The Southern Miss Golden Eagles basketball program represents intercollegiate men's basketball at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

. The school competes in the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

in Division I of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

and plays their home games at

Reed Green Coliseum Reed Green Coliseum is an 8,095-seat multi-purpose arena in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States. Affectionately referred to by fans and local sportswriters as "The Yurt", it opened on December 6, 1965, and is home to the University of Southern ...

, which has a capacity of 8,095. The Golden Eagles have appeared three times in the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

, 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. The Golden Eagles have appeared in the NAIA National

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

four times in a row (

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

and

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

). Southern Miss had a 2–4 record in the NAIA Tournament. 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 Clarence Weatherspoon Sr. (born September 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) born in Crawford, Mississippi. He is currently the head coach for Meridian Community College. ...

. 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.

NIT results

The Golden Eagles have appeared in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) 11 times. Their combined record is 11–10 and they were NIT Champions in 1987.

CIT

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

CBI

The Golden Eagles have appeared in the

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI sel ...

(CBI) one time. Their record is 0–1

NAIA tournament results

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

Notable alumni

* Joe Dawson '82 – former professional basketball player, 1992

Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP The Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, or Israeli Basketball Super League MVP, is an annual basketball award that is presented to the most valuable player in a given season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier level ...

Randolph Keys Randolph Keys (born April 19, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player who played five National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons in his career for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee ...

'88 – former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

basketball player, 1st Round draft pick (retired) * Wendell Ladner '70 – former ABA player (deceased) * Don Maestri '68 – men's basketball head coach

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. It was one ...

* Kelly McCarty '98 – former professional basketball player * Elvin Mims '02 – PBL, USBL, NBL player, 6x champion *

'92 – former NBA basketball player

References

Remember the ABA – Wendell Ladner

External links

* {{collegebasketball-team-stub