Monroe, Lady Jags get top nod, men get sixth in preseason picks

 
Once again, the Southern University women’s basketball team has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Rolanda Monroe, Southern senior guard has been put on the pedestal as the conference’s preseason player of the year. Monroe, last season’s leading scorer, averaged 21.3 per game and was the SWAC’s most valuable player.
“Ro is going to be a thorn in a lot of folk’s side. She is in the best shape of her career,” said coach Sandy Pugh. “She is really listening and doing the things we ask of her.”
Last season, the Jaguars fell to Alcorn State 56-47 in the SWAC game. Monroe, the tournament MVP for the second straight season, recorded a tournament-record 32 points.
Meanwhile, sophomore center Fredrieka Lewis will return on the court for the Jaguars after sustaining a knee injury. Though Lewis missed much of last season, she still made the preseason second team. She was the conference’s freshman of the year for 2003-04. This season along with Lewis is forward Indi Johnson, a Purdue transfer, along with freshman Ashton Jones.
“We definitely have the team to get a lot of wonderful things done and make a lot of wonderful things happen this year,” Pugh said. “We just have to pull it all together. The kids seem to be focused. They seem to be hungry. I’m really pleased right now.”
A lot has changed with the men’s basketball team. Southern’s men’s team was picked to finish sixth, a heavy fall from last season’s second.
First-year head coach Rob Spivery is Southern’s fourth coach in six seasons. Spivery spent the last nine seasons at Alabama State, whose Hornets made it to the tournament finals last season after beating the Jaguars in the semifinals. “Being picked sixth is where I imagined us to be and right now it really doesn’t matter,” Spivery said. “Hopefully, by the time SWAC play begins, we’ll be a very good team and have a chance to win the regular season and into the tournament.”
Alabama A&M seized the regular season and tournament titles for the first time since joining the conference and are the preseason favorites to win for the men’s side.
Southern men’s squad has had five straight losing seasons. The Jaguars last won the SWAC tournament in 1993 and won their last regular season conference title in 1989-90.
Southern is led by 6’9 senior forward Peter Cipriano, a first-team selection.
“We have a chance,” Spivery said. “We really do. If we can keep everyone healthy and develop the chemistry we need to, we might be OK.”
Though basketball season is fast approaching, accessibility to the F.G. Clark Activity Center accessibility to the teams is limited. Because of Hurricane Katrina, the Minidome has been a home to evacuees of New Orleans since September. At this moment there is not a deadline for how long the evacuees will be housed in the facility.

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ROLONDA MONROE