HAMMOND, La. – Head coaches Jay Ladner and Ayla Guzzardo will represent the Southeastern Louisiana men's and women's basketball programs at the Southland Conference's Social Media Day Monday at the Toyota Center in Houston.

    The event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Ladner and Guzzardo are slated to answer questions beginning at 10:30 a.m.

    All 26 head basketball coaches will be in attendance for Q&As with Southland broadcasters Tatum Everett and Lincoln Rose, interactive social media activities on the Southland's Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and one-on-one sessions with women's basketball Hall-of-Famer Van Chancellor.

    The day will begin with opening comments from Southland Conference Commissioner Tom Burnett, a member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee.

    Results of the coaches' and sports information directors' predicted order of finish for the conference will be unveiled during the event.

    The event which will be produced for ESPN3 and available for viewing on watchespn.com and the ESPN app Monday at 6 p.m.

    Ladner's squad is coming off its first winning regular season since 2010-11 and the fourth-year head coach said there are a number of positives currently coming out of the program.

    "Part of what we want to do is to let people know great things are happening in our program," Ladner said. "We're more than about 'X's and 'O's and we preach that all the time. Our APR last year was 1,000 and our graduation rate was 100 percent. We want to talk about the great things. Because of the emphasis on the type of young men we have been recruiting, good students and good players, our wins and our success have obviously grown exponentially as well."

    Ladner said there are a number of topics about the program he would like to discuss on Monday.

    "We're excited certainly about having our first winning season last year but we're also excited about the number of guys we have coming back and our experience and the way our guys have approached the offseason," Ladner said. "We also certainly want to talk about some of our individual players. We have some guys who are really good players that haven't played and we also have a lot of other players who do a great job of playing their particular role on the team and who are selfless players. I think it's a good opportunity to educate people about our program in a more in-depth way and give them a little bit of insight on some of our other guys on our team as well."

    Guzzardo is in her first season at the helm of the Lady Lions. She said she is planning to discuss her team's preparations for the season.

    "Our focus is just letting them know what we have been doing in practice and how hard the girls have been working for the start of our season. We're preparing every day on the court and in the weight room. Our first day was rough but they have bounced back. Every day we are getting better and that is all we can ask."

    Both teams will play an exhibition in the University Center to start the 2017-18 campaign. The Lady Lions host LSU-Alexandria on Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. while the Lions welcome in William Carey for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Nov. 7.

    Both squads also officially open the regular season at home on Nov. 10 with the Lady Lions taking on Alcorn State at 5 p.m., followed by the men's game against Centenary at 7:30 p.m.
 
Southland Conference Basketball Media Event Lineup
Monday, Oct. 16 – Toyota Center, Houston
9 a.m. - Opening remarks – Southland Commissioner Tom Burnett
9:15 a.m. - Central Arkansas
9:40 a.m. - Abilene Christian
10:05 a.m. - Northwestern State
10:30 a.m. - Southeastern Louisiana
10:55 a.m. - Nicholls
11:20 a.m. - New Orleans
11:45 a.m. - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
12:10 p.m. - Stephen F. Austin
12:35 p.m. - Houston Baptist
1 p.m. - Sam Houston State
1:25 p.m. - Lamar
1:50 p.m. - McNeese            
2:15 p.m. - UIW