Tallest basketball player USM has had in 14 years is part of impressive recruiting class

Scott Watkins
·2 min read

Jay Ladner’s summer has been a hot one.

Fresh off a Sun Belt regular season title that swung the basketball program’s momentum, Ladner and his staff have built a signing class to reflect the team’s upward projection.

The newest addition: the first 7-foot tall player the program has had in 14 years. Tegra Izay officially signed with USM on Monday after a spending a year at the junior college level.

Izay averaged 8.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game at Harcum College, shooting an efficient 66.7 percent from the floor. The Canadian began his career at La Salle where he played for two seasons.

The signing is the latest and important one for Ladner. The Eagles have stocked up on impressive guard depth, but needed a big to balance the losses of several key frontcourt players.

Joining Izay is the crown jewel of the class, St. John’s transfer Andre Curbelo. A former Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year from his time at Illinois, Curbelo was a four star guard out of high school on 247sports.com.

Curbelo has played 76 games at the High Major level and is known for his defensive instincts as a point guard. The Puerto Rico native was top-50 nationally in steal percentage last season and led the Big 10 in assist rate his freshman season.

Returning guards Neftali Alvarez and Austin Crowley were often relied upon to play big minutes last season and Curbelo’s presence effectively gives USM three starters to rotate among its guard spots.

As added depth with perimeter shooting ability, former St. Patrick guard and Oregon State transfer Nick Krass has also signed with the Golden Eagles and is returning to South Mississippi.

He’s one of two players Ladner has snatched from the West Coast. Forward Victor Iwuakor is the fourth member of the signing class from UNLV. At 6-foot-8, Iwuakor has explosive leaping ability and a nose for the ball on the boards. He gives USM an athletic post-forward presence that it needs to replace Felipe Haase and Denijay Harris with.

The schedule for the upcoming season hasn’t officially been announced yet, but a couple of dates are known. Southern Miss will travel to Akron to face the Zips in the MAC-Sun Belt challenge in November.

Southern Miss will also play a rare game against Ole Miss on Dec. 23 in Biloxi, according to Rebel coach Chris Beard.