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

2025–26 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record7–23 (4–16 OVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • John Spruance
  • Jon Aldridge
  • Kevin Missouri
Home arenaLiberty Arena
2025–26 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Tennessee State † 15 – 5   .750 23 – 10   .697
Morehead State 15 – 5   .750 20 – 13   .606
Southeast Missouri State 14 – 6   .700 20 – 13   .606
UT Martin 13 – 7   .650 22 – 11   .667
SIU Edwardsville 12 – 8   .600 19 – 13   .594
Lindenwood 11 – 9   .550 18 – 15   .545
Little Rock 9 – 11   .450 12 – 20   .375
Eastern Illinois 8 – 12   .400 13 – 20   .394
Tennessee Tech 8 – 12   .400 13 – 18   .419
Southern Indiana 4 – 16   .200 7 – 23   .233
Western Illinois 1 – 19   .050 5 – 26   .161
† 2026 OVC tournament winner

The 2025–26 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles men's basketball team represented 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, played their home games at the Liberty Arena in Evansville, Indiana, as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. The finished the season 7–23, 4–16 in OVC play to finish in 10th place. They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.

This season marked Southern Indiana's first season as a full NCAA Division I member, due to a new NCAA ruling that shortened the transition period from four years to three.[1] As a result, they were eligible for postseason play.

Previous season

The Screaming Eagles finished the 2024–25 season 10–20, 5–15 in OVC play, to finish in last place.[2] They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament, as only the top eight teams were eligible to participate.[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
Morehead State
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 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
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 10, 2025

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# 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
OVC regular season
December 18, 2025
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Little Rock L 62–77  3–8
(0–1) 		Liberty Arena (928)
Evansville, IN
December 20, 2025
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Morehead State L 60–64 OT 3–9
(0–2) 		Liberty Arena (1,245)
Evansville, IN
January 1, 2026
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at SIU Edwardsville L 55–59  3–10
(0–3) 		First Community Arena (1,849)
Edwardsville, IL
January 3, 2026
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Lindenwood L 80–83  3–11
(0–4) 		Robert F. Hyland Arena (913)
St. Charles, MO
January 8, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Southeast Missouri State L 76–84  3–12
(0–5) 		Liberty Arena (1,069)
Evansville, IN
January 10, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		UT Martin L 56–73  3–13
(0–6) 		Liberty Arena (1,604)
Evansville, IN
January 15, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Tennessee Tech W 71–54  4–13
(1–6) 		Hooper Eblen Center (1,250)
Cookeville, TN
January 17, 2026
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Tennessee State L 67–73  4–14
(1–7) 		Gentry Center (439)
Nashville, TN
January 22, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Eastern Illinois L 51–59 OT 4–15
(1–8) 		Liberty Arena (1,369)
Evansville, IN
January 24, 2026
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Western Illinois W 96–64  5–15
(2–8) 		Liberty Arena (942)
Evansville, IN
January 29, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Lindenwood L 60–73  5–16
(2–9) 		Liberty Arena (1,081)
Evansville, IN
January 31, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		SIU Edwardsville L 46–58  5–17
(2–10) 		Liberty Arena (2,057)
Evansville, IN
February 5, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at UT Martin L 54–76  5–18
(2–11) 		Skyhawk Arena (1,240)
Martin, TN
February 7, 2026
3:45 pm, ESPN+ 		at Southeast Missouri State L 65–90  5–19
(2–12) 		Show Me Center (1,978)
Cape Girardeau, MO
February 12, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Tennessee State L 71–73  5–20
(2–13) 		Liberty Arena (969)
Evansville, IN
February 14, 2026
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		Tennessee Tech L 74–82  5–21
(2–14) 		Liberty Arena (1,769)
Evansville, IN
February 19, 2026
7:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Western Illinois W 77–70  6–21
(3–14) 		Western Hall (505)
Macomb, IL
February 21, 2026
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Eastern Illinois W 70–68  7–21
(4–14) 		Groniger Arena (1,836)
Charleston, IL
February 24, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Morehead State L 63–64  7–22
(4–15) 		Ellis Johnson Arena (1,567)
Morehead, KY
February 28, 2026
3:30 pm, ESPN+ 		at Little Rock L 70–89  7–23
(4–16) 		Jack Stephens Center 
Little Rock, AR
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[6][7]

References

  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.
  4. ^ a b c "Little Rock Picked as 2025-26 OVC Men's Basketball Favorites". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  5. ^ "USI Men's Basketball Game Canceled Tonight". University of Southern Indiana Athletics. Retrieved December 24, 2025.
  6. ^ "2025–26 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Southern Indiana Athletics. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
  7. ^ "Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved December 10, 2025.
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