Coming off of a successful 2022-2023 season, the Southern Miss men’s basketball team has hit the recruiting trail to build upon the program’s newfound momentum and fill voids on the roster, specifically in the frontcourt.
According to head coach Jay Ladner, one of the toughest obstacles he had to overcome with last year’s roster was the lack of rim protection on defense. Ladner believes he has found the missing piece with the addition of Tegra Izay, a seven-foot-tall center from Harcum College.
“One of the things we felt hurt us last year was that we just didn’t have that big rim protector. We like to get out and pressure on defense. Even though Felipe Hasse had an incredible year for us, DeAndre Pinckney had an incredible year — they just weren’t that guy,” Ladner said on SuperTalk Mississippi’s Eagle Hour.
“When we played someone like Louisiana who had the big seven-footer that was the player of the year… South Alabama had the big seven-footer… In the NIT, UAB — our guys were just tall, but couldn’t really match up and it caused us a lot of problems.”
Izay started all 27 games for Harcum, a junior college in Pennsylvania, last season and averaged 22.2 minutes per game. The Canada native averaged 8.4 points and hauled in 9.2 rebounds per game.
Most notably, Izay shot 66.7 percent from the floor, which ranked him No. 11 in the NJCAA.
“It’s a big sign for us. It feels like a hole in our recruiting. I felt like we had addressed every other priority we had needed, but we had not quite signed that big man yet, but have signed him now, and we could not be more excited,” Ladner said of Izay signing with USM.
Prior to guiding the Bears to a 20-8 mark last season, Izay started his career at La Salle where he played two seasons for the Explorers. Izay made three appearances during his sophomore season before entering the transfer portal.
Izay is the first player of his height to arrive in Hattiesburg since seven-foot-one Gustavo Lino played for the Golden Eagles in 2009.
Southern Miss, which won the 2022-23 Sun Belt Regular-Season Championship while posting a 25-8 record, improved from 7-26 the previous year. The Golden Eagles also achieved a perfect 15-0 record at home.
USM’s momentous season ended with a first-round exit in the National Invitation Tournament against UAB, led by former Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy.
Ladner is hopeful that the addition of height to his roster will be the key ingredient in his program taking the next step to get to the NCAA Tournament.
