Men's Basketball Holds First Official Practice of 2021-22 Season

Men's Basketball Holds First Official Practice of 2021-22 Season

9/28/2021 4:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Tuesday's practice marked the official start to the Southern Miss men's basketball 2021-22 season and the buzz in Reed Green Coliseum certainly reflected that.

The Golden Eagles worked for a little over two hours, battling in individual and five-on-five drills. After an empathic dunk from newcomer Isaih Moore to end the drill portion of practice, the squad wrapped up practice with conditioning before head coach Jay Ladner addressed the team.

Six newcomers donned the Black and Gold for the first time, featuring two freshmen (Rashad Bolden, Trey Alfonso), two junior-college prospects (Walyn Napper, Tate Ryder) and two Division I transfers in Isaih Moore (St. John's) and Mo Arnold (Jacksonville).

Tyler Stevenson enters his junior season with 798 career points, putting him 202 away from the prestigious 1,000-point club. Jaron Pierre, Jr., who was named to Conference USA's All-Freshman Team a year ago, returns after averaging 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Tae Hardy and DeAndre Pinckney also return after playing integral roles on the squad last season. Also of note, Hardy gained 16 pounds of muscle, while Pinckney lost nearly 20 pounds this offseason. Other returners include Tyler Morman, Denijay Harris, Blake Roberts, Jeffrey Armstrong, and Mark Jaakson.

Hear from Jay Ladner

Opening Statement

"It's not as climactic as the old Oct. 15^th. I know you all are young, but there was a time that every Division I school started on Oct. 15^th and you couldn't do anything up to that point besides strength and conditioning. There was this build up and of course we have only been able to go four hours a week, so today was really the first day. We have at least been able to do some things. It's not in my nature to make predictions, but I really like our team. They have been incredibly positive every day and it's been great to work with them in the offseason. We're so much further along now than we were at any point last season -- we're bigger and we're stronger. I really thought we had a good first day. I was probably a little bit more impressed than normal, but I think our conditioning was a little bit better than I anticipated."
On how the team looked

"The head coach's job is to put your team in the best system that fits that particular talent and allows us to have a chance to be the most successful. We're playing at a much faster tempo. By opening our post up, we are playing more position-less basketball."

The Golden Eagles welcome Delta State to Reed Green Coliseum on Nov. 4 for an exhibition contest.

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