards Samuel Tabe (Seton Hill) and Maxwell Land (Saint Francis) and forward Thomas Howell (Louisiana-Monroe) have all joined Richie Riley’s Jaguars program. All three will enroll in classes over the summer and be eligible to play during the 2023-24 season.

Tabe (pronounced “TAH-bay”) averaged 16.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game this past season at Seton Hill, a Division 2 school in Greensburg, Pa. A 6-foot-5 native of Beltsville, Md., he has one season of eligibility remaining.

The 6-foot-4 Land averaged 12.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game this past season for the Red Flash, a member of the Northeast Conference located in Loretta, Pa. A Cincinnati native with two seasons of eligibility remaining, he shot 36% from 3-point range and 76% from the free-throw line in 2022-23.

The 6-foot-8 Howell averaged 9.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this past season for the Warhawks, one of the Jaguars’ Sun Belt Conference rivals. A native of Natchitoches, La., he has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

South Alabama also signed three high school recruits in November: guards John Broom (Jacksonville, Ala.) and Smurf Millender (Clear Brook, Texas) and forward Ethan Kizer (Metamora, Ill.). With the loss of seniors Isaiah Moore (a first-team All-Sun Belt pick), Kevin Samuel (the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year), Owen White, Greg Parham and Adam Sizemore to graduation and the departures of forwards Diante Smith and Tyler Shirley to the transfer portal, the Jaguars have one scholarship remaining for next season.

South Alabama is believed to be among the frontrunners for former Arkansas guard and Mobile native Barry Dunning, the 2022 Mr. Basketball in the state of the Alabama who entered the transfer portal last week. The Jaguars went 19-16 in 2022-23, reaching the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship game this past season.