JUCO COACH: AVGERINOS WILL SIGN WITH SE

Two years after he originally signed with Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team, it appears as if 7-foot-1 center Kostas Avgerinos will finally get to be an Indian.

College of Southern Idaho head coach Derek Zeck told the Southeast Missourian Wednesday night that Avgerinos -- who attends the junior college in Twin Falls, Idaho -- told him he was planning to sign with the Indians.

"Kostas said he was going to come (to Southeast)," said Zeck. "I thought he'd already have signed by now but I expect him to sign the papers in the next couple of days."

A native of Athens, Greece, Avgerinos is in his second year at the College of Southern Idaho, although he redshirted this past season because of an injury, meaning he still has three seasons of college eligibility remaining.

Avgerinos signed with the Indians in 1999, but he did not meet NCAA eligibility requirements and instead landed at the College of Southern Idaho, a perennial national power that ranks as the nation's all-time winningest junior-college program.

After playing sparingly as a freshman on a Golden Eagles squad that is annually loaded with major Division I recruits, Avgerinos sat out his entire sophomore season because of complications from a concussion suffered during practice.

"Him redshirting will actually be good, because he's got three years left to play," Zeck said.

Zeck, who earlier this week had 7-foot Uche Okafor sign with Missouri and who has a handful of other major Division I prospects, said he believes Avgerinos will be an extremely good player at Southeast.

"I think he's really good for that program," said Zeck. "He's got a lot of potential. He's 7-1, he can shoot the three, he handles well, he's a good passer. I think he can turn out to be an all-league player (in the Ohio Valley Conference).

"He's a typical European player. He's very skilled. He's not real physical. He's thin (weighing about 230 pounds), but he has gotten bigger and stronger since he's been here."

According to Zeck, Avgerinos will have to pass about 10 or 11 hours this summer at the College of Southern Idaho in order to be eligible at Southeast.

"But that shouldn't be too hard for him," Zeck said.

Southeast has already signed five players for next season and NCAA rules limit Division I men's college basketball programs to putting five players on scholarship in any one calendar year.

If Avgerinos does sign with the Indians, then either he or one of the other recruits will have to pay his own way for the first semester of next school year and then could be put on scholarship starting the second semester, with that scholarship counting against next year's total.