Jay Ladner suffered a major heart attack in February that sidelined him for the remainder of Southern Miss’ 2023-24 season – leaving assistant Juan Cardona to fulfill head coaching duties. Ladner is back with a new perspective and optimism for the new version of Golden Eagle basketball.
Southern Miss faltered down the stretch after a wave of injuries piled on top of Ladner’s absence, finishing the season losing four of their last five and being eliminated in the first game of the Sun Belt Conference tournament by Texas State. While there’s pressure to improve in the 2024-25 campaign, the black and gold’s bench boss is approaching it with a new mindset.
“I’m very blessed to be coaching at all – especially at this level,” Ladner told media Tuesday. “It forces you to put things in perspective and redirects some things. I’m trying to not be as much of a control freak, to be honest with you. It directs a lot of priorities toward home.”
The sixth-year head coach says he’ll lean more on his coaching staff compared to years past, but the benefit of having a core group of veterans on the floor will also go a long way.
Chief among those returning is the dynamic Puerto Rican duo of Andre Curbelo, who was recently named to the preseason All-Sun Belt third team, and Neftali Alvarez, who missed last season with an ankle injury. The power pair is expected to command the backcourt for Southern Miss along with Miami transfer Christian Watson, Division II transfer John Wade III, and returner Cobie Montgomery.
In the frontcourt, bigs like seven-footer Tegra Izay and Denijay Harris, who returns to Hattiesburg after spending a year with Arkansas, will provide a defensive presence in the paint.
“We’ve got a veteran team and they’ve been a joy to work with – but bullets haven’t started flying yet, guys haven’t started sitting on the bench yet,” Ladner said. “So, if we can stay mentally healthy and physically healthy, I look forward to our team and the battles we’ll get every night in the Sun Belt.”
Along with Watson and Wade, other transfers like DeAntoni Gordon from Arkansas-Little Rock and Dalyn Brandon from Winston-Salem State will give Ladner and Cardona options for a quick, flowing attack.
“I think we’re probably at our best when we’re positionless. We’ve got a roster full of guys that are,” Ladner concluded. “We’ve still got some finetuning to do. We’ll play big at times and smaller as well depending on who’s out on the floor.”
Southern Miss will play exhibitions against New Orleans on October 22 and Jackson State on October 28 before officially opening the season against Bowling Green inside Reed Green Coliseum on November 4.
