COURT SESSION: IT'S A SPECIAL TIME FOR SE PLAYERS, FANS AND COACHES

It's certainly an exciting time in our basketball program at Southeast Missouri State. We had a great tournament in Nashville and came away with the championship trophy and a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

We had two goals going into the season -- to win the OVC title and to advance to the NCAA Tournament -- and this determined group of young men has accomplished both goals.

This is the closest knit basketball team I have ever been associated with. We are truly a basketball family. Our players and coaches care about each other and the leadership we have gotten from our three seniors is simply outstanding.

Roderick Johnson has been an emotional leader both on and off the floor. He plays extremely hard and leads us in five statistical categories. It was extremely gratifying to see him named the tournament MVP after being only a second team all-OVC selection.

Mike Branson had been struggling with his shooting, but never stopped working hard. He really came through in the championship game with a team-high 21 points, including four of five from three. What a way to break out of a little shooting slump! Mike was deserving of being on the all-tournament team for the second straight year.

Brian Bunche doesn't make all-tournament teams because he doesn't score that much, but he has provided our team with great defense and great intensity. We wouldn't be where we are without the play of Brian.

Michael Stokes and Antonio Short also made the all-tournament team after having a great tournament. I congratulate all the award winners and everyone else on the team. It was a team effort.

The Middle Tennessee game in the semifinals might have been our best overall game of the season. We dominated the game from beginning to end. I knew in the dressing room that this team was focused and ready to give a great effort and they did.

The Murray State game was our best defensive effort of the season and we got big offensive games from Mike and Antonio and Roderick was solid as always. Michael Stokes was outstanding on both ends of the floor and Brian gave us great help defense and made three of four free throws.

We were successful in Nashville because we were focused on the job at hand. We need to maintain our focus as we prepare for the NCAA Tournament.

We gave the players Monday and Tuesday off and we begin practice this afternoon. We have to forget all the excitement while we are on the practice floor and be focused on the areas we need work on.

The NCAA tournament is a great experience. I went to several NCAA tournaments when I was an assistant at Missouri but I really didn't experience what I've experienced since we won on Sunday. I've done over 20 radio interviews, including several with national networks. This is great exposure for our basketball program and university.

Everywhere I go, people are excited and that is great. We had a tremendous following in Nashville and we really appreciate all the fans who were there. It was also great to have a group of fans greet us when we returned home.

We'll find out who we play and where we go Sunday evening when we gather with fans at the Drury Lodge. It will be an exciting time in the history of our university. I hope we'll see you there.

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