Jay Ladner - Men's Basketball Coach

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles head coach Jay Ladner calls a defensive play in a game between Southern Miss Golden Eagles and James Madison in a NCAA Men’s Basketball game. January 31, 2026 (Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com)

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Jay Ladner

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
jay.ladner@usm.edu

Former Southern Miss student-athlete and 1988 graduate Jay Ladner is entering his seventh season as the head men's basketball coach of his alma mater.

Ladner is coming off a run to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinal game during the 2025-26 season. The Golden Eagles finished 19-16 after winning three-straight games in the tournament. Southern Miss fell to eventual champions and top-seeded Troy. The 19 wins are the second-most under Ladner and the former Golden Eagle improved his record at Reed Green Coliseum to 45-12 since the start of the 2022-23 season.

For the first time since Austin Crowley during the 2022-23 season, Ladner tutored a First Team All-Sun Belt Player as Tylik Weeks earned the honor after a breakout season. Weeks scored in double figures 32 times, including a stretch of 21-straight games. That run is the second-longest stretch by a Golden Eagle in program history, as Wendell Ladner had a stretch of 22-straight games (Dec. 7, 1968 - Dec. 1, 1969). He produced 15 20-point games and had four 30-point games. His first was a 37-point performance against North Florida at the Pensacola Invitational, then he went for 32 points against Troy on Feb. 14. In the Troy game, Weeks scored 16 consecutive points for Southern Miss and had 28 of 36 points in a stretch during the second half. Thirty of his points against the Trojans came in the second half, which made him the first player in school history to have 30 points in a single half that didn't include overtime. Weeks later scored 30-plus in back-to-back games to open the Sun Belt Tournament for Southern Miss, which propelled the Golden Eagles to a semifinal appearance. His 19.7 points per game is the highest scoring average for Southern Miss since Bernard Haslett averaged 19.8 points per game during the 1993-94 season.

The 2024-25 season under Ladner was highlighted by Deniay Harris, who was named Second Team All-Sun Belt. Harris was the first Sun Belt player to average double-digit points and rebounds since Artemus McClary of Jacksonville during the 1995-96 season. Harris finished the regular season averaging 16.9 points and 10.9 rebounds. He also finished the season with 17 double-doubles, which led the conference and ranked fifth in the NCAA. Harris helped the Golden Eagles to an 11-22 mark and earned a win over Coastal Carolina in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.

The Hattiesburg native made his return to the Golden Eagle bench for the Sun Belt Tournament during the 2023-24 season after suffering a heart attack days before Southern Miss was scheduled to play on Feb. 7.

Prior to the life-changing day, Ladner had guided Southern Miss through arguably the most challenging stretch of road in program history. The Golden Eagles played 15 games away from Reed Green Coliseum through the first 23 games of the season.

The Golden Eagle bench boss saw Austin Crowley depart the program after becoming the seventh-fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 career points at Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles finished 16-16 and went 11-3 at home during Ladner's fifth season.

Ladner took his alma mater to the next level during the 2022-23 season, guiding the Golden Eagles to a Sun Belt regular season title and NIT berth. After a seven-win season in 2021-22, Ladner aided Southern Miss to 25 wins during his fourth year at the helm. It was the biggest turnaround in Division I basketball history. The Golden Eagles enjoyed a 15-0 mark at Reed Green Coliseum and had a sellout crowd against Louisiana on Feb. 9, 2023. It was the first sellout since Memphis in 2008.

Ladner was named the Joe Gottfried Sun Belt Coach of the Year and NABC District 23 Coach of the Year. He was a Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year finalist as well. He helped coach Austin Crowley, Felipe Haase and DeAndre Pinckney to All-Sun Belt honors, while Crowley was the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year.

The 2020-21 season, Ladner's second in charge, saw the Golden Eagles rally through the COVID season. Some of the team's accomplishments included first-year junior guard Tae Hardy earning Player of the Week honors following an otherworldly second-half performance at FIU and Jaron Pierre Jr. becoming the school's first C-USA All-Freshman Team honoree since 2011.

Ladner's first year at the helm saw the Golden Eagles, despite returning only 36 and 38 percent of its minutes and scoring, respectively, from a year ago, fight to a 9-22 record. Southern Miss also played the 13th-toughest non-conference schedule according to KenPom, including three consecutive nights against No. 7 Gonzaga, No. 13 Seton Hall and Alabama in the prestigious Battle 4 Atlantis. The Black and Gold also led defending national runner-up Texas Tech by seven at the half in Lubbock, and Tyler Stevenson finished as the fourth-most improved sophomore in terms of scoring from his freshman year (12.8 ppg from 3.3).

Under Ladner's leadership, Southeastern improved from nine wins his first year to win 12, 16 and 22 contests in succeeding years. It was the school's first 20-win season since reaching the 2005 NCAA Tournament and the third in its Division I era. The 2018-19 squad featured two First-Team, All-Southland performers in Marlain Veal and Moses Greenwood, just the third time in school history that two Lions earned that distinction. Overall, Ladner mentored eight All-Conference performers in his five years.

The famed NIT championship team defeated Ole Miss, Saint Louis, Vanderbilt, Nebraska and La Salle en route to the title in Madison Square Garden under legendary coach M.K. Turk.

Ladner's coaching credentials feature a 511-189 record in the high school ranks, from St. Stanislaus in Bay St. Louis to his alma mater, Oak Grove. He led St. Stanislaus to 10 state tournament appearances, including the 2011 title for which he was named the Mississippi Association of Coaches (MAC) Coach of the Year.

Ladner then took his talents to the collegiate ranks, spending the 2012-14 seasons as head coach at Jones County Junior College. The Bobcats were 17-8 in his first season, finishing second in the MACJC's South Division, and during the 2013-14 season became the first Mississippi junior college to win a national title. JCJC set a school record for wins at 28-5 and became the lowest-seeded school to win a NJCAA basketball title in any division, as well as the first school in tournament history to win five games in five days for the title.

The Hattiesburg native received his bachelor's degree in pre-medicine/biology, with a minor in chemistry, from Southern Miss in 1988. While at Southern Miss for his undergraduate degree, he played baseball in the '85 and '86 seasons, but played basketball from '84-'88, playing a part as a member of the NIT Champion team in '87. Upon graduation, he entered the pharmaceutical sales business, covering the Mississippi Gulf Coast out to Covington, La., before beginning his high-school coaching career at St. Stanislaus in 1992. He received his master's degree in educational administration from Southern Miss in 1999. Ladner graduated from Oak Grove High School in 1984.

Ladner has two children, Chelsea and Luke. Chelsea is an attorney in Jackson, Miss. and Luke recently played for the Golden Eagles.