GARNER MENTIONED FOR K-STATE POST

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner laughed when he heard about reports that have mentioned him as a possible candidate for the Kansas State coaching position, which is almost certain to come open after the season.

"That's the furthest thing from my mind right now," said Garner. "Right now, all I'm interested in is our basketball team finishing up strong and getting ready for the (Ohio Valley Conference) tournament."

Rumors have been swirling around Manhattan, Kan., regarding the shaky job status of Kansas State coach Tom Asbury, who has come under heavy fire amid the Wildcats' 11-game losing streak. It is a virtual certainty that Asbury will either step down or be dismissed immediately after the season, if not sooner.

Various media reports in Kansas have named Garner as a potential candidate to replace Asbury.

Garner figures he's being mentioned as a candidate partly because of his coaching ties to the state. He compiled a 138-44 in six seasons at Division II Fort Hays State in Kansas.

At Fort Hays State, Garner led the Tigers to their first-ever Division II national championship in 1996, when they went 34-0. Garner was the nation's winningest college coach from 1995-97, when the Tigers went 63-2, including a 49-game winning streak.

"I never really knew any of the people at Kansas State when I was at Fort Hays," Garner said. "But it's pretty close to Manhattan."

Garner, who left Fort Hays State for Southeast, is 53-28 in his third season with the Indians. He led Southeast to its best-ever Division I record of 20-9 last year and the Indians appear on their way to bettering that mark this season.

The Indians have a 19-6 record heading into their final two regular-season games this week, at Morehead State Thursday night and Eastern Kentucky Saturday afternoon. Southeast will then host a first-round Ohio Valley Conference Tournament game Tuesday night.

Southeast, which has clinched at least a tie for second place in the OVC, is just one game behind league-leading Murray State and still in contention for the title.

"Any time your name comes up for something like this, it's always very flattering," said Garner, who is 301-191 overall in his 17th season as a college head coach. "But nobody (at Kansas State) has talked to me, and I'm sure they won't until something happens with their coach.

"I've said all along how happy I am here at Southeast. And right now, I just want to concentrate on the rest of the season. We want to keep playing well so we can take a lot of momentum into the conference tournament."