Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball

Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball
Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball
	2025–26 Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball team
University	University of Southern Mississippi
Head coach	Jay Ladner (7th season)
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Location	Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Arena	Reed Green Coliseum ; (capacity: 8,095)
Nickname	Golden Eagles
Colors	Black and gold;
Uniforms
NCAA tournament appearances
	1990, 1991, 2012
Conference regular-season champions
	1991, 2001, 2023
Conference division regular-season champions
	2001
NIT champions
	1987

Last updated September 07, 2025

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at the University of Southern Mississippi. The school competes in the Sun Belt Conference in Division I of the NCAA and plays their home games at Reed Green Coliseum, which has a capacity of 8,095. The Golden Eagles have appeared three times in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, most recently in 2012.

History

From its first season (1912–13), when Coach R. G. Slay led the team to a 3–0 record, the men's basketball team has enjoyed its share of success. Coach A. B. Dille took over coaching duties the following year.^[2] The Golden Eagles have appeared in the NAIA National Tournament four times in a row (1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955). Southern Miss had a 2–4 record in the NAIA Tournament.^[3]

Over the years, the Golden Eagles have had three NCAA tournament teams (1990, 1991, 2012). The program has also had an NIT Championship team with its run in the 1987 postseason tournament. In all the Eagles have earned ten NIT bids: 1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2013, 2014 and 2023.

They also earned a CIT bid in 2010 and a CBI bid in 2019.

The team has had six players drafted including Clarence Weatherspoon. Southern Miss has won three conference championships in basketball including the 2023 outright regular-season title.

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

Southern Miss Golden Eagles have appeared in three NCAA tournaments. They have an overall 0–3 record in tournament games. Darrin Chancellor holds the Southern Miss single-tournament scoring record with 24 points in 1991.^[4]

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1990	#13	Round of 64	#4 LaSalle	L 63–79
1991	#11	Round of 64	#6 NC State	L 85–114
2012	#9	Round of 64	#8 Kansas State	L 64–70

NIT results

The Golden Eagles have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 11 times. Their combined record is 11–10 and they were NIT Champions in 1987.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1981	First Round	Holy Cross	L 54–58
1986	First Round	Florida	L 71–81
1987	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals	Mississippi Saint Louis Vanderbilt Nebraska La Salle	W 93–75 W 83–78 W 95–88 W 82–75 W 84–80
1988	First Round Second Round	Clemson VCU	W 74–69 L 89–93
1994	First Round	Clemson	L 85–96
1995	First Round	St. Bonaventure	L 70–75
1998	First Round	Auburn	L 62–77
2001	First Round	Mississippi State	L 68–75
2013	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Charleston Southern Louisiana Tech BYU	W 78–71 W 63–52 L 62–79
2014	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Toledo Missouri Minnesota	W 66–59 W 71–63 L 73–81
2023	First Round	UAB	L 60–88

CIT

The Golden Eagles have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) one time. Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2010	First Round	Louisiana Tech	L 57–66

CBI

The Golden Eagles have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) one time. Their record is 0–1

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2019	First Round	Longwood	L 68–90

NAIA tournament results

The Golden Eagles have appeared in the NAIA Tournament four times. Their combined record is 2–4.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1952	First Round	New Mexico State	L 70–86
1953	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	River Falls State Loyola (MD) Hamline	W 106–72 W 94–83 L 92–102
1954	First Round	Gustavus Adolphus	L 64–104
1955	First Round	Steubenville	L 62–79

Notable alumni

Joe Dawson '82 – former professional basketball player, 1992 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP
Randolph Keys '88 – former NBA basketball player, 1st Round draft pick (retired)
Wendell Ladner '70 – former ABA player (deceased)
Don Maestri '68 – men's basketball head coach Troy University
Kelly McCarty '98 – former professional basketball player
Elvin Mims '02 – PBL, USBL, NBL player, 6x champion
Clarence Weatherspoon '92 – former NBA basketball player
Glen Whisby '95 – former professional basketball player (deceased)

References

↑ "University Colors". The University of Southern Mississippi Graphic Standards (PDF). July 15, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-03-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ NAIA Championship History Archived 2009-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
↑ "Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tournament History". ESPN . ESPN Internet Ventures. 2010. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.

Remember the ABA – Wendell Ladner

External links

Official website

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[1] "University Colors". The University of Southern Mississippi Graphic Standards (PDF). July 15, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2022.

[2] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-03-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[3] NAIA Championship History Archived 2009-03-25 at the Wayback Machine

[4] "Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tournament History". ESPN . ESPN Internet Ventures. 2010. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.

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v t e Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball
Venues	Sports Arena (1949–1965) Reed Green Coliseum (1965–present)
Culture & lore	Howell Trophy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e University of Southern Mississippi
Located in: Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Campus	Aubrey K. Lucas Administration Building DuBard School for Language Disorders Trent Lott Center for Economic Development McCain Library and Archives Arthell Kelly Hall Bennett Auditorium All-American Rose Garden Payne Center Thad Cochran Center "The District" at Southern Miss
Athletics	Golden Eagles Basketball Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Baseball Softball M.M. Roberts Stadium Pete Taylor Park Reed Green Coliseum Seymour d'Campus
Student life	WUSM-FM Southern Miss Symphony Orchestra Pride of Mississippi Marching Band Fraternities and sororities
Traditions and alumni	Southern Miss To The Top People Brett Favre Evelyn Gandy Courtney Blades Clarence Weatherspoon Robert Hyatt Trishelle Cannatella Martha Dunagin Saunders Jimmy Buffett Tom Malone

v t e Sun Belt Conference men's basketball
Teams	Appalachian State Mountaineers Arkansas State Red Wolves Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Georgia Southern Eagles Georgia State Panthers James Madison Dukes Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks Marshall Thundering Herd Old Dominion Monarchs South Alabama Jaguars Southern Miss Golden Eagles Texas State Bobcats (leaving in 2026) Troy Trojans
Future teams	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (joining by 2027)
Championships and awards	Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26