INDIANS RESTOCK GUARDS, ADD SIZE IN RECRUITING CLASS

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball recruiting class for next season was all but completed Thursday when, as expected, high school center Adam Crader and junior-college guard Kenny Johnson signed national letters of intent.

The 6-foot-11, 230-pound Crader averaged 20.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and 6.5 blocked shots per game while shooting 61 percent from the field as a senior at Doniphan (Mo.) High School. He earned Class 3A all-state second-team honors the past two seasons.

Johnson, a 6-foot, 175-pounder, averaged 12 points and 7.5 assists per game as a sophomore at Penn Valley Community College in Kansas City, Mo. The Kansas City native earned all-region 16 honors at Penn Valley and he is a former all-stater at Ruskin High School.

"We're really excited about signing both players," said Southeast coach Gary Garner.

Crader, who was also heavily recruited by Kansas State, Southern Illinois, Illinois State and New Orleans, had narrowed his final two choices to Kansas State and Southeast.

"We beat out some good schools to get him," said Garner. "I feel like he really has a lot of potential. He's 6-11, 230 pounds with a frame on him where he can get a lot bigger and stronger with a good weight program.

"He has good hands, a soft shooting touch and I really like his aggressiveness. He's also a very good student."

While some people might look at Crader as a player who will be limited to helping the Indians in a few years, Garner believes he can be a contributor next season.

"I don't want to mislead people. He's not ready to tear the world up as a freshman," Garner said. "But I think he can help us some next year. And he can definitely be a very good player for us in the future."

Johnson will be expected to step in and provide major dividends right away, most likely at point guard but also possibly at shooting guard.

"He's a true point guard who can also play the two guard," said Garner. "He's very quick and an excellent ball handler and passer. He distributes the ball well and he's also an excellent 3-point shooter."

Garner said the Indians got in on Johnson late but were still able to beat out Southern Illinois and Hampton for his services.

"We beat out some good schools for both Johnson and Crader, which always makes you feel pretty good," Garner said. "We got in late on Johnson but (assistant) coach (Chris) Lowery did a great job."

The Indians have now reached the maximum of signing five scholarship players during a one-year period under the new NCAA rule that has come under plenty of criticism.

Other recruits for next season are Dexter (Mo.) High School senior Brett Hale, a two-time Class 3A first-team all-stater who signed during the early period last fall; guard Derek Winans, a Shawnee (Ill.) High School product who redshirted at Southeast during his freshman season in 2000-2001; and sophomore guard Justin Smith, an Arkansas State transfer who will be eligible in January.

Southeast is still said to be pursuing 7-2 center Kostas Avgerinos, a native of Greece who originally signed with the Indians two years ago but did not qualify academically and has spent the past two seasons at Southern Idaho Junior College.

If Avgerinos, who is reportedly very interested in the Indians, decides to attend Southeast, he or another member of the current recruiting class would have to pay his own way for the first semester and then could be put on scholarship starting the second semester, with that scholarship counting against next year's total.

Of the Indians' new players for next season as a whole, Garner said, "Our biggest thing was to replace our perimeter people (the Indians' top four scorers from this past season were senior perimeter players, three of them true guards) and we got four, who I think can all be good players.

"You throw in a 6-11 center and I'm very happy with our recruiting class."

Meanwhile, the status of Terry Rogers and Bobby Smith -- who recently ran into legal trouble -- as both students and athletes is still up in the air, but sources have told the Southeast Missourian that it's highly unlikely either will return to the basketball program.

Rogers, a junior backup center for the Indians last season, pleaded guilty earlier this week to misdemeanor drug possession for possessing a little less than a gram of marijuana.

Smith, a guard who was ineligible last season after transferring from Villanova, will appear in court on May 7 to face charges of felony forgery and a misdemeanor attempt of credit fraud.

If Rogers is through playing basketball at Southeast -- which appears to be a virtual certainty -- then the Indians will not be able to replace his scholarship because they have already reached the NCAA maximum of five scholarships in a one-year period. Smith was not yet on scholarship at the time of his arrest.

The Indians will almost certainly play next season (at least for the first semester) with 11 scholarship players, two under the maximum of 13 allowed by the NCAA. One other scholarship that can't be replaced went to Joe Webb, who left the program last year before the season even started just a short time after joining the squad.

Southeast, as many other schools have done, appealed the NCAA rule limiting five scholarships during a one-year period but was turned down, as has been the case in all the other appeals to a rule that has come under fire and is thought to have a good chance of being eliminated next year.