New Southeast men's basketball coach is familiar with the region

New Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt had plenty of success recruiting the region during his 13 seasons in charge of Arkansas State's program.

Nutt said Thursday that going after local players with the ability to compete well in the Ohio Valley Conference will be a top priority.

"Naturally, we can't take everybody, but we recruit local talent," Nutt said in an interview after officially taking over as Southeast's coach. "To me that's how you recruit your fan base, but we just want to get the best players we can."

Nutt had key players from many high schools in the region while at ASU, including Jackson, Scott City, Charleston and New Madrid County Central.

Nutt emphasized that the region always has produced championship-level teams both on the high school and junior college levels, specifically lauding legendary coaches Ronnie Cookson of Scott County Central and Gene Bess of Three Rivers Community College.

"There are a lot of great coaches, the Ronnie Cooksons, Gene Bess," Nutt said. "It's a basketball area."

Of the many things Nutt had on his mind Thursday as he begins shaping his new program, recruiting was at the top of the list.

Southeast has seven scholarship players eligible to return from this year's 3-27 team. The NCAA allows a maximum of 13 scholarships for any one season.

Nutt said he would evaluate the personnel needs of the program as quickly as possible with an eye on the late signing period that begins in mid-April.

"The priority right now, recruiting, first and foremost," Nutt said.

Another priority will be assembling a coaching staff. Nutt said he has not yet decided on any assistants, but added: "I have a good idea."

Nutt commended this year's Southeast coaching staff that led the Redhawks through their turmoil-filled season. Zac Roman served as acting coach, with Rodney Hamilton and Tommy Suitts the assistants.

Whether any of the three will have a chance to join Nutt's staff remains to be seen, but Nutt said he will leave his options open in that regard.

"I look forward to meeting with them, getting to know them," Nutt said.

Nutt said he also looked forward to meeting with his new players, which he planned to do later Thursday after finishing several media interviews.

Nutt said his basic philosophy as a coach is simple.

"We want to graduate kids and we want to win games," he said.

As for the winning games part, Nutt said he prefers a fast-paced style that emphasizes defense and rebounding.

"We're going to defend and we're going to rebound. We're going to go up-tempo," Nutt said. "When we haven't been first, we've always been in the top three, four, five in the Sun Belt [Conference] in scoring.

"It's very important for a couple of reasons. The fans love it. More important, it's all about recruiting."

But Nutt added that he is not married to any one style and is willing to adapt depending on game situations in order to achieve the ultimate goal of any team -- a victory.

"I know when to dial back," he said.