JAY LADNER

Head Men's Basketball Coach

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

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 currently plays basketball for Loyola in New Orleans.

JUAN CARDONA

Associate Head Coach

Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner announced the addition of Juan Cardona to his staff on May 12, 2022 ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Following his first season in Hattiesburg, Ladner promoted Cardona to associate head coach for helping guide the Golden Eagles to a 25-8 mark and Sun Belt regular season title. Cardona's influence on the defensive side of the floor led to Southern Miss being ranked 43rd in scoring defense, 43rd in turnover margin and 31st in steals per game. The Puerto Rico native helped Felipe Haase to All-Sun Belt honors during his senior campaign.

Cardona joined the Golden Eagle staff after spending two seasons at Mercer. In his first year with the Bears, Mercer won 17 games and finished fourth in the Southern Conference. A six-game winning streak early in 2020 helped the Bears garner National Association of Basketball Coaches Team of the Week honors. Cardona then helped the Bears to 18 wins in his second season and a run to the Southern Conference title game where it fell to top-seeded UNC-Greensboro.

At season’s end, three players – Djordje Dimitrijevic, Ethan Stair and Kamar Robertson – received All-SoCon honors for their on-court performance. Dimitrijevic was also recognized by the NABC as a Second Team All-District XXI selection and a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Second Team Academic All-America

Cardona arrived in Macon following a three-year stretch as the head coach of the varsity boys program at Miami Christian High School in Miami, Fla., where he led the program to a pair of 2A FHSAA state titles (2017, 2018) and a No. 1 ranking in the state of Florida during the 2017 season.

In his three seasons with the varsity boys program at Miami Christian, Cardona achieved a 74-19 record for a .796 winning percentage.

Cardona spent one season (2018-19) on the sidelines with the varsity girls team, leading the squad to a 17-7 record and an appearance in the FHSAA 2A semifinals, which was a first for the girls program.

Cardona additionally led the Miami Tropics AAU program from 2016-19, where he worked alongside his mentor, Art Alvarez.

An experienced and accomplished coach in Puerto Rico and Mexico as well, Cardona served as the head coach for seven different professional organizations from 2007-18, including a recent position with Caciques de Humacao in Humacao, P.R.

Further accomplishments of Cardona’s include leading the Puerto Rican U-17 National Team to a gold medal at the Centrobasket Tournament in 2007 and leading American University (Bayamon, P.R.) and Caribbean University (Bayamon, P.R.) as head coach. Cardona spent one season on the sidelines at American and was at Caribbean University from 2009-2011.

Cardona’s coaching career began in 1998 when he was named head coach at Lino Padron Rivera High School in his hometown of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.

NICK WILLIAMS

Assistant Coach

Southern Miss head coach Jay Ladner announced the hiring of Nick Williams to his staff on May 12, 2022 ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Williams played a tremendous role in the development of Austin Crowley during his first season in Hattiesburg. Crowley was named the Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-Sun Belt. Crowley led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 16.0 points per game after averaging 4.9 points at Ole Miss the season prior. Crowley finished the season averaging 4.1 rebounds per game, 2.6 assists per game and shot 46.3 percent from the floor.

Williams came to Hattiesburg after spending three seasons at Northwest Mississippi Community College alongside head coach Shane Oakley. The former Alabama High School Player of the Year helped guide the Rangers to 42 wins during his time in Senatobia.

Williams' first season saw Northwest post a 16-10 overall record in 2019-20, advancing to the semifinals of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament. Alongside Oakley, Williams coached first team All-MACJC guard Jakobi Pearson and Appalachian State signee R.J. Duhart.

Prior to Northwest, Williams spent the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss under head coaches Andy Kennedy and Kermit Davis.

Prior to that, he played two years professionally overseas in Brazil and Canada and coached high school basketball in his hometown of Mobile, Ala., at Mattie T. Blount and LeFlore High School.

A former standout 6-foot-4, 210 pound shooting guard, Williams played his college ball at Indiana (2008-09) before closing out his final three seasons at Ole Miss (2010-13).

Williams averaged 8.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and led Indiana in free throw percentage in 29 starts as a freshman. He'd go on to help the Rebels to 70 combined wins, three straight postseason berths and, as a senior, he was instrumental in helping Ole Miss reach the NCAA Tournament, claim an SEC Tournament title and win the most games in a single season in school history.

Williams is a graduate of LeFlore Prep Academy, where he was named the 2008 Alabama High School Player of the Year and was rated the No. 30 shooting guard in the nation by ESPN.com. He led LeFlore to a state championship, three state finals and a combined 126-8 record.

A member of the Alabama Challenge AAU team, Williams participated in the LeBron James Skills Academy and was invited to the NBA Top-100 Camp as a prep standout.

ISAIAH CARSON

Assistant Coach

Isaiah Carson was hired to the Southern Miss men's basketball staff as an assistant coach prior to the 2022-23 season. Carson was previously a graduate assistant for the program from 2020-22.

Carson's primary role has been skill development with the players. Most notably, Carson helped former Golden Eagle Denijay Harris increase his scoring total by six points. In 2021-22, Harris averaged 2.9 points per game and increased his average to 8.9 points per game during the 2022-23 season. He also jumped from 2.4 rebounds per game to 5.6. The guards shooting percentage went from 46.2 percent to 56.5 percent in just one season. Carson also helped DeAndre Pinckney turn into a Third Team All-Sun Belt player during the forwards 2022-23 season. Pinckney then went on to sign a professional contract with the Bakken Bears (Denmark).

Carson comes to Hattiesburg following a one-year stint at Oklahoma Panhandle State, and prior to that he spent two years at Southwestern Christian University (Okla.) from 2017-19. He was an assistant coach at both schools. He also has experience as the head coach and recruiting director at Combine Academy Prep in Atlanta while spending several years at University of Alabama camps under Avery Johnson and as a player development trainer in multiple cities.

Carson is motivated by his love for the game and helping young athletes get better both on and off the court. He is on the Board of Directors for the non-profit organization, Young Educated Athletes (Y.E.A)/Team Action, where he is responsible for logistical operations, assisting in organizing camps and clinics, coaching, training and most importantly mentoring youth throughout the year. He also does skill development for Compete Elite and trains various professional basketball athletes throughout the offseason.

Carson's playing career at the University of Valley Forge (Pa.) lasted from 2009-13, where he was a point guard and two-year team captain. Following an ACL injury, he became a student assistant from January-December 2013 and later a full-time assistant coach/director of operations from Jan. 2014 - March 2016.

Carson earned his Master's in Sport Management from Southern Miss in 2022. He earned his bachelor's degree in human services from Southwest Christian in May 2019. Carson hails from the Olney section of Philadelphia and has three brothers: Almeer, Tarif and Vaughn.

GARLAND WILSON

Director of Operations

Garland Wilson was named the Director of Basketball Operations for Jay Ladner's inaugural Golden Eagle staff in May 2019.

As the Director of Operations, Wilson is in charge of organization and administration of the basketball program.

Wilson served the last three seasons as the director of basketball operations at Southeastern, where he supervised team travel, player personnel, basketball camps and other facets of the program.

"Garland Wilson is a coach with a lot of experience in operations," Ladner said. "He's my right-hand man and keeps me organized. I was honored to work with him at Southeastern Louisiana. Having someone with his experience not just from operations but from working with me personally shortens our learning curve here."

Wilson previously served as director basketball operations at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala. from 2012-16. He was also a graduate assistant coach at Jacksonville State from January to May 2012 and the program’s head equipment manager from 2004-09.

"I'm excited to be here," Wilson said. "I've worked with Coach Ladner in the past, and he had enough confidence to bring me here with him. It's great to be at a higher level and continue to learn more things and help our program anyway I can."

He received a Master's in Sport Management from Southern Miss in June of 2020. Wilson received a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in business marketing from Jacksonville State in 2009.

The Detroit, Michigan native has one son, Caileb.

LOGAN WALLACE

Director of Video and Scouting

Basketball coach Jay Ladner announced the hiring of Logan Wallace as the Coordinator for Video and Camp Operations ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Wallace came to Hattiesburg after one-year stint as a Graduate Assistant at Murray State. He helped the Racers staff with video services (managing video playbook), scouting and player development. Prior to that, Wallace spent five years at Ole Miss that saw him serve various roles.

From 2018-21, Wallace was a Manager and Assistant Video Coordinator with the Rebels. He assisted in video services, player development, coordinating/training managers and scout team as needed. Worked with Breein Tyree, Jarkel Joiner, & Robert Allen. During the 2017-18 season, Wallace was a Manager for the Ole Miss women's team where he was responsible for recruiting/managing practice players, assisted in video scouting and player development. He got his start at Ole Miss as a women's practice player during the 2016-17 season.

The Bolingbrook, Illinois native earned his Bachelor's degree from Ole Miss in 2021 in Sport and Recreation Administration.

JEREMY TEKULVE

Administrative Assistant

Southern Miss Men's Basketball head coach Jay Ladner announced in July 2019 that Jeremy Tekulve has joined his inaugural staff as the administrative assistant.

"I'm incredibly excited to be able to retain Jeremy on the staff," Ladner said. "He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience. As a holdover from Coach [Doc] Sadler's staff, he has really helped shorten the learning curve for us. He's a great person and understands and loves Southern Miss. He's been a tremendous asset and brings an incredible amount of enthusiasm and experience to our staff. I'm glad to have him."

Tekulve served the 2018-2019 season as the Golden Eagles' graduate assistant, helping the team reach 20 wins and a berth in the CBI Tournament. He previously spent one year as a graduate assistant equipment manager, and before that spent two years as a student-manager for the men's basketball program.

Tekulve's responsibilities as a grad assistant involved overseeing the student managers, assisting with on-campus recruiting, scouting reports, operations, travel, video, and coordinating team meals for home and road games.

The 2019-2020 season will mark Tekulve's fourth year with the program.

"First and foremost, I would like to thank Coach Ladner for allowing me the great opportunity to be a part of his staff." Tekulve said. "I am a Southern Miss guy at heart and I bleed black and gold, so being able to be a part of his first staff means a lot to me. I believe something special is brewing here for Coach Ladner and the Golden Eagles. I am eager to get to work and help our basketball program soar to the top."

Tekulve's new responsibilities as Administrative Assistant will include assisting with operations, mail-outs, travel, camps, on-campus recruiting, designing graphics, video, special projects, the Hardwood Club and overseeing the Golden Eagles' community service efforts.

The Harrison, Ohio native graduated from Southern Miss in 2017 with his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management with a minor in Business Administration, then earned his Master's degree in Sport Management while obtaining a Graduate Certificate in Sport Security Management and Business in 2019.