Southeast selects new basketball coaches

Watching Southeast Missouri State University basketball over the years has frustrated many.

This is a Division I program with great -- and soon to be even more impressive -- facilities. We're between St. Louis and Memphis. And Southeast Missouri is no slouch with local talent.

But for a number of reasons, the men's and women's programs have struggled. Yes, there have been a few winning seasons, but fans expect more.

Yet there is reason for excitement with both programs.

Southeast athletic director Mark Alnutt recently announced that Rick Ray is the new men's head coach and Rekha Patterson will lead the women.

Ray and Patterson come from different career paths.

Ray recently was fired as the head coach for Mississippi State, a program in the SEC. The Mississippi State athletic director pointed to fan apathy as a reason for the change. Still, he was positive about Ray in his conversation with the Southeast athletic director.

Ray said some good things in his news conference at the Show Me Center. He thanked former coach Dickey Nutt.

Ray pointed to the potential of the program.

Patterson comes from a different path. She's been the budding talent as an assistant coach, having been part of winning programs. At age 36, this is her first head coaching position.

Patterson served as an associate head coach at Ball State during the past two seasons and before that was on the Baylor staff. Ball State made it to the Women's National Invitational Tournament during both seasons. At Baylor she was the coordinator of basketball operations and later associate coach. She was on the staff of the 40-0 team that won the NCAA National Championship.

Attendance has been low for Redhawks basketball at the Show Me Center. Winning basketball can change that going forward. With more attendance comes more dollars for the area.

A quick look at what an attendance increase could provide shows a big opportunity not only for Southeast, but also for the local economy.

Basketball is good for this area. Winning basketball is even better.

We welcome both coaches to Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri State University. There's a big job ahead to propel university basketball back to its winning tradition, and we wish Ray and Patterson well as they begin this challenge.