Edgar surprised to land on list of up-and-coming coaches

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Scott Edgar laughingly told me he was as surprised as anybody that "Basketball Times" magazine recently named him one of the top 40 up-and-coming college hoops coaches in the nation.

Not that people don't respect Edgar's coaching ability, but he's 51 -- and he figured that would be considered too old to make such a list.

Edgar is No. 39 on the list that has Missouri's Mike Anderson at No. 1 and also includes the likes of Missouri State's Barry Hinson and Purdue's Matt Painter, a former SIU coach.

The only other Ohio Valley Conference coach to make the cut was Eastern Kentucky's Jeff Neubauer at No. 18.

By the way, current SIU coach Chris Lowery was ranked 37th by "Basketball Times" on its list of the overall top 40 coaches in the nation.

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A comment on a blog site -- not semoball.com -- stated that a Southeast men's basketball player left the program this week.

Every year after the season players tell their buddies they might be leaving the program for one reason or another. Paul Paradoski followed through on his threat, and it's very possible that somebody else will join him.

But Edgar told me Thursday that, as of this time, no player from this past season's team other than Paradoski has left the program.

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Good luck to former Southeast assistant men's basketball coach Toby Lane as he recently took a job on the staff at the University of Miami.

Although Toby filled the third and final assistant's position at Southeast, he did invaluable behind-the-scenes work for the Redhawks and was the team's video coordinator, an area that he was masterful in.

Toby also coordinated all the Redhawks' travel this past season, along with all the meals on the road. I make quite a few trips with the squad and I don't think I've ever seen things go smoother in those areas.

In addition, I can proudly say that Toby became a good friend of mine.

He will be missed within the Redhawks' program, but this is a great career opportunity for him.

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Edgar loves the fact that the NCAA currently places no limit on the amount of times coaches can text message recruits. He's a virtual text-messaging machine.

But that might be about to change.

The NCAA Division I management council has recommended a ban on all electronically transmitted correspondence, including text messages, between coaches and recruits.

E-mails and faxes would be exempt from the new rule but would be limited by NCAA guidelines.

Unlike restrictions on phone calls and in-person visits, there are currently no limits on coaches sending text messages.

The NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which represents college athletes, has complained that the number of text messages had become intrusive and costly.

Edgar might not like me for saying this, but I agree with at least limiting text messaging.

The reason the NCAA limits phone contact between coaches and recruits is so coaches don't constantly bug the young men if they don't want to be bugged (recruits can call coaches as often as they like).

To me, constant text messaging violates the spirit of the original rule limiting phone calls. And it also can be costly for a college student.

I don't know about your cell plan, but mine charges me a dime for every text message -- even when I'm not the one doing the texting.

It might not seem like much, but if a college kid has that kind of plan and receives hundreds of texts per month from coaches all over the country, that can add up to a nice chunk of change.

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Somebody took a cheap shot at classy Southeast baseball coach Mark Hogan in last week's Fan Speak.

I know things like Speak Out and Fan Speak are popular features of the paper -- at least that's what I'm told -- but I've never much cared for the fact people can rip other individuals anonymously, without having to give their name.

But I'm sure most of them wouldn't otherwise have the guts to make those comments.

Anyway, Hogan is a good guy and he's done a wonderful job over the years with the Southeast baseball program -- and no anonymous comment is going to change that.

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Jackson High School graduate and former Southeast all-American tight end Ray Goodson is certainly a busy man these days.

Goodson splits his time between Jackson -- where he operates Shock Performance, a training facility for aspiring athletes -- and Little Rock, Ark., where he is in his second season playing professionally for the Arkansas Twisters in Arena Football League2.

During two of the days that he's in the area next month, Goodson will hold a throwing/receiving/blocking camp for quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends.

The camp will be May 19 and 20 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. both days at the Jackson Junior High field. Cost is $50.

Ray told me he has lined up several former standout quarterbacks to help instruct, including Southeast product Jeromy McDowell, who is now an assistant football coach at North County High School.

Anybody interested in attending the camp should call Goodson at (573) 579-1597 as soon as possible to reserve a spot.

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I wrote last week about how Central High School graduate Sean Bard is putting up monster numbers in his first season of Division I baseball at Mississippi Valley State.

Another Central product, Seth Hudson, has also been on a recent tear as he finishes up an impressive college baseball career.

Hudson, a senior second baseman at Murray State, has raised his average more than 75 points over the last few weeks and he entered the weekend batting .381, which ranked fourth in the OVC.

Hudson, a four-year starter for the Thoroughbreds, hit better than .300 as both a sophomore and junior at Murray State.

And regarding Bard, I was told that he has been invited to play this summer for the Fairbanks Goldpanners in the prestigious Alaska summer league that features many of the nation's premier college players. Bard played last summer for the Sikeston Bulls.

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The Southeast softball team needs to get things going in a hurry. Otherwise, the Redhawks will find themselves in danger of missing the OVC tournament for the first time ever.

The Redhawks entered a weekend series at Tennessee-Martin in ninth place among 10 OVC squads. Only the top six finishers qualify for the league tournament.

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This really has nothing to do with sports, but I want to extend my condolences to the friends and family of James Trickey II, who recently lost his courageous battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (better known as Lou Gehrig's disease). He was only 43.

I was proud to consider Jim my friend, and although because of busy schedules we had not been in that much contact for several years, I would occasionally run into him.

Even as the terrible disease began to ravage his body, his spirits always seemed high and he always appeared upbeat despite the terrible hand he was dealt.

We should all display such courage.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian