Nutt hiring should provide stability

From everything I have heard and read, Dickey Nutt is a really good guy who the community will embrace, and by the same token will embrace the community.

By all accounts he runs a clean and upstanding program, which should bring some stability to an athletic department that has been beset by NCAA violations and other turmoil.

But, based on Internet comments and just talking to people in Cape Girardeau over the past several days, one question remains for Southeast Missouri State basketball fans.

What made athletic director John Shafer jump out of his chair and excitedly say a man with a unspectacular 13-year record of two games over .500 at Arkansas State is the guy he's got to have to lead the Redhawks' reclamation project?

On the surface, it's not an eye-popping catch that is bound to put fans in the stands by itself, especially not for a program that just went 3-27 and did not win an Ohio Valley Conference game.

But the hire obviously addresses stability, something the Redhawks desperately need after all their recent problems on and off the court. My guess is that's among the main reasons Shafer went after Nutt.

Until I started getting vibes early last week that Nutt was among the leading candidates, I never really even considered him as a possibility to take over the Southeast program.

Now that Nutt, 49, is here, the best thing for all Southeast fans to do is support him and his program in any way possible whether his hiring fires you up or not.

I've said many times that hiring a coach is basically a crap shoot. You never know what kind of guy you've got until a few years down the line.

And if it was so simple to pick out the right person for the job, then why do so many coaches around the country get fired every year?

Welcome to Cape Girardeau, coach Nutt, and good luck trying to bring the Redhawks back to life.

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Whatever Southeast supporters do, don't judge Nutt on the Redhawks' record next season.

Barring a minor miracle, the 2009-10 campaign will be another long one -- although you would think not quite as long as this season -- considering there won't be an abundance of talent returning from this year's disaster.

Most top prospects sign during the early period in November, so I'm not sure what type of impact players are still available.

Some people already have labeled Sikeston senior Michael Porter the second coming. I hope Nutt can land him when the spring signing period begins in April, but I don't look for Porter to be an immediate OVC standout.

But signing Porter could open up a pipeline for landing future local players, most notably Scott County Central junior point guard Bobby Hatchett and sophomore forward Otto Porter. Hatchett and the two Porters -- all cousins -- could turn out to be stars on the OVC level.

If I were Nutt, unless I'm certain I could sign players who really can help next season, I'd hold back a few scholarships for the following year (that's if the NCAA doesn't take any). If not, I might save a couple of scholarships to use on potential transfers from higher-level programs who would be able to practice with the Redhawks next season and be eligible for games the following year.

We'll see how it all plays out.

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Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield was rumored to have been approached by Nutt about a possible position on his new staff.

I've heard the same goes for former Scott City standout Jon Beck, who played for Nutt at ASU and has spent the past several years as an assistant under former Scott City and Central coach Derek McCord at Dyer County (Tenn.) High School.

A name I've also heard mentioned is former Richland star Corey Gipson, who played at Austin Peay, later was a graduate assistant there and is now an assistant at Virginia State.

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I'm not predicting what type of coach Nutt will be at Southeast, but just by talking to him you can tell fans will like him.

He's outgoing, enthusiastic and energetic, and he seems like the type of person who never met a stranger.

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I wrote last week about former Southeast men's basketball assistant Tom Schuberth not having his contract renewed as Texas-Pan American's coach.

In addition, I wrote that, according to the Monitor newspaper of McAllen, Texas, the Broncs' program has been under investigation since October for possible NCAA violations.

I received several angry e-mails from local friends of Schuberth's for potentially harming his reputation.

First of all, I consider myself a friend of Schuberth's as well. All I reported was what already had appeared in another newspaper.

I spoke with Schuberth a few days ago and he told me not having his contract renewed stemmed from a rift between himself and interim athletic director Ricky Vaughn, who was not the person that originally hired him.

Schuberth told me their differences baffled him. He also told me he is confident nothing will come of the NCAA allegations.

As somebody who thinks highly of Schuberth and believes he's a good coach, here's hoping he'll emerge from this mess unscathed and will land a good coaching gig in the near future.

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It's official.

The Southeast men's basketball program will enter next season as sole owner of the nation's longest active losing streak.

DePaul seemed like a good bet to match the Redhawks' 19 consecutive defeats to finish the campaign.

But the Blue Demons upset Cincinnati in Tuesday's opening round of the Big East Conference tournament to snap their 18-game skid. DePaul lost its next contest.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian