New Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray getting comfortable in new surroundings

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray currently is most comfortable at his office inside the Show Me Center or on the court.

The self-proclaimed "vagabond" has luggage in his office and is living in hotels while he searches for an apartment to rent until his wife and kids find a house and move to Cape Girardeau in the coming months, so the closest thing to home has become wherever his players are.

"At this point in time my personal life is in disarray, but as far as what's going on around here in the office, it's been really positive and really good," Ray said with a laugh. "Just trying to get a chance to build relationships, and that starts with our current players that we have on this team. To me it's of the utmost importance that those guys start to feel comfortable with me, and likewise, that I start to feel comfortable with them."

He's started to see the players warm up to him. Several stop in to say hi and talk between their classes or weight lifting, which is exactly what Ray wants.

The Redhawks coach, who has been on the job since April 13, was set to hold his fourth and final on-court workout session with his players Thursday.

Each workout has been centered around the fundamentals, particularly not turning the ball over, along with some shooting. Ray is pleased with how the returners from Dickey Nutt's squad that went 13-17 and 7-9 in conference last season have retained information from one session to the next.

"It just seems like that they are hungry to be coached, really good kids," Ray said. "They've absorbed some information already, because to me, when we go on that court it's similar to a math class. We want to make sure we continue to progress every single time we step onto the court, so if you didn't learn the addition this one day, you're not going to be able to learn subtraction the next day."

Little time has been spent on defense or the particulars of the Redhawks' offensive scheme.

"Right now the thrust in the offseason is going to be individual player development, anything that we can do to help our guys become better basketball players, because if they don't improve their individual skills then our team doesn't improve," Ray said. "It's really quite that simple."

Teams are unable to hold offseason practices the week before final exams due to NCAA rules, so the next time Ray works with his team will be during the summer when it's likely he'll have his coaching staff sorted out.

"To me, I want to make sure I do my due diligence and vet this thing out," Ray said of hiring assistants. "You'd be surprised how many people are interested in this position. Guys that kind of come out of the woodwork that you didn't think would be interested -- they're calling you, they're getting through with a secondary [contact]. It's always that whole deal of six degrees of separation, so somehow somebody ends up with my cellphone and I have no idea who they are."

Ray plans to call, text or email each person who has expressed interest to him about the job and find the best people who can recruit, and do so with integrity.

He said it is possible he will keep one assistant from Nutt's staff, but he is "definitely not going to keep anybody beyond that."

Ray also will have Marion (Illinois) High School senior Robby Dosier and Southwest Mississippi Community College transfer Xavion Dillon, who both signed with the Redhawks during the early signing period in November, on campus for summer workouts.

Ray said he would like to fill the four remaining scholarships available. He's been limited in how many 2015 recruits he can contact, which is the immediate need for the Redhawks.

"To me, our importance now is filling the 2015 class, so there's only been a limited amount of days that I can actually go out and see 2015 kids, so I have to make some tough choices," Ray said. "What I've been doing is I've been watching a lot of film that people have sent me. I've been talking to coaches that I know, coaches around that situation and where I trust their opinions to make sure we're bringing in the right people."

Ray will bring in recruits and have on-campus evaluations, something he said the Southeastern Conference didn't allow when he was at Mississippi State

"This is the first time I get a chance when a young man comes for an official visit that we can actually put them through the paces of a workout here, and I think that's a positive thing not just for me but more so for the young man," Ray said. "Now the young man gets a chance to see how I coach, what we do on our skill development and see if it's the right fit for them. We're definitely going to take advantage of that opportunity when we start bringing people on campus."

Before that, Ray was anticipating the other opportunity he could have -- one more chance on the court with his players until summer workouts.

"It starts with today. I want to make sure we have a great individual skill workout day," Ray said when asked what's next. "To me that's the most important thing. This is going to be the last time that I get a chance to work with them until summer school starts, and so we want to make sure our guys leave here feeling good about the progress we're making -- not like in their own game but in the team coming together."