EVANSVILLE — As the state's winningest men's basketball program (by percentage), the University of Southern Indiana certainly is rich in tradition.
This season is the 48th in program history, dating back to when it still was called Indiana State University-Evansville. TheEagles have had 22 players earn All-America status and six conference players of the year.
What if the greatest could've suited up together to createa "Dream Team?" Imagine a roster full of All-Americans running the court during the final season of the Physical Activities Center as we know it.
Below is an attempt at building a hypothetical all-time lineup, based on career statistics and individual awards.
Tyrone Tate (1992-94)
Let's start atpoint guard.
Tate helped lead USI to the 1994 D-II championship game against Cal State Bakersfield and nearly averaged a double-double with 15.8 points and 8.4 assists per game. A 6-foot-1 transfer from Utah, he elevated his teammates and remains second all-timein careerassists with 431.
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Tate earned a pair of All-America honors and was the 1993 Great Lakes Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year. His 17 assists during a 1994 game against IPFT remain a program record.
He would be a much-needed facilitator alongside elite scorers.
Stephen Jackson (1983-87)
Despite playing two years without the benefit of the three-point arc, Jackson set the program's all-time scoring record with 2,216 points — a mark that still stands today.
He was theGLVC Player of the Year in 1985 as a sophom*ore for averaging a school-record 21.4 points per game. He helped lead USI to a share of GLVC championships in 1985 and ’87 and the team reached the D-II tournament both seasons.
Jackson also led the Eagles in steals during each of his four years and is second all-time in that category. He scored at least 500 points every year.
He is a behavior interventionist atStony Brook Middle School, a Warren Central feeder school in Indianapolis, afterreturning to USI in the mid-1990s to earn a degree in sociology.
Stan Gouard (1993-96)
The only national champion from the 1995 squadto get the starting nod, Gouard is still a familiar — maybe not as friendly — face today in his 10th year asthe University of Indianapolis' head men's coach.
At6-5, he became the first player in school history to repeat as the NCAA II Player of the Year during his junior and senior seasons. He averaged 18.6 points and 7.8 rebounds in three seasons after transferring from John A. Logan College.
Gouard ranks first in steals (175), third in point scored (1,619) and fifth in rebounds (702).He was first-team All-GLVC all three years, an All-American in '95 and '96 and the 1994 GLVC Newcomer of the Year.
He has nowspent 20 years in college basketball as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
Chris Bowles (1990-94)
This hypothetical team might not be so far-fetched considering it already has chemistry with Bowles playing alongside Tate and Gouard under coach Bruce Pearl.
A mild-mannered, 6-foot-10 Kentuckian, Bowles was the leading scorer for that 1994 runner-up team at 19.5 points per game. He also averaged 9.7 rebounds on his way to being named theNCAA II Player of the Year.He previously earned All-America honors in 1992-93 and 1991-92.
Bowles issecond all-time in scoring with 2,169 points and remains the program's rebounding leader with 1,129 boards. Bowles was the first Eagle toeclipsethe 2,000-point and 1,000-rebound marks in a career.
Today, he's still nearby in Madisonville, Kentucky, working for the school system and co-owning a landscaping business.
John Hollinden (1979-81)
At 7-foot-6, he was the tallest player ever to play in Indiana —a giant stick of straw who made hay under the opposing team's basket.
Hollinden played just two years at USI after transferring from Oral Roberts but is still the all-time blocks leader with 373. He was USI’s second All-American after averaging 15.7 points and 8.6 rebounds in 1980-81, during which he also was the GLVC Player of the Year.
He scored 815 points and grabbed 564 rebounds on offense while disrupting nearly every shot onthe other end. The Eagles utilized his size to go41-17 with him and he was a First Team All-GLVC selection both seasons.
Hollinden, who graduated from Central High School in 1976, was paralyzed in a 1981 car crashjust weeks before he was slated to begina professional basketball career in Sweden. He later died of cardiac arrest in 1992 at age 34.
Bench
There are at least 20 more Eagles who would deserve a spot on this hypothetical roster, and it's almost impossible to narrow them down to make an actual team of 13 or so players.
A handful would likely be near the top of the all-time lists or deserving of a starting spot if they would've played all four years in a USI uniform. Take Jamar Smith (2008-10)and Jeril Taylor (2015-17), for example, because they were both incredible scorers.
Others spent their entire careers as Eagles, likeGeoff Van Winkle (2003-07), Marc Hostetter (1993-97) and Cris Brunson (2001-05). Hostetter remains the career assist leader with 498, Van Winkle's 133 games played are the most-ever and Brunson ranks high in nearly every statistical category.
Three of the starters are from those great mid-90s teams for a reason, butChad Gilbert (1994-96) also deserves a spot somewhere after being an All-American and GLVC Player of the Year in 1996. More recently, Aaron Nelson (2012-14) is still thriving professionally, too.
And when Alex Stein (2015-19) wraps his career, he also likely will be regarded as one of the best, especially if he makes a run at the all-time scoring record. He should be in the top 10 by the start of GLVC play.
Contact USI beat writer Chad Lindskog on Twitter @chadlindskog or by email at chad.lindskog@courierpress.com.
