2023-24 Southern Indiana men's basketball season preview

Overview: For a program that only completed the transition to Division I basketball last year, it was a solid first season at the highest level for Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles finished at .500 in the Ohio Valley Conference, an impressive record for a team with a lot of players who had never seen Division I action before.

It was an offseason full of change for this group, as a number of starters, including standout guard Isaiah Swope, transferred in the offseason. As a result, the program will be running a mostly new starting lineup, made up of a few returning players who saw minutes off the bench last year and a number of transfers who were either bench players at other, bigger Division I schools or standouts at community and junior colleges. 

One source of stability for the squad has been head coach Stan Gouard, a seasoned Division II veteran who has helped the team make the difficult shift to the top level of college ball. He is a seasoned leader who spent time as both an assistant and head coach at a number of schools before coming to Southern Indiana in 2020.

Team ceiling: The Screaming Eagles have a great season with a new roster, pointing to an exciting future. The squad wins a few games in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament and manages to make a smaller, private competition like the College Basketball Invitational for the second straight year.