Report: USI men's basketball coach Stan Gouard linked to Division I head coach opening

Hendrix Magley
Evansville Courier & Press
Southern Indiana Head Coach Stan Gouard talks with Southern Indiana’s Isaiah Swope (1) during an inter-squad scrimmage at Screaming Eagles Arena Thursday evening, Nov. 11, 2021.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Stan Gouard could be on the move before the University of Southern Indiana officially joins Division I.

The USI men's basketball coach has been linked to the opening at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, according to a report from Jeff Goodman of Stadium. 

Goodman tweeted Tuesday that Gouard is one of "three candidates squarely in the mix" for the vacancy. The others also are D-II coaches: Ben McCollum of Northwest Missouri State and Bart Lundy of Queens University.

This isn't the first time Milwaukee and USI have been connected.

Bruce Pearl, who notched a 231-46 record and a national title with the Eagles, left the program in 2001 to coach the Panthers. He was there four seasons before moving on to Tennessee and now Auburn.

Pearl, of course, is Gouard's former coach and mentor. They remain close and their respective teams met for an exhibition last November. 

USI men's basketball:Division II days are over after exiting GLVC tournament

Gouard was hired by his alma mater in April 2020 after Rodney Watson retired. He has guided the Eagles to a 30-13 record over two seasons, including an NCAA Midwest Regional appearance last year. 

The Eagles did not make the D-II tournament this year, finishing 18-8 overall.

Previously, Gouard spent 12 seasons coaching the University of Indianapolis, another D-II school where his teams went 228-117. He was also an assistant at Indiana State University from 2005-08. 

Gouard could be simply using this opportunity as leverage to get a pay raise at USI. Milwaukee was paying former coach Pat Baldwin $350,000 annually, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gouard's current salary is unknown, but his predecessor received a base salary of $102,000. 

Baldwin was fired last week after five seasons. Milwaukee finished with a 10-22 record and was ninth in the Horizon League, and the Panthers have not won more than 12 games in any of the past four years.

The next coach will be UWM’s fourth in eight seasons.

Could USI also be on the look for a new coach before it joins the Ohio Valley Conference?

Contact Courier & Press sports reporter Hendrix Magley via email at hendrix.magley@courierpress.com or via Twitter @TweetsOfHendrix.