Edgar gets coaching job in Oklahoma

Former Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Scott Edgar is back in the coaching profession.

Edgar, whose two-year tenure at Southeast ended with his firing amid allegations of NCAA rules violations, recently was hired as coach at Eastern Oklahoma State Junior College.

Edgar came to Southeast in 2006 following several other coaching stops, including a successful run at Murray State.

After going just 23-39 in his first two seasons of a five-year contract at Southeast, Edgar was placed on administrative leave in October of 2008 -- prior to the 2008-09 campaign -- after the infractions surfaced.

Edgar never coached another game at Southeast. He was fired in late December of 2008, with the university buying out the remainder of his contract.

Southeast ultimately was found by the NCAA to have committed major and secondary rules infractions under Edgar, forcing Southeast to vacate 11 wins from the 2007-08 season that ended 12-19 but wound up being 1-19.

Edgar has professed his innocence even after the NCAA deemed that he knowingly committed major rules violations, including acting unethically.

Edgar and his family have continued to live in Cape Girardeau since he was fired at Southeast. He pursued other coaching opportunities but nothing materialized until the job at the junior college in Wilburton, Okla., which has a population of about 3,000.

I tried to reach Edgar for comments about his new job but couldn't make connections with him.

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I was glad to recently learn that former Southeast athletic director Don Kaverman is returning to his field as the athletic director at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis.

Like Edgar, Kaverman's tenure at Southeast ended late in 2008 as he was fired after repeated NCAA violations in the school's athletic program, the final straw being the men's basketball infractions.

But Kaverman did a lot of great things for the university during his nearly 10 years as AD.

In addition, Kaverman has always been a class act. Good luck to him in his new position, which begins today.

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I also was glad to learn that Notre Dame High School graduate Brian Brandtner is back in coaching.

Brandtner led Bell City to a pair of state runner-up finishes but was suspended by the school in January 2009 and never was reinstated.

Brandtner, who also had success at Caruthersville before going to Bell City, recently was hired at Cooter for his first prep coaching job since Bell City.

Good luck to him as he resumes his coaching career.

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It was a rough day Sunday for the Southeast baseball team, which was swept in a home doubleheader by Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State.

The Redhawks still lead the OVC, but after entering the weekend with a two-game margin they are just percentage points ahead of Murray State.

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Southeast's third annual Walk for Women's Athletics raised more than $12,000 on Saturday for the Redhawk Athletics Scholarship Fund.

Approximately 200 people participated in the 1.6-mile walk through the Southeast campus.

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That was a nice honor for Southeast men's basketball signee Marcus Brister, who was named the most valuable player of his team's National Junior College Athletic Association All-Star Game in Las Vegas on Friday.

Brister, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound point guard who concluded his career at Eastfield College in Texas, scored 19 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out seven assists against the NJCAA Division II All-Stars.

Brister was on the NJCAA Division III All-Star team. The two-day event also featured a Saturday game between the NJCAA Division I and Arizona All-Stars.

Brister will join the Redhawks in 2010-11.

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Jackson senior Jill Rushin has the nation's third-best shot put among high school girls track and field athletes this season, according to the latest rankings listed in USA Today.

Rushin, who will compete for the University of Missouri next year, has a top throw of 49 feet, 7 inches, according to USA Today.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.