Ex-Southeast coaches apply for Division II job

The Pensacola News Journal last week ran names of the 144 people who applied for the men's basketball coaching position at Division II West Florida since the job came open May 27.

On the list is former Southeast Missouri State coach Scott Edgar, who spent the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons with the Redhawks before being fired for alleged NCAA rules violations.

Also on the list is Tommy Suitts, a Southeast assistant in 2008-09 under acting coach Zac Roman. Suitts was originally brought into the Redhawks program by Edgar.

Another applicant with local ties is Tom Schuberth, Gary Garner's chief recruiter for Southeast's lone Ohio Valley Conference championship and NCAA Division I tournament team in 1999-2000. Schuberth was most recently the coach at Division I Texas-Pan American.

Two former NBA stars -- Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Wayne "Tree" Rollins -- are the biggest names on the list.

According to the News Journal, West Florida's search committee will soon trim the list to about 25 candidates and hopes to have between three and five finalists by July 13. The goal is to have a coach hired by July 31.

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I was saddened when I learned less than 24 hours ago that former Southeast baseball coach Palmer Muench had died.

Muench passed away Thursday in Bradenton, Fla., where he had been living since 1995. He was 70.

Muench, who compiled a 10-year record of 235-206-3 as Southeast's coach from 1985 through 1994, handled the daunting task of leading the program into Division I.

Six of Muench's first seven Southeast teams had winning records. He led Southeast to MIAA titles in 1985 and 1987 while being named that league's coach of the year both times.

Muench did not have a winning record in any of his three Division I seasons at Southeast, but that shouldn't detract from the solid job he did with the program.

The soft-spoken Muench was a man of few words until you really got to know him well -- which I did -- after which you discovered his warm, caring personality and sharp sense of humor.

I always thought highly of Muench, who not only led Southeast baseball into Division I with class and dignity but always carried himself that way. He will be missed.

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I've heard nothing but good things about Jeff Honza, who will replace Ron Hines as Southeast's sports information director.

Honza has been the associate director of media services at Southern Illinois-Carbondale for nearly the past nine years, People who know Honza well tell me he's a class act, highly professional and extremely proficient in what he does.

Honza will begin his duties July 1, after Hines retires at the end of this month following 29 years on the job.

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The Tennessee-Martin women's basketball program has a new coach as Kevin McMillan was hired last week to replace Tara Tansil-Gentry, who recently resigned.

McMillan, 42, was an assistant at Middle Tennessee State for two seasons, but the majority of his career has been spent as a successful Tennessee high school coach who won nearly 500 games in 17 years. He most recently led Gibson County to a 35-0 season and a state title.

McMillan takes over a UTM program that has struggled in recent years, including a winless OVC record in 2008-09.

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There is one OVC player among the 49 early entries for Thursday's NBA draft -- but don't expect him to be selected.

Tennessee Tech junior guard D.J. Lindsay was only the Eagles' fifth-leading scorer this year, averaging eight points and three rebounds in 18 minutes.

Tech coach Mike Sutton told the Cookeville Herald-Citizen that Lindsay wasn't going to be allowed to return to the team anyway, which led him to apply for the NBA draft.

Sutton told the newspaper that Lindsay was dismissed because he "didn't meet the team standards and didn't want to conform to what we wanted to do as a team. He decided that his individual scenarios are more important than what we wanted to do here at Tech."

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One OVC basketball player who could be drafted Thursday is Tennessee-Martin guard Lester Hudson, who completed his two-year career with the Skyhawks in 2008-09 ranked among the top performers in league history.

I haven't seen any mock drafts that list Hudson going in the first round, but he's a definite second-round possibility. Even if he isn't selected, he's a lock to receive a training-camp invitation.

And regardless of whether Hudson makes the NBA, at worst he'll be able to make a nice living in the sport overseas.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.