University of Southern Indiana Head Coach and former two-time NCAA Division II Player of the Year Stan Gouard has been selected to be a 2020 inductee into the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame. Gouard is the first USI Screaming Eagle to be elected to the SCB National Hall of Fame.
The SCB Hall of Fame induction ceremony in St. Joseph, Missouri, is to be determined due to COVID-19.
Gouard, who became the 10th head coach in the history of the men’s basketball program in April, led the Screaming Eagles into the national spotlight during the mid-1990s. He helped USI emerge onto the national stage by leading the Eagles to the 1995 NCAA II National Championship; the 1994 NCAA II finals; two NCAA II Midwest Regional championships (1994, 1995); three NCAA II Midwest Regional finals (1994, 1995, 1996); and a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference championships (1994, 1996). USI was 82-12 overall during Gouard’s tenure.
The Danville, Illinois, native exploded onto the national scene during the 1994 NCAA II Championship game when he was the CBS Player of the Game. The GLVC Newcomer of the Year scored 30 points in the loss to California State University Bakersfield as the Eagles fell short of erasing a 15-point halftime deficit. The 1993-94 campaign saw Gouard average 19.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in his USI debut season.
Gouard earned his first NABC Division II Player of the Year awards after leading the Eagles to the 1995 NCAA II National Championship. The forward scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in the title game that saw the Eagles rally from a 22-point first-half deficits to win the program’s first national championship in program history. During the national championship season, he averaged 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per contest.
The 1996 season saw Gouard and the Eagles fall short of a third-straight trip to the NCAA II Elite Eight despite winning the GLVC championship for the second time in three seasons. Gouard was honored with the NABC Player of the Year award for the second-straight year after posting 18.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Gouard played 86 games in a USI uniform, finishing his career ranked third all-time with 1,619 points (18.8 per game) and fourth all-time with 702 boards (8.2 per game).
Known for his offensive and his high-flying acrobatics around the rim, Gouard also was great defender. He set the USI records for steals in a season (66 in 1995) and a career (175) with both marks still standing today.
Following his collegiate career, Gouard played professionally for Barrinquilla Ciamanes of Columbia, South America, leading his team to the 1999 championship. Gouard also led the Sundsvall Dragons into the Sweden playoffs.
The two-time first-team All-American and three-time All-GLVC performer has spent over 20 years in college basketball that includes four years as a student-athlete at USI and John A. Logan College; seven as an assistant coach with USI (2001-02), the University of Indianapolis (2002-05), and Indiana State University (2005-08); and 12 as the head coach at UIndy (2008-20).
