2026-27 Top 100 Teams Countdown #73: Southern Miss Golden Eagles

The main highlight of this Southern Miss team is the return of Isaac Taveras who was their second leading scorer last season and will be in the running for Sun Belt player of the year. They also get many huge transfer additions starting with Brandon Weston who didn't play in 2025-26, but the season prior averaged 16 PPG and about 5 REB for Tennessee State. Jalyke Gaines-Watts is another pickup from Hampton who averaged double figures and 3 AST in the CAA. I think out of all of their transfers 2 6'8" forwards stick out the most. Those being Cameron Wallace who averaged 12.7 PPG 7 REB for Little Rock and Mike Montano who averaged a whopping 29 PPG and 12 REB in limited games for Frostburg State. Oh, and add about 5 AST and 2 STL to those already crazy explosive numbers. Aside from their additions and returning talent their depth is very solid too. The Golden Eagles currently rank first in Projected Effective Experience in the Sun Belt!

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