| Jay Ladner | |
| Current Title: | Head coach |
| Current Team: | Southern Miss |
| Current Conference: | Sun Belt |
| Birth Date: | 8 December 1965 |
| Birth Place: | Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Player Years1: | 1984–1988 |
| Player Team1: | Southern Miss |
| Coach Years1: | 1992–2011 |
| Coach Team1: | St. Stanislaus HS |
| Coach Years2: | 2011–2012 |
| Coach Team2: | Oak Grove HS |
| Coach Years3: | 2012–2014 |
| Coach Team3: | Jones County JC |
| Coach Years4: | 2014–2019 |
| Coach Team4: | Southeastern Louisiana |
| Coach Years5: | 2019–present |
| Coach Team5: | Southern Miss |
| Overall Record: | (college) (high school) (junior college) |
| Tournament Record: | 0–2 (NIT) |
| Championships: | Southland regular season (2018) Sun Belt regular season (2023) |
| Awards: | Sun Belt Coach of the Year (2023) |
Jay Ladner (born December 8, 1965) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles men's basketball team.[1]
Ladner played college basketball at Southern Miss where he was part of the Golden Eagles' 1987 NIT Championship team.[2] [3]
In 1992, Ladner began coaching in the high school ranks, first at St. Stanislaus HS, where he guided the team to 10 state tournament appearances from 1992–2011 before moving on to his high school alma mater Oak Grove HS. His overall high school coaching record was 511–189[2] Ladner would move into the junior college ranks as the head coach at Jones County Junior College where in 2014 he led the Bobcats to the NJCAA Division I National Championship, becoming the lowest seed to ever win the national championship.[4]
In 2014, Ladner was named the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana where he guided the team to a 76–88 record and a Southland Conference regular season title and the program's first NIT appearance in 2018. On April 18, 2019 Ladner was named the head men's basketball coach at his alma mater, Southern Miss, replacing Doc Sadler.[5] [6]
On February 6, 2024, Ladner suffered a heart attack and need defibrillators to restore his heart rhythm. He did not Coach for the remainder of the regular season and returned for the Sun Belt tourney.[7]