Entering the 2010-11 season, the Southern Miss men’s
basketball program was poised
to break through in a tough
Conference USA. Despite finishing with a 22-10 record—their
second straight 20-win season—
the Golden Eagles fell seven seconds short of their ultimate goal.
This year’s Southern Miss
squad will have a tough task
ahead of them, as they have
to replace 69.3-percent of its
scoring and 65.1-percent of its
rebounding. However, with the
group of players returning, along
with a group of newcomers,
the Golden Eagles are primed
and ready to take that next step
towards their ultimate goal—a
conference championship.
Torye Pelham
Backcourt
after averaging 9. 8 points, 5. 8 rebounds and
2.0 assists. Watson led Coffeyville Community
College to a 33-5 record, the NJCAA Region
VI Championship and a seventh-place finish
at the NJCAA National Tournament. He averaged 12. 7 points, 5. 1 assists, 2. 6 rebounds
and 2. 2 steals.
Frontcourt
Southern Miss will have to rely on
some fresh faces in the frontcourt this
year. The Golden Eagles lost three players
to graduation in two-time All-Conference
USA performer Gary Flowers, two-time All-Defensive Team member Sai’Quon Stone,
and Josimar Ayarza.
Redshirt senior Torye Pelham is the
Golden Eagles leading returning forward.
Pelham averaged 4. 7 points and 2. 6
rebounds through the first seven games
before missing the rest of the season due to
a broken wrist. Senior Ahyaro Phillips also
returns to the squad. Phillips played in 25
The Schedule
The 2011-12 schedule fea-
tures the possibility of 14 games
against 10 teams that reached the postsea-
son last year.
The schedule also includes 16
Conference USA games as well as non-conference tilts against Denver, Colorado
State, New Mexico State, South Alabama,
Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss, Arizona State,
South Florida, Belhaven, Alcorn State and
McNeese State, as well as an in-season tournament.
The Golden Eagles begin the season
at home for the first time in three years
on Nov. 12, when they host Spring Hill.
Southern Miss has won the last 17 meetings dating back to the 1965-66 season after
defeating the Badgers, 94-41 last year in
Hattiesburg.
Southern Miss then goes on a five-game,
11-day road trip, beginning with a date at
Denver on Nov. 17. This will be just the
third meeting between the two teams, and
the first since 2005, with the Golden Eagles
looking for their first victory in the series.
