Eustachy likes makeup of this year’s Golden Eagles

Transfers, JUCO standouts highlight roster

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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For five years, Southern Miss basketball coach Larry Eustachy has told fans to be patient.

This season, he’s telling them to get excited, because he and his staff are.

“I’m as excited about this team as I’ve ever been,” Eustachy said. “It’s one of the most talent-laden teams I’ve coached anywhere, and by far the most talented team I’ve had here at Southern Miss.”

Gone are three of the Golden Eagles’ top four scorers, including guard Jeremy Wise, who had led the team in scoring each of the past three seasons.

Only juniors R.L. Horton, who averaged 12.4 points per game, and Sai’Quon Stone, who missed 23 games with a broken foot, return from last year’s original starting five.

But Eustachy has scoured the country for talent, and may have found some that slipped through the cracks. The result is a team of journeymen players, most looking for a second chance.

One of those journeymen expected to contribute right away is Chipola (Fla.) Junior College transfer Gary Flowers.

Flowers signed with Oklahoma State out of high school in Dallas, but couldn’t make his grades. After transferring to Genesis One School in Mississippi to earn his diploma, Flowers followed Chipola coach Greg Haier to Southern Miss.

Haier has been in charge of recruiting since he arrived in Hattiesburg in June, and hasn’t spent more than a weekend in town since.

Forward Torye Pelham has a similar story to Flowers. Recruited by the likes of Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma out of high school, Pelham came to Southern Miss after two years at Chipola.

Fifth-year senior Buchi Awaji is a transfer from Kansas State who graduated and was looking for more playing time after averaging four points per game last season for the Wildcats.

The list goes on — point guard Angelo Johnson is a transfer from Southern California and shooting guard Daryl Arnold from Southeastern Louisiana.

There’s Josimar Ayarza, a 6-4 forward from Panama who originally signed with Southern Cal but ended up at Southern Miss and Maurice Bolden, a 6-foot-10 guard and former UAB commitment.

Ayarza and Bolden, like most of their teammates were a highly touted recruits out of high school, and Horton believes it’s going to show.

“This team is way deeper than last year,” Horton said.