After its best season since 2000-2001, Southern Miss looks ready to build on last year's success under fourth-year head coach Larry Eustachy. Expectations and spirits are high as Eustachy boasts arguably his most talented team yet.
The Eagles return four starters and almost all of last season's contributors, led by sophomore Jeremy Wise, who averaged 17.5 points a game a year ago. Wise, a Freshman All-American selection, put up some phenomenal numbers last year, ranking fourth in Conference USA in scoring. Wise looks to be ready to match last years scoring numbers, which were the best by a freshman in Southern Miss history.
But Southern Miss upside is not dominated solely by Wise. Fellow sophomore Sai'Quon Stone averaged 10.3 points a game last year, and junior Courtney Beasley added 9.7 a game. Sophomore Craig Craft averaged 8.7 points a game.
The Golden Eagles were rarely outrebounded last season thanks to big man Demar Dotson, sophomore Andre Stephens and shot-block specialist Gijo Bain. Bain and Dotson return as the only seniors on Eustachy's squad.
New faces this season include Mississippi's Mr. Basketball R.L. Horton, guards Kevin Branch, Josh Barnes, and Wayne Turner; center Gustavo Lino, and forward Brandon Cooks.
The Golden Eagles face a slightly tougher non-conference schedule this season that includes trips to California, Alabama, South Alabama and a neutral site meeting with Ole Miss.
The season begins at Reed Green Coliseum with a pair of exhibition games against Loyola University (N.O.) and Lithuania Academy. Southern Miss hopes to knock off some rust before beginning the regular season at home against Belhaven College on Nov. 12, a game they won in Hattiesburg last year 63-38.
The challenges of the Eagles' schedule start early with a road trip to Berkley, CA to face the California Golden Bears on Nov. 14. After suffering a series of injuries last season, coach Ben Braun returns one of the best front lines in the PAC-10.
After hosting Gulf Coast Athletic Conference foe William and Carey, the Golden Eagles hit the road again to play Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Last year, the Eagles played Bama a good game in the Coors Classic in Mobile before the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide pulled away and ended up winning 77-64.
The Eagles then return home to face NAIA opponent Blue Mountain. BMC enters their tenth season in the TranSouth Athletic Conference (TSAC). The 2007-2008 season marks the first year that Blue Mountain will field a men's basketball team.
Eustachy's Eagles then hit the road to face South Alabama in Mobile. The series record stands at 19-13 Southern Miss, with the Jaguars winning the last meeting at Reed Green Coliseum in 2005.
The Eagles then return to Hattiesburg for a pair of home games against Spring Hill and SWAC opponent Alabama State on Dec. 8 and 15.
Southern Miss will then make its appearance in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic, a four team round-robin tournament in Biloxi, MS. The Eagles will face UNO, Louisiana Tech, and Alcorn University in consecutive days from Dec. 18 to Dec.20.
After a Dec. 22 home game against McNeese State, who defeated the Eagles in their last meeting in the 2005-2006 season, the Golden Eagles go on the road to face Ole Miss in Southaven, MS. The neutral court meeting will be Southern Miss' first chance at revenge since the 113-107 triple overtime loss in Oxford in 1995.
The last game of pre-conference play and the first of 2008 is a trip to Savannah State, who split games with the Golden Eagles a year ago.
The Eagles' C-USA schedule begins on Jan. 8 with a home game with Central Florida, followed by a second game against Tulane four days later. Southern Miss will be looking for some redemption, after losing critical games to both teams late last season.
Southern Miss will then go on the road for a game with UAB before a marquee match-up with Memphis in the FedEx forum on Jan. 19.
After nearly a week off, the Eagles will return home to the GreenHouse for a single game with Rice on Jan. 26. Four days later, the Golden Eagles will go to El Paso to face UTEP, a team Southern Miss also split a pair of games with a year ago.
Eustachy's Eagles will then return home for a two game home stand against ECU on Feb.2 and UAB on Feb. 5.
The Golden Eagles will then become road warriors, facing four of the next five opponents away from home. The Eagles start at Tulsa on Feb. 9, before traveling to Greenville, NC to face ECU on Feb. 16. After a stop in Hattiesburg to face SMU on Feb. 20, Southern Miss must go on the road again to face Tulane in New Orleans and Houston in Houston on Feb. 23 and 27.
After four days rest, the Eagles will once again face rival Memphis; this time in Hattiesburg.
Conference play is rounded out by a home-court rematch with UTEP on March 4 and a trip to West Virginia to face Marshall on March 8. The C-USA tournament begins on March 12 in Memphis, TN.
