Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles | |
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University | University of Southern Indiana |
Conference | Ohio Valley Conference (Main Conference) Summit (Men's soccer, swimming & diving) Horizon (Men's tennis) |
NCAA | Division I |
Athletic director | Jon Mark Hall |
Location | Vanderburgh County, Indiana |
Varsity teams | 19 (9 men's and 10 women's) |
Basketball arena | Screaming Eagles Arena |
Baseball stadium | USI Baseball Field |
Soccer stadium | Strassweg Field |
Mascot | Archibald T. Eagle |
Nickname | Screaming Eagles |
Fight song | "Fight On, Screaming Eagles!" |
Colors | Blue, white, and red [1] |
Website | gousieagles |
The Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles (colloquially known as Screagles [2] ) are the athletic teams that represent the University of Southern Indiana, located outside Evansville in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, in NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports. The Screaming Eagles compete as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Southern Indiana had previously been a member of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference from 1978 to 2022, when the school announced it would reclassify to NCAA Division I. [3] [4]
USI was a founding member of the GLVC and began competing in 1979, leading to 188 NCAA Tournament appearances and 231 athletes earning All-American honors. USI has ten NCAA II individual national championships in cross country and track & field, and 16 NCAA II regional championships in baseball, men's basketball, women' basketball, men's cross country, women's cross country and softball. In 2018, USI won the NCAA II Softball National Championship, becoming the first softball team in Indiana to win an NCAA championship. In 2010, USI was the first GLVC member and university in the state of Indiana to win a national championship in baseball, repeating in 2014 to become the first NCAA II program to win multiple team titles. Men's basketball won the NCAA II National Championship in 1995 with 3.9 million viewers watching them on CBS Sports. [5]
USI boasts a strong academic record as well, with 228 Academic All-GLVC athletes in 2021–22 and 35 Academic All-America honors. Student athletes maintain an average GPA of 3.29 and are retained at a high percentage. [6]
Men's sports | Women's sports |
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Baseball | Basketball |
Basketball | Cross country |
Cross country | Golf |
Golf | Soccer |
Soccer | Softball |
Swimming and diving | Swimming and diving |
Tennis | Tennis |
Track and field† | Track and field† |
Volleyball | |
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor |
Men's basketball has been a part of USI's athletic department since the 1970–71 season. The Screaming Eagles are currently one of the most successful basketball programs in Division II athletics. In 1994, USI finished runner-up at the Division II championship and the following year, in 1995, won the national championship. Overall, USI has made 23 NCAA tournament appearances and won the GLVC tournament in 2005, 2007, 2012, and 2014.
USI's success in basketball is due in part to the coaching leadership and legacy of Bruce Pearl, who coached the team from 1992 to 2001. During this nine-year span, USI went to nine straight NCAA D-II tournaments, won four GLVC regular season titles, and compiled a record of 231–46. Pearl's successor, Rick Herdes, led the team to a second-place finish at the 2004 Division II national championship and posted a record of 200–59. However, in 2009, USI submitted to the NCAA a list of NCAA rules violations committed by the men's basketball coaching staff, including Herdes. Three of the violations are related to extra benefits concerning transportation, one concerning academics, and the last concerning improper communication with a prospective student athlete. [9] When the announcement was made, Herdes promptly resigned and was replaced by Rodney Watson.
Despite a one-year probation on postseason play imposed by the GLVC and NCAA, Watson led USI to a 23–0 start and a #2 ranking in the NABC Division II Top 25 Poll, making it the best start for a first-year coach at USI. In his 11 seasons as coach, USI had a 251–82 overall record and a 141–59 record within the conference. Watson's Screaming Eagles made one trip to the Elite Eight during the 2019 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament, advancing all the way to the Final Four before bowing out to eventually runner-up Point Lima 71–81. Watson is the Screaming Eagles' all-time wins leader and longest tenured coach in program history. [10]
Following Watson's retirement after the 2019–20 season, two time NABC Division II Player of the Year and USI all-time great Stan Gouard was named head basketball coach at his alma mater. Gouard had previously been the head coach at GLVC rival Indianapolis.
USI owns an all-time record of 861–416 following the 2020–21 season.
Men's baseball began at USI in 1971. Recently, USI has established itself as a top competitor nationally in Division II. In 2010, the school won the NCAA DII National Championship and won their second NCAA title in 2014, defeating Colorado Mesa by a final score of 3–2 in 12 innings. The team also earned a third-place finish in 2007 under head coach Tracy Archuleta.
The USI softball team was started in 1977 and has been under the direction of coach Sue Kunkle for 16 seasons. The team made its first trip to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship in 2017, losing to West Florida in the opening rounds. In 2018, the Screaming Eagles returned to the tournament as an 8-seed and went undefeated in the tournament to capture their first, and the university’s first women's national championship, defeating Saint Anselm 4–0 and 8–3 in consecutive games in the final. [11] Sophomore pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt started all five games in the NCAA tournament, including a complete-game no-hitter in her second game against Angelo State. [12]
USI has won four NCAA national championships (men's basketball, 1995; baseball, 2010 and 2014, women's softball 2018), finished three times as the national finalist (men's basketball, 1994 and 2004; and women's basketball 1997), and earned two third-place finishes (men's cross country, 1982; baseball, 2007). The men's and women's cross country/track teams have produced five individual national championships since 1997.
Association | Division | Sport | Year | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NCAA | Division II | Men's Basketball [13] | 1995 | UC Riverside | 71–63 |
NCAA | Division II | Baseball [14] | 2010 | UC San Diego | 6–4 |
2014 | Colorado Mesa | 3–2 | |||
NCAA | Division II | Softball [15] | 2018 | Saint Anselm | 4–0; 8–3 |
The Screaming Eagles won the 2003–04 GLVC All-Sports Trophy by nine points, the largest margin of victory since Lewis University edged USI by 9.5 points in 1986–87. In the 25-year history of the trophy, USI has finished first three times (2003–04, 1993–94, 1982–83); second nine times; third twice; and fourth three times.
The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with the Big South Conference in the Football Championship Subdivision, the lower of two levels of Division I football competition. The OVC has 11 members, six of which compete in football in the conference.
The University of Southern Indiana (USI) is a public university just outside of Evansville, Indiana. Founded in 1965, USI enrolls 9,750 dual credit, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in more than 130 areas of study. USI offers programs through the College of Liberal Arts, Romain College of Business, College of Nursing and Health Professions and the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education.
The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its fourteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri. There are also four associate members who participate in sports not sponsored by their home conferences.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the intercollegiate athletic programs of Eastern Illinois University (EIU) located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The Panthers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Championship Subdivision. EIU's colors are blue and gray. Selected as the team mascot in 1930, EIU's panther was informally known as "Billy" for many years and was officially named "Billy the Panther" in 2008. Panther teams have won five NCAA national championships in three sports. The Panthers also won the 1969 NAIA men's soccer title.
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Evansville, Indiana is the home to two minor league professional sports teams and one amateur sports team. The city is also the home to two NCAA collegiate teams, and nine high schools that participate in the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Evansville is also the host to the annual Hoosier Nationals and Demolition City Roller Derby.
Rodney Watson is an American basketball coach and the former head coach for the University of Southern Indiana. Watson succeeded Rick Herdes, who resigned following a scandal that ultimately resulted in suspension from postseason play for one year.
The SIU Edwardsville Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), located in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. The Cougars' athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and competes at the NCAA Division I level. The SIUE mascot is Eddie the Cougar #57, and the school colors are red and white. Cougar teams have won seventeen NCAA national championships in five sports.
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The Indianapolis Greyhounds are the athletic teams that represent the University of Indianapolis (UIndy), located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Greyhounds compete in NCAA Division II as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) for all 23 of their varsity sports. Indianapolis has been a member of the GLVC since 1978 and, as of 2022, was the only remaining charter member of the conference.
The Northern Kentucky Norse are the athletic teams of Northern Kentucky University, located in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. NKU is an NCAA Division I school competing in the Horizon League, which it joined on July 1, 2015, after leaving the Atlantic Sun Conference. The university's teams for both men and women are nicknamed "Norse."
The Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represents Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. The school's athletic program began a transition to NCAA Division I in the 2012–13 school year. For the first three seasons of the transition, it was a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. In the final season of the transition in 2015–16, the Norse joined the Horizon League. The Norse were coached by John Brannen until April 14, 2019, when he left to take a job with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Before him the Norse program's coach was Dave Bezold, who had an overall record of 138 wins and 72 losses. On April 23, 2019 Darrin Horn was hired as head coach by Northern Kentucky. Since joining Division I in 2012–13, the Norse have made three NCAA tournament appearances, most recently in 2023.
The SIU Edwardsville Cougars softball team represents Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in NCAA Division I college softball. They compete as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. SIUE plays its home games at Cougar Field, located in the southwest corner of the campus.
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The Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles baseball program represents the University of Southern Indiana in the NCAA's Division I level. They have won the Division II Tournament national championship twice. The Screaming Eagles play their home games at USI Baseball Field and are coached by Tracy Archuleta.
The 2015 NCAA Division II baseball tournament decided the baseball champion of the NCAA Division II level for the 2014 season. The Screaming Eagles of the University of Southern Indiana won their second national championship as led by head coach Tracy Archuleta. The Screaming Eagles defeated the Mavericks of Colorado Mesa University in the national championship. Southern Indiana pitcher Matt Chavarria was named most outstanding player of the tournament.
Stanley Gouard is an American college basketball coach, currently head coach for the University of Southern Indiana (USI). Gouard also played for USI, where he was twice named NCAA Division II National Player of the Year.
The 2022–23 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball team represented the University of Southern Indiana in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Screaming Eagles, led by third-year head coach Stan Gouard, played their home games at Screaming Eagles Arena in Evansville, Indiana as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 16–17, 9–9 in OVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed in the OVC tournament, they lost to SIU Edwardsville in the first round. The Screaming Eagles received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational as the No. 15 seed. There they lost to San Jose State in the first round.
The 2023–24 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball team represented the University of Southern Indiana during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Screaming Eagles, led by fourth-year head coach Stan Gouard, played their home games at Screaming Eagles Arena in Evansville, Indiana as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
The 2023–24 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles women's basketball team represented the University of Southern Indiana during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Screaming Eagles, led by 24th-year head coach Rick Stein, played their home games at Screaming Eagles Arena in Evansville, Indiana as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.