Key injuries fueled downward spiral

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Scott Edgar believes that when rebuilding a program, the steps taken aren't always forward.

"Sometimes you take steps sideways, and sometimes you take steps back," he said.

That was the case for Edgar's second Southeast team, which limped to the finish line after a sizzling start.

"There was a movie 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,'" Edgar said. "That was kind of like us, but I say that affectionately."

After starting Ohio Valley Conference play 6-0, the Redhawks won just one of their final 15 games, including only one of their last 14 OVC contests.

Southeast ended with an eight-game losing streak, with seven of those defeats coming in league play.

The Redhawks wound up 12-19 overall and 7-13 in OVC play, which placed them ninth in the 11-team conference. Only the top eight finishers make the OVC tournament.

"I think everybody was disappointed with the way things ended," Edgar said.

Southeast made strides during Edgar's first season last year, improving to 11-20 overall and a sixth-place 9-11 in the OVC, following a 2005-06 campaign that ended 7-20 and a 10th-place 4-16 in the league.

There were no tangible strides made this season. Without issuing excuses, Edgar said he would have liked to see what would have happened if the Redhawks had not been hit by a rash of injuries.

The most crucial one was the season-ending knee injury suffered by senior forward Brandon Foust midway through the second half of a Jan. 12 matchup at eventual OVC champion Austin Peay.

Sparked by their top all-around player, Southeast had won six of its first seven league games and was hanging with the defending OVC champion Governors when Foust went down.

Southeast lost that game by three points. The Redhawks posted only one more win the rest of the way as Foust missed the final 13 games.

Foust ended the season as the team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder, with averages of 11.6 points and 6.4 boards.

But Edgar said the loss of Foust could not be measured solely by statistics.

"He was the leader of the team, on and off the floor, there's no question about it," Edgar said. "He was the strongest personality of this team. He would make plays on both ends of the floor, big plays and aggressive plays, and then other people would follow.

"After he went down, we didn't have anybody to step up."

At about the same time, sophomore guard Jimmy Drew -- statistically Southeast's best 3-point shooter and its best passer into the post, according to Edgar -- developed a stress fracture. He missed several games and was limited in several others.

Also, senior swingman David Johnson battled a variety of injuries all year, and senior center Mike Rembert didn't seem to fully recover from offseason knee surgery until late in the campaign.

"I felt halfway through [the season] that we had really turned the corner and started to move the thing in the direction we wanted," Edgar said. "Then all of a sudden Brandon has his injury, about the same time Jimmy had his and David was plagued off and on all year long.

"As a result, with all of those things, looking back, I would have liked to have seen us collectively handle it a lot tougher than we did, and fight the adversity a little bit more together than we did."

Southeast's biggest problem was that it could not keep the opposition from piling up points.

The Redhawks ranked last in the OVC in scoring defense for the second straight season.

But this season's 82.2 points per game allowed was up more than five points from a year ago, and ranked third-from-the-bottom nationally.

Southeast improved its field-goal percentage defense drastically, 43.8 compared to 47.7 a year ago, when the Redhawks ranked last in the OVC. This season they were second in the conference.

That improvement, however, was voided by the Redhawks' propensity to commit turnovers and fouls, which created numerous extra scoring chances for their opponents.

Southeast ranked in the bottom 15 nationally in turnovers (18 per game) and fouls (21.9 per game).

"I definitely want to be talking about at the end of next year this team drastically reducing its turnovers," Edgar said. "I want to improve [record-wise], and I want to improve in statistical areas also."

Edgar's up-tempo style lit up the scoreboard as the Redhawks averaged 76.6 points -- up from 69.5 a year ago -- to rank second in the OVC.

The Redhawks did not shoot particularly well, but their percentages were considerably better than in Edgar's first year, when they hit 41.9 percent overall from the field and 33.2 percent from 3-point range.

This season, the Redhawks shot 45.2 percent overall and 34.7 from beyond the arc, although they struggled offensively down the stretch.

Southeast also had trouble with its free-throw shooting, ranking ninth in the OVC at 66.3 percent.

Foust, Rembert and Johnson were the squad's only seniors, meaning the Redhawks are eligible to return most of their key players next season.

Junior forward Jaycen Herring had a strong season after transferring from junior college, leading Southeast in scoring at 13.1 points per game while shooting 50.6 percent overall and 40 percent from 3-point range.

Junior guard Kenard Moore, another juco transfer, averaged 10.4 points and led the Redhawks with 77 3-pointers while shooting 39.1 percent from long distance.

Moore came on over the second half of the season, averaging 12.7 points in OVC play to rank behind only Herring (13.7).

Sophomore point guard Roderick Pearson was a fourth double-figure scorer with a 10.2 average, but Pearson struggled with turnovers and fouls. He had 103 turnovers compared to 82 assists.

Sophomore forward Calvin Williams, a 6-foot-9 Colorado transfer who sat out last season under NCAA transfer rules, displayed plenty of athleticism, but was inconsistent. He averaged 6.9 points and 5.5 rebounds while blocking a team-high 32 shots.

Will Bogan, the 6-10, 300-pound freshman center from Bell City High School, showed considerable promise. He averaged seven points and shot a team-high 56.6 percent.

Drew was a solid contributor before his injury, while fellow sophomore guard Marcus Rhodes was up and down.

Junior point guard Hank Harris, Southeast's third juco transfer, was a solid backup to Pearson, while sophomore swingman Johnny Hill's status remains uncertain pending a ruling from the NCAA regarding improper benefits he alleged received during high school.

Also scheduled to return next year is sophomore forward Jajuan Maxwell, who redshirted this season while recovering from knee surgery.

Edgar pointed to the potential in the returning players as reasons for optimism.

"We've got two good scorers on the perimeter in Jaycen and Kenard," Edgar said. "When we were getting Will the ball, he was almost a point a minute in some games. Now that he won't have to share [playing time] with older, more experienced players, he can take the next jump.

"Getting Calvin bigger and stronger, more aggressive, getting his confidence back, knocking the rust off. I like how Hank emerged as the season went on. I look forward to Jimmy getting healthy, getting Jajuan back."

Edgar said he is excited about the two players Southeast already has signed for next season, incoming freshman Martino Brock and Mark Caviness from the juco ranks.

Brock is a touted 6-5 wing from Nashville Christian Academy, while Caviness is a 6-5 forward from Indian River Community College in Florida.

"I think they will be really good players. We'll throw both of them in the fire," Edgar said.

Southeast also has received a verbal commitment from 6-7 forward Abel Tillman, a record-setting shot blocker at Berkeley High School in the St. Louis area. He plans to make it official when the spring signing period begins in April.

Edgar said there is also a chance of an additional player or two joining the program.

"We're always looking to improve our roster," he said.

Edgar said it will be important for the Redhawks to perform better at home next season. They went 4-6 in OVC games at the Show Me Center.

"I want to establish the home-court advantage in the OVC," Edgar said. "That will determine in my mind where we are with the next phase of rebuilding this program."

Despite Southeast's struggles this season, the Redhawks led the OVC in home attendance with an average of 3,437 fans.

"Our fans were tremendous," Edgar said. "I've said all along that we've got the best fans in the OVC."

Edgar insists there are plenty of reasons to believe he has the program -- which has had one winning season in the past seven years -- headed in the right direction.

"I'm very, very optimistic," he said.

Asked what he would tell fans who might be a bit down on the Redhawks right now, Edgar said: "Understand the fact that when we did have everything [before the injuries], how the team looked, how we were playing."

Edgar was asked what Southeast supporters realistically can expect from the Redhawks next season.

"I'm not going to put a number [of wins] on next year," he said. "What I'll put on it is we do our best every day, try to get better every day.

"I think if we can do that, then everything will take care of itself. Then we'll be satisfied with the results."