After finishing 20-11 in 2006-07 with a young team, the expectations were a lot higher for Southern Miss this season than coach Larry Eustachy was willing to accept. He thought his players might struggle to handle their newfound success.

"I think the losses got their attention," Eustachy told the Hattiesburg American. "They thought they were going to go to Cal and just walk through, they thought they were going to (win at) South Alabama, and Savannah State was a real eye-opener. We had a loss to McNeese State at home. We had some real hard lessons and had some spankings before they figured out their way wasn't working. We had to get back to what works."

After a rough start that carried over into their Conference USA schedule, the Golden Eagles finally came face to face with reality. First, Eustachy's mother died on Jan. 12 following a long illness and the players had to do some growing up without him.

"My mother was ill and I was going back and forth to California, and she finally passed away," Eustachy said. "It was a tough time during the year for me. These guys ... were really there for me when I needed them."

Then the Golden Eagles had to get their act together on the court.

"It hit rock bottom when we were 1-3 in conference," Eustachy said. "It was really bottoming out in a lot of areas. To come back and be able to accomplish what they've accomplished with the youth, I've never been prouder of a group of guys."

The Golden Eagles finished strong, winning seven of their last 10 regular-season games and their first two C-USA tournament games before losing to top-seeded and second-ranked Memphis in the semifinals.

While Southern Miss fell short of earning a spot in the NIT or CBI, they still finished 19-14 overall and 9-7 and tied for fourth in C-USA. The Golden Eagles will lose two seniors -- center Gijo Bain and forward Demar Dotson -- who saw their minutes decrease down the stretch, and will continue to build on a nucleus of sophomore guard Jeremy Wise, freshman point guard R.L. Horton, sophomore wing Sai'Quon Stone and sophomore forward Andre Stephens.

"I think we have a great nucleus to do something really special," Eustachy said.

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