Southern Miss athletics just completed its second season in the Sun Belt Conference and momentum is going in the right direction.
So far, the Golden Eagles have won conference championships in men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and women’s cross country. The athletic department also brought in a record $30.4 million revenue in the 2023 fiscal year.A new women’s golf facility is nearing completion at the Hattiesburg Country Club, and a $35 million renovation to Reed Green Coliseum was announced in May.
Here’s how we graded the on-field performance for Southern Miss’ major teams in the 2023-24 academic year.Football: D
The football team looked like it was heading for an F until it beat ULM to snap a seven-game losing streak. An overtime win at Louisiana the next week was the most impressive win of the season.
Southern Miss slid from 7-6 in coach Will Hall’s second season to 3-9 in 2023. The defense took a big step back after defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong left for Florida and injuries in the secondary didn’t help. The offense improved once Hall gave up his play-calling duties and Ethan Crawford began playing more, but Southern Miss was already 1-6 at that point.
Hall has recruited well but is under pressure to now turn it into wins. He must figure out the quarterback position, something he’s been unable to accomplish at Southern Miss.
Men’s basketball: B-
A big key for Jay Ladner’s group was proving the 2022-23 Sun Belt regular-season championship wasn’t a fluke. The Golden Eagles responded with a 16-16 season and at times looked like a team that could compete at the top of the conference.
Injuries were a constant issue, especially with Andre Curbelo only playing 12 games and Neftali Alvarez missing the entire season. Then, Ladner suffered a heart attack in February and Southern Miss went 4-4 to end the regular season and was upset by Texas State in the first round of the conference tournament.
The Golden Eagles lost four of their top five scorers and must improve away from home where they were 5-13.
The Lady Eagles won a share of the Sun Belt regular-season title in 2022-23 before falling to sixth in the standings. Still, they got hot at the right time and made a run to the WNIT Super 16 with only seven players on the postseason roster. Southern Miss’ 20-14 record is its first time with consecutive 20-win seasons in nine years. Joye Lee-McNelis coached through the entire season while battling stage 4 lung cancer. The entire team deserves a lot of credit.
Baseball: A-
The 2024 season was a prove-it year for Christian Ostrander, who was promoted to coach for the retired Scott Berry. He did more than just prove he’s the right man for the job.
The Golden Eagles repeated as Sun Belt tournament champions and made it to the Knoxville Regional final before losing to eventual national champion Tennessee. They probably would’ve had a decent shot at a super regional had they not been paired with the Volunteers.
Most of the 2024 team will be back next season, keeping the expectations very high.
Softball: B-
Second-year coach Natalie Poole has laid a nice Southern Miss softball foundation, qualifying the Golden Eagles for consecutive conference postseason tournaments for the first time in 10 years. However, they’ve placed 10th in the Sun Belt in two consecutive seasons.
Southern Miss will hope to make a jump in Poole’s third season but will have to do so without Hannah Borden who leaves after setting the program’s all-time home run record.