COACH'S CORNER: NEW COACH ELATED TO BE AT SEMO

First of all, let me say that I am glad to be writing this weekly column because I know there is so much interest in the area for Southeast Missouri State University basketball.

But I'm not an English major, so please bear with me.

As I have said many times before, I am really excited to be the basketball coach at Southeast and to be in Cape Girardeau.

My family and I really like it here. Part of that is coming back to Missouri, since I grew up in West Plains. I've said it before joking around, but this would be a heck of a job if we didn't have to play any games because this is such a great area and community.

So far, I've been pleased with how our team is coming along. During our first exhibition game Monday night (a 97-80 win over Dream Builders), I saw quite a bit of positive things but also so many things we still need to improve on.

As I mentioned to the media after the game, I really liked the way we played hard and played unselfishly. We had 23 assists to 12 turnovers, which is a very good ratio. If you work hard and play together, good things will happen.

We still have a long way to go. But the guys are practicing good and trying to come together as a team. About all you can ask of a team is to come as close to reaching its potential as possible. That's what we're striving for.

Even though our players are working hard right now, we think they can work harder. But overall I'm pleased with the work ethic so far.

I truly believe I have one of the best coaching staffs anywhere in the country. I've said it before, but Tom Schuberth, Anthony Beane and Keno Davis are all tremendous assistant coaches and it's also great having my son Matt working with us as an administrative assistant.

Family is very important. My wife, Barbara, is a big part of this as she is truly a coach's wife.

I've always considered a basketball team to be like a family and that's what I've always tried to stress with all of my teams.

It was good to play our first exhibition game and we've got our second and final exhibition Friday night when Albacomp of Hungary comes to town. Then we open the regular season Sunday at Colorado.

Colorado is going to be a really tough opener for us. We would prefer to have a different opponent on the schedule for the first regular-season game but it's on the schedule so we have to accept the challenge. We're going out there to win, not just play the game.

People ask me all the time how good are we going to be this year. How many games we can win, I don't know. But I think we'll make good progress. If the kids keep working, good things will happen.

I've tried to preach that patience is the key word. It's a new system and a new staff. There will be some bumps along the way. It's how we react to those bumps that will be vital. But I have a lot of confidence in this group and staff.

The fan support so far has been great. You can just see the interest. As a coach and player, that's a great environment to work around.

Gary Garner is the head men's basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University.