GARNER ERA IS OFFICIALLY UNDER WAY AT SOUTHEAST

Gary Garner certainly hit the ground running as he took over Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball program.

Just a few days after being hired as Southeast's head coach on June 11, Garner had moved to Cape Girardeau. He was in his office and on the job last Tuesday afternoon and spent the remainder of the week putting in some long days, arriving as early as 8 a.m. and staying as late as 10 p.m.

For right now, Garner is staying at an on-campus apartment while his wife remains in Hays, Kan., working on selling the family's house.

"I've had some pretty long days, but there's a lot to get done," said the enthusiastic Garner, for the past six seasons the head coach at Fort Hays State.

Much of Garner's first few days on the job have been spent on the telephone as he attempts to hire three assistant coaches, one of them a restricted earnings coach.

Garner would like to fill the assistant coaching positions as soon as possible, but he said he's not going to rush through the process at the cost of being thorough.

"That's the number one priority right now, my staff," he said. "You'd like to just do it today, but those guys are going to be here hopefully for at least a few years. The long haul is important. I want to be very thorough. I've talked to a lot of people, and I've talked to a lot of people about each candidate.

"There is no timetable (for hiring assistants). Naturally, the sooner the better, but I'm not going to be in a hurry. I'm going to try and get the best people."

Garner said that, as of Friday, he had been able to contact all of the players who will be on next season's team except for Calvert White, a native of the Virgin Islands.

"I'm having trouble finding out where Calvert is but I'm going to keep trying to reach him," Garner said. "The new kids (who signed with Southeast before Ron Shumate was fired and Garner took over the program) have been very receptive. They're anxious to get here and get going at Southeast Missouri State."

Garner has one scholarship still available that he could use for next season. But he said he won't sign somebody just for the sake of filling the slot. If a talented player is not available, then he'll simply hold the scholarship for the following season.

"We would like to (fill the scholarship), but we won't fill it just to be filling it," he said. "But we'll still look for somebody who can help us. It's tough, but there are usually some kids out there late."