South Alabama basketball stays comfortable with change

"The only constant is change" applies to everything, but nowhere more directly than college athletic programs, and among those programs none exemplifies that more than the University of South Alabama's men's basketball program.

While replicating or surpassing the 21 wins that the Jaguars have posted the last two consecutive seasons is the goal, Coach Richie Riley will have to accomplish it with a roster that returns only four players from 2025-26, two of whom didn't play as they redshirted and another that only played 10 games before suffering a season-ending injury. He will also have a staff replacing three assistant coaches who left for new opportunities.

If the turnover worries Riley, he isn't showing it. Asked who his starting five would be if the season began today, he said he couldn't name one. "We got eight guys probably that have earned the right probably to start. I can only start five of them," he said.

Old faces once more outnumbered by new ones

Before the words "transfer" and "portal" were ever paired to create a new reality in college sports, Riley regularly brought in experienced players from other programs to build his rosters. While the NIL era has limited opportunities for South Alabama to bring in Division I players, Riley and his staff have creatively looked to other levels to find star players and this year is no exception. However, in addition to adding stars from Division II, Division III and NAIA, this season's roster will have an international flavor with recruits from across North America and Europe making the journey to Mobile to help the Jaguars in their quest to make the NCAA tournament.

Player | Class | Hometown | 25-26

G Samuel Shoptaw (6-2, 195) | SO | London, Ky. | DNP-Injury Redshirt

G Jalen Langsy (6-1, 185) | JR | Shakopee, Minn. | NAIA All-American

G Desmond Williams (6-3, 185) | SO | Mobile, Ala. | DNP-Redshirt

F Stephen Williams (6-9, 245) | JR | Atmore, Ala. | 6.3pts, 5.6rebs per game

F Lenni Kunzewitsch (6-10, 220) | JR | Gotha, Germany | Competed for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany's ProB league

F Owen Kenney (6-7, 225) | JR | Barrie, Ontario, Canada | 3rd-team all-conf for U of Ottawa

F Peyton Law (6-7, 220) | GR | Calhoun, Ga. | 12.8pts, 6rebs average in 10 games

F Roderick Williams Jr. (6-6, 230) | SO | Magnolia, Ark. | 12.4pts, 5.5rebs for D2 Southern Ark.

G Aedan Lewis (6-4, 205) | JR | Pensacola, Fla. | SAA (D3) All-Tournament Team

G Diego Roman (6-8, 215) | FR | Morges, Switzerland | Played in top Swiss Pro Division

F Keyne Costa (6-8, 215) | SO | Brussels, Belgium | HM All-Region at JUCO NE Ok. A&M

G Aaron Goldstein (6-0, 180) | SR | Staten Island, N.Y. | 1st Team All-Conf at D2 Staten Island

F Davaughn Hueitt (6-9, 220) | SO | Chula Vista, Calif. | League DPOY and Freshman of the Year for D2 Hannibal-LaGrange

F Alexey Sereda (7-0, 215) | FR | Krasnoyarsk, Russia | Competed for BC Enisey Krasnoyarsk of the VTB United League

Earning it every day

The Jaguars have a preseason schedule to sort things out: practices, a pair of closed-door scrimmages against other teams and an open exhibition under the lights. Riley says the program's approach means no one is guaranteed anything. "It's earned every day," he said.

Two names are close to locked in. Junior forward Stephen Williams, the 6-foot-9, 245-pound interior presence, is one. Junior guard Jalen Langsy, whom Riley has praised for his shooting, is the other. "Unless he just has horrific [practices] for three straight weeks, you can probably pencil him in," Riley said of Williams. A couple more players, he added, are getting close to that level.

What Riley likes most is the depth. "We can play everybody on our roster," he said. "We could get out there and play and be really good."

The guards

Riley says the roster is bigger and has a better feel for the game than any he has had at South Alabama. That starts in the backcourt, where freshman Diego Roman, a 6-foot-8 guard from Switzerland, stands out. "He can play all the guard spots, he can really pass. Great vision, can score at the rim," Riley said, adding that Roman's shot has improved drastically since he arrived.

Senior Aaron Goldstein, a 6-foot guard from Staten Island, gets the "Energizer Bunny" label from his coach. "The way he can run around and shoot it, he can hit tough shots, catch-and-shoot shots, can also create for others," Riley said.

Sophomore Desmond Williams, a Mobile native, may be the most improved player on the roster. Riley called his transformation "as good as any that I've seen" after he spent a redshirt year adding muscle. He also knows the system better than anyone. "He knows all our sets. He knows what we want to do defensively, all the schematic things and cultural things," Riley said.

Sophomore Samuel Shoptaw rounds out the guard group. "He can really shoot it. Really smart, heady, tough," Riley said.

The frontcourt

Up front, Riley sees rapid improvement, starting with 6-foot-10 junior Lenni Kunzewitsch, a German product who "can catch and shoot it" and has rebounded better throughout camp than at any point in his career. Then there is 7-foot freshman Alexey Sereda, who can shoot and pass. International players often haven't played much zone defense, Riley noted, and Sereda is learning how to use his length in the Jaguars' defense.

The pleasant surprise is sophomore Davaughn Hueitt, who Riley says is a few steps ahead of where Williams was at this point last year. Williams made a big jump in mid-October, worked his way into the rotation and became a starter-level minutes player once Peyton Law went down. Hueitt "can really block shots," is quick off the floor, rebounds well and has skill around the basket.

Sophomore Roderick Williams Jr., known as "Junior," is "a throwback" in Riley's words, a crafty player who makes up for a lack of height with skill and smarts. Sophomore Keyne Costa, a 6-foot-8 wing from Belgium, is a "power four level" athlete who flies around in the zone, attacks the offensive glass and slashes to the rim.

Then there is junior Owen Kenney, a Canadian like former Jaguar now Auburn Tiger Adam Olsen, who has had what Riley calls a really good preseason. Riley sees a player who can catch-and-shoot but stands out for his physicality. He compared him to Olsen, the elite shooter who preceded him. "Owen Kenney defensively, and how he rebounds the ball, the physicality he plays with is at a higher level than what Olsen was at that time," Riley said. Law, the graduate forward, is expected back from injury.

The zone isn't going anywhere

Fans wondering whether the 1-3-1 zone, the program's signature, might be scaled back can relax. "We're committed," Riley said. In fact, he thinks it could be better than ever because of the size, which is saying something after South Alabama was top five nationally in field goal percentage defense in 2025-26.

Last year's lineup often featured a 6-foot-8 forward and then guards in the 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-5 range. This year's wings could be 6-foot-10 or 7-foot-1, with 6-foot-9 or 6-foot-10 players in the middle. "There's less room on the court. And I think it helps us expand," Riley said. The guards are smaller than last year's, with Chaze Harris having been 6-foot-6, but Riley says they are "super active" and "super competitive."

The roster should also allow more variety. Riley expects to mix in three-quarter and full-court pressure and the junk defenses that last year's personnel couldn't run as effectively. "Our base (defense) is always going to be there. It's just been too good to us," he said. "We've got to play with force and we've got to play with discipline."

Tempering the excitement

Riley described himself as a pessimist by nature, in contrast with his upbeat staff. He said he would be the first to say so if his team looked bad, and that he is holding back his excitement even though many people have come through to watch practice. "You don't know how good you are until, number one, you play somebody else, and number two, until you get to the meat of your competition," he said, pointing to conference play. He has had teams that struggled early while blending new faces and then thrived in league play, and the reverse.

He is proud, though, of how the staff assembled the group given where the program stands with revenue sharing. "The group has a lot of tools, and the personalities fit really well together," he said.

A new look on the bench

Riley said the three departed assistants left large shoes to fill. Riley Conroy, now an assistant at Furman, was with him three years and is "really missed." Rodney Crawford, who has taken his defensive coaching prowess to the staff at Marquette, was Riley's right-hand man for five years and someone he has known for over half his life. Assistant Ogi Vasiljevic was only with the program for a year but was instrumental in helping assemble this year's roster and is now at NC State.

The replacements are John Aiken, a former Division I head coach at McNeese State with a fundraising background that Riley says is already paying dividends, and Mark Rutledge, who arrives from a head coaching job at Southern Arkansas in a tough Division II league and has been "incredible" in schemes, recruiting and relationships. Will Braden fills the role Conroy held after arriving from Central Arkansas: young, organized, smart, a relationship-driven recruiter who likes working players out. Riley called his start "unbelievable."

Orin Bailey Jr. remains for his fifth season and has taken on far more responsibility than ever. "He's handled that and ran with it," Riley said. "He's done an excellent job."

The old order has changed, but Riley believes the new roster and staff have the tools to win again.