Edgar plans to shuffle Redhawks' basketball coaching staff around

I had an extensive conversation with Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Scott Edgar on Friday during the Ohio Valley Conference outdoor track and field meet in Cape Girardeau.

We talked about a variety of topics regarding the basketball program, including the way Edgar plans on shuffling his coaching staff a bit.

Edgar told me that he's not looking for somebody to directly replace assistant Ronnie Dean after the Redhawks' chief recruiter was let go by Edgar. Instead, Edgar said Zac Roman will move up from the third — or limited earnings — position and join Rodney Hamilton in being the Redhawks' top two assistants.

Edgar said he will take his time finding somebody to fill the third and final coaching spot.

On the recruiting class that Edgar recently finalized, he told me he's very happy with it — but really, what else would he say for public consumption? — and that numbers don't always tell the whole story.

I agree in the respect that, like the NFL draft, college basketball recruiting — especially at a low-major program like Southeast — is hard to judge immediately.

That's why, even though two of the three spring signees Edgar announced last week don't exactly wow you with their statistics, I wouldn't automatically write them off as marginal prospects.

Bijon Jones, a 5-foot-10 point guard, and 6-7, 225-pound forward/center Israel Kirk played for Motlow (Tenn.) Community College this past season.

Jones averaged seven points, four assists and two steals — he shot an impressive 47 percent from 3-point range — while Kirk averaged five points and four rebounds.

Those are not exactly eye-opening numbers, but consider that Motlow went 28-5 and had seven players sign with Division I schools, including one with Maryland and one with Western Kentucky.

So maybe Jones and Kirk are much better than their stats indicate. Only time will tell.

Edgar told me that he considered Jones to be the best on-the-ball defender he saw in junior college this past season, so that is pretty intriguing because everybody knows the Redhawks' defense could use an upgrade.

The third spring signee is 6-8 post Stuart Pirri from Christian Life High School in Baton Rouge, La.

Pirri put up solid numbers, averaging 18 points, six rebounds and four assists as a senior while leading the state of Louisiana in 3-point shooting at 48 percent. He made 139 from beyond the arc.

The two players Southeast signed early, 6-5 forward Mark Caviness from Indian River (Fla.) Community College and 6-5 wing Martino Brock from Nashville (Tenn.) Christian Academy, compiled strong stats and are probably the more touted of Southeast's five-man recruiting class.

Edgar said he likes the fact that all five recruits come from programs that experienced high levels of success.

But, as I wrote earlier, recruiting classes are always hard to judge. The final determination of how these recruits stack up will come over the next few years, when we see how they perform and how much they help the Redhawks.

By the way, Edgar told me that he expects all five of his new players to be eligible for the 2008-09 season.

Speaking of the OVC track and field outdoor championships, I couldn't imagine a more fitting performance for longtime Southeast coach Joey Haines' final conference meet, and also his final home meet.

The Southeast men gave Haines, who will retire following this season after 26 years at Southeast, his 21st OVC title — 15 by the women and now six by the men.

Talk about a thrilling athletic event. A buzzer-beating shot in the NCAA basketball tournament would be hard-pressed to top what took place at the Abe Stuber Complex Saturday afternoon.

Southeast's men entered the meet's final event, the 1,600-meter relay, one-half point ahead of Eastern Illinois. Whichever relay group finished ahead of the other would wrap up the team championship.

The Redhawks had to run without the brilliant Miles Smith, who was injured during the 200.

With Smith, Southeast's relay was a lock to prevail. Without him, the race became something of a tossup.

But the Redhawks' relay group gutted out a narrow victory over the Panthers to lock up the team title.

I got goose bumps as I watched the race — close all the way — unfold. And I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing the elated Southeast athletes afterward.

It was just another example of why I've got such a great job.

And here's again wishing Haines — one of the most decorated coaches in OVC history in any sport — all the best in his retirement, although he's still got some more coaching to do as the season still has about a month left.

Here's also wishing Smith a speedy recovery. It was not known immediately after the meet whether he simply suffered a cramp or strained his hamstring, but hopefully he'll be ready to run at the NCAA Mideast Regional late this month.

I wrote last week about former Southeast football players Joseph Tuineau and Adam Casper hoping to sign NFL free-agent contracts following the draft that concluded April 27.

As far as I know, neither has yet been able to land with an NFL team, although there is still the possibility that could happen.

Tuineau, a tight end, and Casper, a linebacker, both completed their eligibility with the Redhawks in 2007.

For followers of the outstanding Southeast women's gymnastics program, here are several wrapup tidbits from the highly successful 2008 season:

The Redhawks earned a final national ranking of No. 30, after they finished fifth in the six-team NCAA South Central Regional.

Coach Tom Farden, who was named the South Central Region coach of the year, was also one of only four coaches across the country to be nominated as the national coach of the year.

Finally, third-year assistant coach Brogan Evanson is leaving the program as she and her husband Troy will be moving in the next few weeks.

Farden, who lauded Evanson for her work with the Redhawks, said he is currently conducting a national search for a new assistant.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.