Southern Miss hires Southeastern Louisiana’s Jay Ladner as new men’s basketball head coach

Southern Miss has hired Southeastern Louisiana’s Jay Ladner as it new head coach in men’s basketball, multiple outlets report. Stadium’s Jeff Goodman first reported the hire.

Ladner, a USM alum who played on the program’s 1987 NIT championship team, replaces Doc Sadler, who stepped down to become an assistant coach at Nebraska after five seasons at the helm in Hattiesburg.

Ladner was one of two finalists for the job with Texas Tech assistant Mark Adams, reports the Biloxi Sun Herald. USM assistant and former player Clarence Weatherspoon along with

former Texas A&M head coach and New Orleans native Billy Kennedy also interviewed for the job on Tuesday in New Orleans.

In five years at Southeastern, Ladner led the Lions to a record of 76-88 and the 2017-18 Southland regular season championship to earn the school its first ever NIT berth. Before that, Ladner coached Jones County in Ellisville, Miss. to a Junior College national title. The Mississippi native also coached St. Stanislaus for 20 seasons, capturing the state’s 2010 Class 4A state championship.