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SportsOctober 6, 2008

The news just keeps getting worse for the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball program. As reported last week, Mark Caviness -- Southeast's co-top signee for the 2008-09 season -- did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements and will not play for the Redhawks this year...

The news just keeps getting worse for the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball program.

As reported last week, Mark Caviness -- Southeast's co-top signee for the 2008-09 season -- did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements and will not play for the Redhawks this year.

Caviness, a junior college transfer, was admitted to Southeast and has been attending classes since school began in late August.

Caviness, a 6-foot-5 forward, was an all-conference performer at Indian River Community College in Florida.

Southeast coach Scott Edgar said Caviness will continue to attend Southeast, although he will have to pay his own way and will not be allowed to practice with the team.

As long as Caviness meets future NCAA eligibility requirements, he will still have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Caviness and Martino Brock were regarded as Southeast's co-top signeees for this season.

Brock, a 6-5 swingman who would have been a freshman, was never admitted to Southeast after failing to meet eligibility requirements.

Two of the Redhawks' key players from last season transferred, starting point guard Roderick Pearson to Oral Roberts and 6-foot-10 center Will Bogan to Shawnee (Ill.) Community College.

In addition, point guard Hank Harris -- the probable starter following Pearson's departure -- suffered an Achilles' tendon injury during a pickup game and will likely miss the entire season.

Southeast is down to 11 scholarship players, including Harris.

All those issues are in addition to the program being under NCAA investigation, with alleged rules violations expected to be announced soon.

Although Edgar publicly tried to convey optimism in comments he made to me, on the surface it's certainly not a pretty picture regarding Southeast hoops.

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At least there was one piece of good news for Southeast men's basketball last week.

I've heard nothing but rave reviews regarding junior college point guard Jeremy Lay, who verbally committed to Southeast and said he plans to make it official during next month's early signing period.

Lay is a 6-foot sophomore at Northern Oklahoma College. He averaged 13 points and 6.4 assists per game as a freshman for an NOC squad that went 19-14 and was the Region 2 runner-up in Oklahoma last season. He led the region in assists.

Lay is supposed to be a pure point guard and a very good on-the-ball defender.

Of course Lay won't do the Redhawks any good this season because, even if he follows through on his verbal commitment, he won't be at Southeast until the 2009-10 campaign.

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We'll see what the rest of the Ohio Valley Conference thinks about Southeast men's hoops this week as the league holds its annual media day Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.

The preseason predictions and all-conference squads for men and women will be announced that day.

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That was a long way to go to cover a football game, the more than seven-hour drive to Jacksonville, Ala., for Saturday's OVC contest between Jacksonville State and Southeast.

But getting to watch Ryan Perrilloux play in person made my trip worthwhile.

Perrilloux, JSU's touted junior quarterback who transferred from LSU, more than lived up to his advance billing.

The MVP of last year's Southeastern Conference title game, Perrilloux displayed a cannon of an arm, nice touch, excellent mobility and a nice feel for the game.

Perrilloux completed 16 of 22 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns despite sitting out much of the fourth quarter as the 22nd-ranked Gamecocks cruised past outmanned Southeast 38-17.

Perrilloux was 11 of 15 for 203 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

Over his last two games, Perrilloux has completed 36 of 47 passes for 520 yards.

After seeing the Gamecocks play, and knowing they already have won at perennial OVC power Eastern Illinois, I'll be surprised if JSU doesn't win the conference championship.

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I expected Missouri to finally win at Nebraska for the first time since 1978.

I also expected the Tigers to win fairly convincingly.

But I didn't anticipate such a mauling Saturday as Mizzou crushed the Cornhuskers 52-17 -- and Nebraska needed a touchdown on the game's final play to make things that close.

Much tougher challenges lie ahead for the Tigers -- starting this week against equally hot Oklahoma State -- but right now Mizzou certainly looks the part of a legitimate national championship contender.

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Unlike most Cardinals fans, I'm not one to automatically root against the Cubs and relish in any bad fortune they might encounter.

But I'm sure there were a lot of happy people in Southeast Missouri after the Cubs' stunning sweep at the hands of the Dodgers and Sikeston, Mo., native Blake DeWitt.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.

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