Less then one year after he resigned as head men’s basketball coach at Iowa State, Larry Eustachy is headed back to the sidelines.

Numerous media outlets, citing unnamed sources, reported Wednesday that Southern Mississippi will announce Eustachy’s hiring at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Calls to Southern Mississippi’s athletic director Richard Giannini were not returned, and all Athletic Media Relations Director Michael Montoro said was that he “cannot confirm or deny” the reports that Eustachy had been hired.

Senior Associate Director of Athletics David Hansen said a decision had been made by the university about a replacement for former Golden Eagles coach James Green, but he would not say who that person was.

He also said a press conference to introduce the new head man had been scheduled for 3 p.m.

Green, an ISU assistant coach under Tim Floyd from 1994-96, resigned March 5 after eight years in Hattiesburg and a 13-15 record for this year’s squad, 6-10 in Conference USA.

Eustachy resigned as the head coach for Iowa State last year after pictures of him partying and drinking with students in Columbia, Mo., after an ISU loss were published in the Des Moines Register.

The Register’s photos and story sparked a whirlwind week in which Eustachy said he was an alcoholic, ISU athletic director Bruce Van De Velde recommended Eustachy be fired and hundreds of students demonstrated in support of Eustachy before the 49-year-old California native decided against an appeal and accepted a settlement that gave him $960,000.

Since his resignation, Eustachy has spent time in a monthlong alcohol rehabilitation clinic and apparently has gotten his life back on track.

“I couldn’t be happier for a guy,” ISU senior guard Jake Sullivan said Wednesday. “He’s a great coach and he really is going to turn [Southern Mississippi’s] program around.

“I talked to him a couple weeks ago, and he was really doing well. He was looking forward to getting back on the basketball court. We had a nice long talk, and I told him I’m thankful for everything that he’s done. They’re lucky to have him down there as a coach.”

During his five-year career at Iowa State he had a 101-59 record and coached the Cyclones to two NCAA appearances. His teams won back-to-back Big 12 regular-season championships in 2000 and 2001.

His 32-5 2000 squad advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual national champion Michigan State. That season he was also named the Associated Press’ National Coach of the Year.

“I’m sure he’ll fulfill every job expectation that they have of him [at Southern Mississippi],” senior forward Jackson Vroman said. “He learned his lesson — if there was one to be learned — and I’m sure he’ll be successful down there.”

With his ISU past behind him, Sullivan said Eustachy is ready to move on with his life.

“You can only learn from your mistakes, you can’t redo them, and that’s what he’s trying to do,” Sullivan said.

Current ISU head coach Wayne Morgan spent one season as an assistant under Eustachy and said he was happy to hear Wednesday’s news.

“I’m very happy for Coach Eustachy,” Morgan said. “Southern Mississippi is getting themselves a very good basketball coach.

“I wish him the very best, but I’m not going to go into a long soliloquy on Larry and his future. Coach Eustachy is very capable of talking about that himself. We’re all happy that he’s gotten another opportunity.”

Attempts to contact Eustachy on Wednesday were unsuccessful, as were attempts to reach his family, coaching colleagues Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State, Kelvin Sampson of Oklahoma and Floyd, who coaches the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets. ISU head women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly said Wednesday night he hadn’t spoken with Eustachy recently.

— Andrew Nickerson contributed to this article.