CAPTAIN ELEY TO GUIDE INDIANS THIS YEAR; GARNER IMPARTS LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITY

Bud Eley has added another notch to his growing resume -- that of captain for Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians.

Eley, the Indians' 6-foot-10 center, was last week named the Ohio Valley Conference preseason Player of the Year during the league's media day in Nashville, Tenn.

And Monday, Southeast coach Gary Garner said he had anointed his big senior as the team's captain for the 1998-99 season.

"We have officially made Bud our captain," said Garner. "He worked extremely hard in the offseason and his leadership in practice has been surprisingly good.

"I think Bud really wants to have a great senior year and he wants the team to have a great season. When you get that type of leadership from your highest-profile player, it's really huge."

Eley was regarded as a potential second-round NBA draft pick this summer but he elected to return to school for his final season of eligibility. Eley, hampered by foot injuries last year, has averaged more than 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game over his Southeast career.

Eley and the rest of the Indians are in their third week of practice -- and a game is looming on the horizon.

It won't be a game that counts on the record, but Garner is anxiously awaiting Thursday's exhibition opener against the Dreambuilders, a group of former collegians out of Des Moines, Iowa. The tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Show Me Center.

"I'm really looking forward to the game because you can only find out so much about your players in practice," Garner said. "We'll learn a lot more about ourselves going up against outside competition for the first time. This will really give us a good indication of where we are."

The Indians beat the Dreambuilders 97-80 in exhibition play last year during Garner's first season at Southeast.

Garner said he expects the Dreambuilders to be much better this year. The squad opened its exhibition season with a 118-113 overtime loss to Indian Hills (Iowa), the nation's top-ranked junior-college team.

"If they played Indian Hills that tough, then they must be a lot better than they were last year," said Garner. "I think it's going to be a good test for us."

Southeast will have another exhibition game next Monday, facing a squad from Bulgaria at 7:30 p.m. at the Show Me Center. The season opener is set for Nov. 14 when Southern Illinois-Edwardsville comes to Cape Girardeau.

* Southeast has been hampered by injuries to two of its key returning players from last year.

Forward Demetrius Watson suffered a concussion during an Oct. 23 practice and has not practiced since. He should return to the court this week.

Guard Kahn Cotton continues to be bothered by problems with both knees. He has practiced only sparingly so far and his status is day to day.

"I think Demetrius is coming along well but Kahn has us really concerned," said Garner. "He has not really played since the summer. He has tried to practice but the knee problems keep coming back. We're just not sure about him."

Added Garner, "Demetrius and Kahn are both seniors and they're both really important to our team."

* Garner said he continues to be extremely impressed by the attitude and effort of the Indians.

"We're really practicing hard. And I mean hard," he said. "The attitude and effort are as good as any team I've coached. If it continues that way, we'll show a lot of improvement over the next couple of weeks."

* Thursday's contest will feature `Pick Your Seat Night.'

Southeast officials said there are a number of good Booster Club seats in the lower level of the Show Me Center that are available for season-ticket purchase. The available seats will be tagged Thursday night and available for sale.