What to know about Southern Miss basketball’s acting head coach Juan Cardona

Juan Cardona for now is the acting head coach for Southern Miss basketball.

Coach Jay Ladner is expected to make a full recovery from his “heart related medical emergency” that he suffered on Tuesday, according to the school.

Cardona will be in charge Wednesday (7 p.m., ESPN+) when Southern Miss (12-11, 6-5 Sun Belt Conference) hosts Old Dominion (6-17, 2-9) at Reed Green Coliseum. Southern Miss will also play at home on Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+) against Western Michigan (8-15, 5-6 MAC) in the MAC-SBC Challenge.

It’s unclear when Ladner will return to Southern Miss, so here are some details to know about Cardona.

Cardona was living in his car before being hired by Southern Miss

Cardona told The Hattiesburg American last season that his dream is to be a Division I head coach. His path to where he is today was not an easy one.

He coached in Mexico, Panama and Puerto Rico. Cardona then landed as Miami Christian High School’s head coach, where he won two Florida state championships in three seasons before becoming an assistant coach at Mercer for two seasons.

After leaving Mercer, Cardona and his family lived in a hotel for a year and then in his car for another two months.

That was until Ladner called and Southern Miss hired him in May 2022.

CARDONA: Juan Cardona lived in his car for two months. Now he's Southern Miss basketball's engine

Cardona has played a big part in Southern Miss' turnaround

When Cardona arrived in Hattiesburg, he brought four former Miami Christian players with him. Felipe Haase was one of them, who was second on the team in scoring and an All-Sun Belt selection last season. Neftali Alvarez was another one. He was a key contributor in the 15 games he was able to play last season, but he will not play this season due to another injury.

Defense is what Cardona is known for and it quickly translated positively with Southern Miss.

The Golden Eagles improved to the 43rd scoring defense last season after being one of the country’s worst in 2021-22. It’s an aggressive approach that creates lots of turnovers and is an entertaining product, too.

Cardona also coined the term, “La Familia,” which is now the team’s slogan.

Southern Miss went 24-65 in Ladner’s first three seasons, but with a new staff and bevy of new players, it posted a 25-8 record and won the Sun Belt regular-season title. Its 18-win improvement from 2021-22 to 2022-23 is the second-best in Division I history.

Cardona was promoted to an associate head coach after the season and Ladner received a contract extension.

Keep an eye on the sideline

When Southern Miss is on defense, it’s Cardona’s time to shine.

That’s when he typically gets out of his chair, kneels on the sideline and starts barking orders at his players on the floor.

It’s loud, passionate and sometimes garners a hand slap on the floor as if he chugged three energy drinks before the game.

The rules only allow for one coach to be standing at a time — usually Ladner — and officials oftentimes have to remind Cardona to get back to his seat.

The team feeds off it, and so does the crowd at Reed Green Coliseum. Southern Miss has lost just one game on its home court in the last two seasons.

Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for The Hattiesburg American. Email him at ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: What to know about Southern Miss basketball acting head coach Juan Cardona