INDIANS IN NO RUSH TO SIGN NEW PLAYERS

Southeast Missouri State University basketball fans who can't wait for Wednesday's start of the spring signing period should be advised not to get too excited.

While he believes his program is in line to land some impressive talent, Southeast coach Gary Garner said the Indians don't plan to sign anybody Wednesday and it will probably be at least a week before any players officially commit to Southeast.

"We still have kids visiting and players who have visited still have other schools to visit," said Garner. "In about 10 days, we hope to have a couple signed."

Since Southeast has only two available scholarships, Garner said the Indians are trying to be as selective as possible with who they sign.

And Garner indicated that the success the Indians enjoyed this year they went 24-7 and advanced to the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time has allowed the coaching staff to compete for more talented players than in previous seasons.

"We're being pretty selective and we've stepped up our recruiting," Garner said. "We're in on better players than we ever have been, but that means the competition is also stronger and it's harder to sign those kinds of players."

Garner said one of Southeast's major priorities is signing a strong inside player from the junior-college ranks to help fill the void left by the graduation losses of forward Roderick Johnson and center Brian Bunche.

"We need a big, strong kid, about 6-6, 6-7 or 6-8," said Garner. "We'd also like to get a high school point guard."

The spring signing period runs through May 15, so Garner and his staff have plenty of time to land some talent.

* While Southeast's men don't plan on signing anybody right away, Southeast women's coach Ed Arnzen said his program expects to receive at least one letter of intent Wednesday, with a couple of others to follow in the next week.

Arnzen said the Otahkians, who have four scholarships to give, are hoping to land one point guard, two inside players and then the best available athlete.

Asked if recruiting has been going well, a laughing Arnzen said, "We hope so. But this is an antsy time of year. You don't really know what you have until you get the letters of intent in hand."