EVANSVILLE, Ind.- The University of Southern Indiana Men's Golf team was projected to finish fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll. The Screaming Eagles enter their second season in NCAA Division I, traveling to St. Augustine, Florida to compete in the World Golf Village Collegiate Invite February 19-20 to kick off the 2024 season.
 
The favorite among the votes is the reigning OVC champion, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, who received a resounding ten first-place votes. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville followed behind with one first-place vote. Behind the Trojans and Cougars in voting is the University of Tennessee at Martin, Morehead State University, and USI rounding out the top five.
 
The bottom six in the poll was Tennessee Tech University, Lindenwood University, Western Illinois University, Chicago State University, Tennessee State University, and Eastern Illinois University, respectively.
 
USI will travel in all five regular season matches that features events hosted by Eastern Kentucky University in St. Augustine, Florida (February 19-20), Tennessee Tech (March 17-19), UT Martin/Morehead State (March 31-April 2), Northern Kentucky University (April 6-7), and Wright State University (April 13-15). The regular season leads up to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship in Muscle Shoals, Alabama on April 21-24.
 
The Eagles have a new head coach at the helm in Ryan Chandler who previously coached at Union University where he helped the Bulldogs reach a new school record in the national rankings in the 2022-23 season. "With the record setting fall, there's a lot of excitement going into the season," says Chandler. "This team is extremely deep and the tough strength of schedule in the spring should prepare us well for the OVC championships."
 
USI is coming off an impressive first season of D-I, after finishing third in the OVC last year. The Eagles excelled in the fall season and are looking to build off their sensational final two tournaments in October where they placed first in a ten team invite hosted by Murray State and third at the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational.
 
The Eagles are led by junior Jason Bannister (Laguna Niguel, California) who is coming off an impressive first season at the D-I level. Bannister accumulated multiple accolades in 2023 including OVC March Golfer of the Month, two-time OVC Golfer of the Week, All-OVC Tournament Team, tied for second all-time 18-hole score school record (67), second all-time 54-hole score school record (210), and second all-time in season average school record (72.59).
 
The squad also brings back nine returnees including senior Jace Day (Bloomington, Indiana), senior Peyton Short (Greenwood, Indiana), sophomore Carter Goebel (Breese, Illinois), senior Bryce Kirchner (North Vernon, Indiana), senior Trevor Laub (Edwardsville, Illinois), sophomore Will Perkins (Noblesville, Indiana), senior Tanner Walton (Jackson, Missouri), and sophomore Jade Wilson (LaGrange, Kentucky).
 
Of the four newcomers, only one is a freshman with the others being junior college transfers. Freshman Hunter Reynolds (Cadiz, Kentucky) will be making his first collegiate appearance this season. The Eagles welcome Des Moines Area C.C. junior transfer Sam Vertanen (Ames, Iowa), John A. Logan senior transfer Tanner Walton (Jackson, Missouri), and John A. Logan junior transfer Wade Worthington (Evansville, Indiana) to the 2024 roster.

For more information, visit our website at USIScreamingEagles.com or find us on social media at USIAthletics.
 
2023-24 OVC Golf Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
Men's Predicted Order of Finish
1. Little Rock (10 first-place votes) – 100 points
2. SIUE (1) - 88
3. UT Martin - 84
4. Morehead State - 73
5. Southern Indiana - 58
6. Tennessee Tech - 55
7. Lindenwood - 51
8. Western Illinois - 29
9. Chicago State - 27
10. Tennessee State - 22
11. Eastern Illinois - 18