Indians add recruit, lose assistant coach

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball program gained a player and lost a coach Tuesday.

Cody Lewis, a 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward from Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill., signed a letter of intent to play for the Indians next season.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Gary Abner resigned to accept a similar position at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Lewis was a medical redshirt last season because of a broken foot, meaning he will have three years of eligibility at Southeast. He played his freshman season of junior college basketball at Illinois Central, averaging eight points and five rebounds per game.

As a high school senior in Colfax, Ill., Lewis averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds to earn Class A all-state honors. He chose Southeast over Long Beach State, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Jacksonville State.

"We're excited about getting Lewis," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "He is a big forward who can really score from the outside. He plays extremely hard and should be able to help us immediately.

"We were recruiting him in the fall, then he broke his foot before the season and didn't play. I think there would have been a lot more schools in on him if he would have played this season."

Lewis is the fourth player -- and third from the junior college ranks -- to sign with the Indians this year and Garner said he expects to sign one or two more players.

As for Abner, he was at Southeast the past three seasons and said he regretted leaving but felt the opportunity at Tennessee-Chattanooga was too good to pass up.

"Working at Southeast has been a great experience. Coach Garner is a great guy and I have really enjoyed working for him," Abner said. "I really feel like the program is going to get turned around and I would have loved to have been a part of it, but I just felt like this is a really good opportunity for me."

Chattanooga, which competes in the Southern Conference, went 19-11 last season and 20-9 in 2002-2003. The Mocs were edged by East Tennessee State in the league tournament championship game both years.

Abner, 30, will be working under John Shulman, Jeff Lebo's top assistant the past two seasons who was elevated to head coach when Lebo left to take over the Auburn program.

"It's been a pleasure to have Gary on our staff the past three years. He's a high quality individual and a pleasure to be around," Garner said.