SEMO FIRES COACH RON SHUMATE

Ron Shumate, who won more games than any other basketball coach in Southeast Missouri State University history, has been fired as the head men's basketball coach. The firing was linked by the university to an NCAA investigation into the Indians' program.

Also out are Shumate's three assistant coaches: Randy Curl, who was suspended and whose contract won't be renewed when it expires at the end of June; and Kirt Cochran and Scott McCowan, who resigned.

The announcement was made Thursday in a four-paragraph statement released by the university. The statement came in the form of a notice of action taken by the Southeast Board of Regents, which decided unanimously to terminate Shumate's contract.

The statement read in part: "Actions by the Board of Regents were based on information from the ongoing NCAA investigation of the men's basketball program. The university is cooperating fully with the NCAA. Until the NCAA investigation is completed and an official report is filed, no additional comments will be made by the university."

The school previously had made no official statement regarding an NCAA investigation.

Shumate Thursday wouldn't comment on what the NCAA has been investigating. But he defended himself and his program. He said that perhaps the fact the Indians have struggled at the Division I level is a big part of the shakeup.

Members of the NCAA enforcement staff have reportedly been in Cape Girardeau in recent days. A spokesperson at the NCAA enforcement office in Overland Park, Kan., would not confirm that investigators have been on the Southeast campus, saying only that "the NCAA does not comment on ongoing cases."

As reported March 29 in the Southeast Missourian, an in-house review of Southeast's men's basketball program -- with the assistance of Ohio Valley Conference commissioner Dan Beebe -- was instituted in March after the basketball season.

The Missourian reported that players who wished to remain anonymous said Beebe conducted taped interviews, during which he asked the players a variety of questions that included inquiries concerning the validity of their signatures on various documents and the purchase of airline tickets.

The NCAA apparently became involved as a result of that review.

Southeast officials have not confirmed nor denied that NCAA regulations have been violated.

Southeast's president, Dr. Dale Nitzschke, said the review originally began based on a complaint. Although Nitzschke would not say who voiced the complaint, sources have told the Missourian that it was a player or players.

Asked to explain the entire investigative process, Nitzschke said, "Like on any and all college campuses, in any department, it starts somewhere and somebody comes forward with a complaint. That happened on our campus.

"It's part of our commitment to our students to launch an investigation," he said. "That means examining documents, talking to all of the players to try and substantiate or eliminate the complaints.

"Those who have any kind of direct supervisory responsibility for the areas in question are those responsible for the investigation, in concert with the larger entity, in this case the OVC and NCAA. It started in-house, then at some point in time when the process of discovery begins, it's standard operating procedure to get the conference involved and then the NCAA."

Shumate, who recently completed his 16th season as Southeast's coach, said: "At the present time, the NCAA enforcement staff is reviewing information concerning possible NCAA violations. I respect the NCAA's desire that this investigation be kept confidential until concluded. But I remain confident that I will be exonerated and that I have committed no significant or major violations.

"When you lose, they don't look at graduation rates, how the kids don't get into trouble. They look into winning and losing. We lost so they went after me. That's the nature of the beast. That goes with the profession. I understand that."

Shumate said: "Ron Shumate has not done anything wrong. Ron Shumate has run the cleanest program in the OVC, the cleanest program in America. Period."

Shumate, whose base salary is $72,532 per year, has three more years left on his contract.

University officials directed inquiries about Thursday's announcement to Diane Howard, a lawyer with the Limbaugh, Russell, Payne and Howard firm.

Howard emphasized that Shumate's contract was terminated and no buyout is involved.

Referring to his contract, she said, "There is a clause in the contract that provides for termination of the agreement in the case of serious violations of NCAA rules and regulations, or serious violations of university policy.

"The Board of Regents has made the determination that the information that was provided to them by the university should result in the termination of the contract."

Sources said an investigation of the type being conducted could take as long as eight months or a year. Information on the investigation will not be released until it is completed. Sources said the job a school does on self-evaluation of its program goes a long way toward determining the type of penalty -- if any -- that is handed down by the NCAA if it finds violations took place.

As for the other coaches, Curl this year completed his 10th season as an assistant under Shumate. Cochran, a former Southeast player under Shumate, completed his fourth season. And McCowan finished his third season.

The Board of Regents reached its decision Monday and announced it Thursday. Missouri's Sunshine Law allows public governmental bodies 72 hours to inform the public about decisions regarding hiring or firing of employees.