2025–26 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball team

2025–26 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball
2025–26 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	3–7 (0–0 OVC)
Head coach	Stan Gouard (6th season);
Assistant coaches	John Spruance; Jon Aldridge; Kevin Missouri;
Home arena	Liberty Arena

2025–26 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Lindenwood	2	–	0	1.000	7	–	4	.636
Tennessee State	1	–	0	1.000	7	–	4	.636
Tennessee Tech	1	–	0	1.000	6	–	6	.500
Morehead State	1	–	0	1.000	4	–	7	.364
Eastern Illinois	1	–	1	.500	3	–	8	.273
Little Rock	1	–	1	.500	3	–	9	.250
UT Martin	0	–	1	.000	8	–	4	.667
SIU Edwardsville	0	–	1	.000	7	–	5	.583
Southeast Missouri State	0	–	1	.000	5	–	7	.417
Western Illinois	0	–	1	.000	4	–	8	.333
Southern Indiana	0	–	1	.000	3	–	8	.273

† 2026 OVC tournament winner As of December 18, 2025

The 2025–26 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball team represents the University of Southern Indiana during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Screaming Eagles, led by sixth-year head coach Stan Gouard, play their home games at the Liberty Arena in Evansville, Indiana, as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

This season will mark Southern Indiana's first season as a NCAA Division I member, due to a new NCAA ruling, shortening the transition period by a year, from four years to three.^[1]

Previous season

The Screaming Eagles finished the 2024–25 season 10–20, 5–15 in OVC play, to finish in 11th (last) place.^[2] They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament, as onlt the top eight teams make it.^[3]

Preseason

On October 14, 2025, the OVC released their preseason polls. Southern Indiana was picked to finish ninth in the conference, while receiving two first-place votes.^[4]

Preseason rankings

ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Little Rock	188 (12)
2	Southeast Missouri State	177 (6)
3	SIU Edwardsville	163 (1)
4	Tennessee State	135 (1)
T-5	Lindenwood	100
T-5	Morehead State	100
7	Tennessee Tech	80
8	UT Martin	79
9	Southern Indiana	67 (2)
10	Eastern Illinois	63
11	Western Illinois	57
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[4]

Players to Watch

Each OVC team selected two "Players to Watch" for their team.

Players to Watch
Player	Position	Year
Trey Thomas	Guard	Senior
Ismail Habib	Guard	Junior

Source:^[4]

Roster

2025–26 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Kaden Brown	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Grand Valley State	Grand Rapids, Michigan
G	1	Trey Thomas	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Bethune–Cookman	Upper Marlboro, Maryland
G/F	2	Steven Clay	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Morehead State	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
F	3	Tolu Samuels	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Triton College	Chicago, Illinois
G	4	Braxton Jones	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Sr	Garden City Community College	Monroe, New Jersey
F	5	Ola Ajiboye	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Tennessee Tech	Chicago, Illinois
F	6	Ben Ezeagu	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Appalachian State	Brampton, Ontario
G	8	Cardell Bailey	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Maryland Eastern Shore	Detroit, Michigan
G	11	Sheridan Sharp	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Southern Illinois	Indianapolis, Indiana
G	12	Alem Fejzic	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Frank Phillips College	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
F	13	Devin Curtis	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	California	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
G/F	15	Amaree Brown	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Oklahoma Panhandle State	Chicago, Illinois
G	21	Ismail Habib	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Portland State	Chicago, Illinois
G	22	Josiah Dunham	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Evansville Christian School	Evansville, Indiana
G/F	33	Cayden Gehlhausen	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	North High School	Evansville, Indiana

Head coach

Stan Gouard (Southern Indiana)

Assistant coach(es)

John Spruance (Hope)
Jon Aldridge (Indianapolis)
Kevin Missouri (Texas Southern)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: December 10, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Butler	L 58–88	0–1	Hinkle Fieldhouse (6,855) Indianapolis, IN
November 7, 2025* 7:30 pm, ESPN+	VMI	L 74–78	0–2	Liberty Arena (1,669) Evansville, IN
November 12, 2025* 7:00 pm, SLN	at South Dakota	L 74–89	0–3	Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,263) Vermillion, SD
November 16, 2025* 3:00 pm, ESPN+	Loras	W 91–74	1–3	Liberty Arena (734) Evansville, IN
November 20, 2025* 11:30 am, BallerTV	vs. Incarnate Word Boardwalk Battle semifinals	L 81–87	1–4	Ocean Center (475) Daytona Beach, FL
November 22, 2025* 4:00 pm, BallerTV	vs. UIC Boardwalk Battle 3rd-place game	L 73–84	1–5	Ocean Center (516) Daytona Beach, FL
November 26, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Valparaiso	W 64–56	2–5	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,296) Valparaiso, IN
November 29, 2025* 3:00 pm, ESPN+	Kentucky State	W 93–56	3–5	Liberty Arena (983) Evansville, IN
December 3, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Western Michigan	L 74–88	3–6	University Arena (1,029) Kalamazoo, MI
December 7, 2025* 12:00 pm, ESPN+	at Indiana State	L 55–77	3–7	Hulman Center (4,198) Terre Haute, IN
December 15, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	East–West	Cancelled		Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
OVC regular season
December 18, 2025 7:30 pm, ESPN+	Little Rock			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
December 20, 2025 3:30 pm, ESPN+	Morehead State			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
January 1, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+	at SIU Edwardsville			First Community Arena Edwardsville, IL
January 3, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+	at Lindenwood			Robert F. Hyland Arena St. Charles, MO
January 8, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	Southeast Missouri State			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
January 10, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	UT Martin			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
January 15, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	at Tennessee Tech			Hooper Eblen Center Cookeville, TN
January 17, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+	at Tennessee State			Gentry Center Nashville, TN
January 22, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Illinois			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
January 24, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+	Western Illinois			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
January 29, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	Lindenwood			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
January 31, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	SIU Edwardsville			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
February 5, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	at UT Martin			Skyhawk Arena Martin, TN
February 7, 2026 3:45 pm, ESPN+	at Southeast Missouri State			Show Me Center Cape Girardeau, MO
February 12, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	Tennessee State			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
February 14, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+	Tennessee Tech			Liberty Arena Evansville, IN
February 19, 2026 7:30 pm, ESPN+	at Western Illinois			Western Hall Macomb, IL
February 21, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+	at Eastern Illinois			Groniger Arena Charleston, IL
February 24, 2026 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Morehead State			Ellis Johnson Arena Morehead, KY
February 28, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+	at Little Rock			Jack Stephens Center Little Rock, AR
OVC tournament
March 4–7, 2026	vs.			Ford Center Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Sources:^[5]^[6]

References

^ "USI athletics will officially become a full-time Division I member in 2025-26 school year". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
^ "OVC Basketball Tournament bracket, TV schedule, scores". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Little Rock Picked as 2025-26 OVC Men's Basketball Favorites". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
^ "2025-2026 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Southern Indiana Athletics. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
^ "Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 10, 2025.

[1] "USI athletics will officially become a full-time Division I member in 2025-26 school year". Evansville Courier & Press. Retrieved December 10, 2025.

[2] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Standings". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved December 10, 2025.

[3] "OVC Basketball Tournament bracket, TV schedule, scores". The Tennessean. Retrieved December 10, 2025.

[poll-4] "Little Rock Picked as 2025-26 OVC Men's Basketball Favorites". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved December 10, 2025.

[5] "2025-2026 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Southern Indiana Athletics. Retrieved December 10, 2025.

[6] "Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 10, 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball
Venues	PAC (1980–2019) Liberty Arena (2019–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics