Southern Miss basketball team promising

Fear not, fellow students. The fall break loss to Louisville has left a bad taste in my mouth as well, but I've got good news.

We have a basketball team.

No, seriously, we do – and they look good.

I had a chance to stop by practice last week, and I can tell you that they are as good as they've been in the three years I've been here.

The Eagles were at the gym by 7 a.m. and on the floor by eight. They practiced the NCAA-alotted two hours, and it wasn't clear whether the team could have handled another 10 minutes.

The team is a lot longer this year, and there are so many new faces you'll need to buy a game program be able to tell who everyone is.

"Maybe nine out of our top 10 will be playing for us for the first time this year," Eustachy said. "It's one of the more talented teams I've ever had as a coach, but they say the strength of any team is its returning players, and we don't have very many."

Several news players, including Buchi Awaji, Torye Pelham, Gary Flowers, Josimar Ayarza and Maurice Bolden look like they could play right away.

After practice, Awaji shot "Around the world" and hit every shot. His jump-shot motion isn't the prettiest thing in the world, but he almost never misses.

Flowers is the big inside presence that has been missing at USM. He's every bit of 6-foot-8, but still a bit undersized. He's not afraid to get physical inside, and will bang his body in there if he needs to.

"I'll do whatever is needed," Flowers said. "I can play tough inside or I can take it outside and shoot it, just whatever the situation requires."

Flowers said having his former Chipola Junior College coach Greg Heiar with him has made it easier on he and Pelham to adjust.

"It's great having him here with us," Flowers said. "If we are confused about something, he can explain it in terminology we are familiar with."

Ayarza is similar to Flowers, but has a little bit more finesse. He's listed at an inch taller, but I couldn't tell a difference in the two.

Pelham is strong. He showed off some of his slashing moves in practice and overpowered defenders on his way to the basket. His combination of strength and height (6'6") should help him at small forward.

The rumor's true, Southern Miss has a 6'10" guard. Maurice Bolden looks the part of an NBA shooting guard, but he's got some work to do before he can start.

"He's probably got the best chance of anyone to play professionally," Eustachy said. "He's got the size and the skills, he just needs to keep working."

A player that wasn't on my radar heading into today was Daryl Arnold, a 6'5" sophomore guard from Jackson. He was kind of lost in the flood of all the big names the coaching staff signed, but the guy can really defend well.

Next to Sai'Quon Stone, he could end up being USM's best defensive player.

R.L. Horton spent his summer in the weight room, and is absolutely ripped.

"I spent a lot of time in the gym," Horton said. "I'm a whole lot stronger than I was last year."

The junior said he thinks this team is much improved from last season.

"We have a bunch of talent and a bunch of guys that want to work hard every day," Horton said. "We finally have some length to us, and we can really stretch the floor."

With 24 days remaining until the season's first scrimmage against Samford, Eustachy said keeping everyone healthy will be a huge priority.

"We have more depth than we've ever had here," Eustachy said. "But you saw it with the football team this week, we can't sustain injury to key players."