Southern Miss HC Jay Ladner ‘excited’ to renew Ole Miss rivalry

BILOXI, Miss. (WXXV) — Southern Miss head men’s basketball coach Jay Ladner has deep roots to his alma mater, where he was a part of the 1987 NIT championship team as a player. The lesser known story about Ladner’s playing days for the Golden Eagles, is that he also used to play baseball under the legendary Hill Denson.

On Friday, Ladner returned to the diamond to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Biloxi Shuckers game, fresh off one of the best turnarounds in NCAA history, on his way to winning Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors.

As a part of his fifth season with the Black and Gold, Ladner will be back in Biloxi on December 23, as USM takes on Ole Miss in the regular season for the first time in 11 years at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

“I have to give Ole Miss credit, Chris Beard the new coach there, he saw the big picture and that it’s great for basketball in Mississippi,” said Ladner. “Both schools have great fan bases and alumni bases here on the Coast, and again, it’s a win-win situation. Matt’s [McDonnell] drive is that we haven’t had Division I basketball on the Coast in a number of years, so a lot of, new scoreboard, new floor, a lot of great things. The Coliseum is a great venue, and again, I don’t think there’s really any excuse – the Coast has always been great for basketball, and for us to be able to play our arch-rival Ole Miss down here on December 23, is very exciting to me.”

The game will be an afternoon tip-off.