COURT SESSION: INDIANS READY FOR BIG WEEK

We start a very important homestand tonight when we entertain Austin Peay as a part of the Union Planters Bank Basketball Extravaganza.

It will just be a great week of basketball, with men's and women's games tonight against Austin Peay, Thursday night against Murray State and Saturday night against Tennessee-Martin.

The Otahkian games begin at 5:30 p.m. each night, with our games at 7:30 p.m.

The six games are just a part of the Union Planters Bank Basketball Extravaganza. Members of our staff and selected players will also make drug free presentations at local grade schools this week. Wednesday we will visit Clippard School at 9 a.m. and May Green School at 10:15. Friday, we will visit Washington School at 9 a.m. and St. Mary's at 10:30. Members of the Otahkian team will also visit grade schools.

Saturday at 9 a.m., there will be a free basketball clinic at the Show Me Center for youngsters between the ages of 8 and 13. The clinic is sponsored by Union Planters Bank, with the first 125 youngsters receiving Union Planters T-shirts.

I can't say enough about the generous financial and promotional support provided by Charles Daniel and his staff at Union Planters Bank. We have to have this type of support to continue to improve our athletic program at Southeast.

We've just completed a very successful road trip with wins at Middle Tennessee and Tennessee Tech to put us at 6-0 and in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. I thought we had a great effort both nights and we got key contributions from our entire team.

This year's team is a close-knit group that is truly our basketball family. The starters all played well in the two road wins and we got solid contributions from Rod Johnson, Brian Bunche, Nathan Owen and Fred Abraham off the bench.

Our bench hasn't produced big offensive numbers this year, but they are playing solid defense and hitting the boards.

Three other players, Matt Morris, Ben Pranger and Ryan Thomas, don't see that much playing time but they practice hard every day, play with the scout team and provide great enthusiasm on the bench during games. We are getting a total team effort.

Bud Eley continues to play great basketball. His triple-double against Morehead State was the first this season by a collegiate player and has been mentioned several times on ESPN and Fox Sports.

Bud's 10 blocked shots against Morehead matches the highest total by a collegiate player this season and his 21 rebounds against Southwest Missouri is the second-highest individual total in collegiate basketball this season.

Bud had 20 blocks in three games last week. We are a good defensive team and his dominance in the middle makes us an even better defensive team. When they are talking about Bud and Southeast Missouri State basketball on ESPN and Fox Sports, it is great for our university and for our basketball program. Believe me, recruits see that and are impressed.

Mike Branson has really been coming on. He had double-doubles in the last two games and has really developed into a good rebounder with 10 boards in each of the last two games.

Kahn Cotton broke out of his shooting slump by going 5-for-9 on 3-pointers at Middle Tennessee and his defensive job on Tennessee Tech's Corey Hemphill was a key in the fact we were able to win in Cookeville for only the second time ever.

Cory Johnson was 5-for-8 from three in the last two games and Demetrius Watson had one of his best games in the win at Middle Tennessee.

We face a very tough game tonight with Austin Peay. The Governors have struggled at times this season, but they have some very talented players.

Trenton Hassell is one of the most talented players in the OVC. He averages 19 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game. Hassell can score outside and inside. Jerome Jackson, Nick Stapleton and James Stewart are also extremely talented players.

It will be important that our team come out with great intensity and mental toughness tonight.

I hope you are all ready for a great week of basketball during the Union Planters Basketball Extravaganza at the Show Me Center. Believe me, we're going to need your attendance and enthusiasm in order to stay on top in the OVC.

Gary Garner is the head basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University. His weekly column is sponsored by Rust Communications.