Sun Belt Slant: Southern Miss men flying high; gap closes for JMU, ODU women

Welcome, mid-major hoops fanatics. Just like Icarus, I’m here to fly too close to the sun and break down all things Sun Belt Conference in one easy-to-find place. This is the Sun Belt Slant.

Sun Belt Conference: Fly Like an Eagle

Want to find college basketball’s best story this season?

Look no further than Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Specifically, Reed-Green Coliseum, on the campus of Southern Miss.

This time last year, the Golden Eagles were 6-18, mired what in became a 14-game losing streak. They’d post their worst record since 1984. A conference move was on the horizon, meaning uncertainty loomed.

Fast forward a year and Jay Ladner is pulling all the right strings at his alma mater. USM is 23-4, the first time since 2013-14 they’ve won over 20 games. They’re 60th in the latest NET Rankings, projected by ESPN as a 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and entering Thursday have a two-game lead in the conference standings.

Last week’s win over Louisiana did more than just give the Golden Eagles sole possession of first place; it felt like a statement to the rest of the conference:

Overlook Southern Miss at your own risk. These Golden Eagles are for real.

Sure, the turnaround on its own is a good story, but it’s the subplots that make this great theatre.

And it all starts with the man in charge.

Jay Ladner is Hattiesburg. The former Southeastern Louisiana head coach was born and raised mere minutes from campus. He holds two degrees from Southern Miss. He worked his way through the ranks coaching at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg.

He played for USM and the late M.K. Turk, leading the Golden Eagles to an NIT Championship in 1987.

There might be 51 DI coaches leading their alma maters, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find another who cherishes it as much as Ladner.

“I cannot in any way overstate, I’m blessed enough to have played [here] during an incredible time,” Ladner told me earlier this year. “To have played under Coach Turk, have as much success as we had…and now lead the program here, I just am so grateful.”

It hasn’t been easy, and it wasn’t always pretty. Ladner won nine games his first season, finishing with single-digit win totals in each of his first three years.

“To be honest, I took a step back [this offseason]. One of the things that pained me the most was that we had not had much success in the win-loss column,” Ladner said during our conversation.

“My guilt…here I am leading my own program, the one I love so much, and we’re struggling. I felt like I had let a lot of people down. Maybe some other coach would say ‘Hey, it’s a tough job’ or some other excuse; I grew up here, I know these people, these fans. They wanted me to take this job.”

In the offseason, Ladner re-tooled the program. Nine newcomers were brought aboard, including five DI transfers. He hired a pair of new assistants, Juan Cardona and Nick Williams. All of it paid immediate dividends.

The transfers? Balling out. Former Ole Miss guard Austin Crowley is the league’s fifth-highest scorer at 16.9 points per game. Teammate Felipe Haase, a transfer from Mercer, isn’t far behind at seventh. In fact, USM has three of the league’s top-15 scorers.

No other team has more than two.

The aforementioned Cardona and Williams have added a defensive identity to the program. Last year, Southern Miss was the 44th-worst defense in the country, giving up 75 points per game.

This year? 36th-best, never more evident than last Thursday when they stifled Louisiana’s red-hot offense, holding the Ragin’ Cajuns to 33 second-half points.

It’s been over a decade since Southern Miss last appeared in the NCAA Tournament. Jay Ladner finally has the team to end that drought. Plenty could happen between now and when the SBC’s auto-bid is handed out, but I know one thing:

Stories like this are why I love college sports.

Mind the Gap

One game.

That’s all that separates Troy from the pack in the Sun Belt women’s standings.

The Trojans suffered a rare slip-up at home last week, falling to Arkansas State. Entering the game, the Red Wolves were just 2-10 in league play, having lost 11-straight meetings with Troy.

“We are disappointed that we didn’t have a better showing,” Troy’s Chanda Rigby said after the game.

Rigby may be disappointed, but for ODU, JMU and Texas State, it’s all smiles as they nip at the Trojans’ heels. That trio finds themselves in a three-way tie for second place entering the new week’s slate. JMU and ODU will face off Saturday, while the Dukes will visit Texas State Thursday, meaning the waters will be less muddied come next week.

James Madison at one time held sole possession of first place and Texas State has been near the top all season. But the one team who feels like they’ve flown under the radar is Old Dominion.

The Monarchs opened Sun Belt play with back-to-back losses; since then, they look like a brand-new team. They hold a pair of wins over Georgia Southern and a win over Southern Miss, their defense is allowing less than 60 points per game over the last six games and they enter Thursday on a five-game win streak.

For DeLisha Milton-Jones, it isn’t enough.

“Winning 18 games is special,” Milton-Jones said Saturday. “But we’re hungry for more. We cannot come out and put that kind of display [against Georgia State] on against any team. We need to come out stronger.”

In a year where it feels like there is no definitive favorite to win the league, look out for the Monarchs to swoop in and claim the crown.

“Oooh what a rush!”

Arkansas State women’s basketball brought the red and black color scheme, all that was missing was face paint and spiky shoulder pads.

Yes, these road warriors pulled off quite the feat last week, upsetting Troy and snapping an 11-game losing streak to the Trojans. After a 1-7 start to Sun Belt play, the Red Wolves have shown marked improvement, posting a 2-2 record in their last four outings.

The poise shown in the win over Troy was nothing short of impressive. The Trojans had rallied to take a one-point lead in the fourth quarter, but the Red Wolves answered with six-straight points that proved to be insurmountable for the Trojans.

Dumb Stat of the Week

Kelly green, specifically PMS 354, is the official color of Marshall University and their Thundering Herd athletics programs.

That doesn’t mean wearing it equates to on-field, or on-court, success.

Marshall’s men’s basketball team is just 2-2 when wearing their trademark all-green uniforms this season. Conversely, they’re a combined 19-4 when wearing any other color, including 6-2 when donning the alternate all-black kits.

I’ve spent enough time around Marshall and their fan base to know any discussion about black uniforms or wearing any color other than Kelly green is enough to start a never-ending debate, so I won’t go there.

You have to admit though: numbers don’t lie, and those all-black uniforms are pretty sweet.

Rank and File

How about some Sun Belt love from the other Top-25 poll?

I’m talking about the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25, of course. Three SBC men’s teams find themselves ranked inside the top-15. With a number five ranking, Southern Miss paces the SBC field with its highest ranking of the season.

Louisiana comes in at number eight, while Marshall is ranked 12th. James Madison, who at one time was ranked in the poll, is also receiving votes.

All three of the ranked programs have won 20 or more games, the third time in the last four seasons the Sun Belt has had at least three schools win at least 20 games. If Louisiana picks up another win, it would mark the first time since 2018-19 that the SBC was home to three teams with more than 20 wins.

Pod Future

Sadly, no ‘Under the Sun’ podcast to promote this week; however (in my best Tom Hiddleston accent), I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again.

Like, as soon as next week.

I’ll talk to Georgia Southern’s Brian Berg and Old Dominion’s DeLisha Milton-Jones next week. Paul Swann, host of the ESPN Radio affiliate in Huntington, WV, also joins the show to talk Marshall.