FROM HOUCK TO SHOW ME

Ron Shumate, whose reign as Southeast Missouri State University's basketball coach ended Thursday, certainly left an indelible mark on Indian hoops.

Shumate came to Cape Girardeau in 1981, taking over a team that had finished last in the old Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association the year before and inheriting a program that had produced just three winning records in the previous nine seasons.

But it didn't take long for Shumate -- who had compiled a 139-61 record at Tennessee-Chattanooga -- to make his mark. The Indians went 21-10 during that 1981-82 season, winning the MIAA championship and advancing to the NCAA Division II quarterfinals.

That season was the first of a glorious 10-year Division II ride for the Indians under Shumate. He guided Southeast to eight Division II quarterfinal appearances in those 10 years, twice leading the Indians into the Division II title game, where they lost.

In 1991, the school decided to make the move up to the Division I level for athletics. And, like many basketball teams that take this major step, the Indians have struggled.

Shumate has led the Indians to just one winning record during their first six seasons of Division I play, that being a 16-11 mark in 1992-93.

Over the past four seasons, the Indians have gone 43-68, including a 12-18 record and a fifth-place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference this past season.

Still, Shumate had an impressive 306-171 record during his 16 seasons at Southeast. Overall, he is 445-232 as a collegiate head coach.