Program looks for relief from a tough season on and off court

A lousy economy.

A rocky men's basketball season.

So far, the athletic department at Southeast Missouri State University has escaped what could have been crippling effects of both.

Even as the men's program looks for a solution to its 6-20 season, its home attendance -- 931 fewer per game, a $40,000 drop from a year ago -- continues to lead the Ohio Valley Conference. And Southeast officials say the other pitfalls of a bad season -- a drop in Booster Club membership and slight dip in game-day sponsorships -- will be short-lived problems to what they see as a short-term slump by the team.

"I truly believe this was just a bump in the road for us," Southeast athletic director Don Kaverman said. "It's been difficult for all of us to take, especially coach (Gary) Garner. But he's been at it a long time and he's got a formula that has proven to be successful.

"We had a series of events that could have not been foreseeable, an unfortunate set of circumstances that all occurred at the same time."

Those events made it a rocky start to the season: Southeast lost its top scorers from a year ago, two prominent team members were arrested and released from the team, one became ineligible and another top returning player chose to sit out the season. The Indians never fully recovered from the series of setbacks and started the season with five straight losses, three at home.

"It was going to be a rebuilding year anyway since we lost five of our top eight scorers, then you throw in the other people we were counting on," Garner said.

The Indians were 3-19 after an eight-game losing streak that stretched into early February, then won three of their last four. The regular season ends Saturday at Austin Peay.

Surprising support

The Indians will top the OVC in attendance for the 10th time in their 11 years as members -- attracting an average of 4,123 fans per game for their 14 home dates, which concluded with Tuesday's game against Eastern Illinois -- despite one of the worst seasons in school history. Still, this will rank as Southeast's lowest attendance total during that span. Last year's squad that went 18-12 drew an average of 5,054 fans per game. Only three times in the previous 10 years had the Indians averaged less than 5,000.

"With the kind of season we've had, you would think our attendance would be a lot more down," Garner said. "Considering we're 6-20, I think our crowds were very good. I could not be happier with our attendance. At most programs our level with this kind of record, you'd be lucky to have 1,000 people at the games."

Garner took over a Southeast program five years ago that experienced little Division I success and got it going in a hurry, capped by its first NCAA Tournament berth in 2000. Entering this season, Garner's four-year record with the Indians was 76-41. The team is 62-28 in the past three seasons, a mark that only 42 of the nation's 318 Division I teams can top.

Garner, his players, Kaverman and even some of the team's fans insist the Southeast program will be back to that form soon.

Boosters, ad revenue slip

Kaverman said membership in the Southeast Booster Club is down 41 from last year, to 780, but it may not be directly related to the basketball team's struggles.

"Basketball might have something to do with it, but the economy probably has more to do with it than anything," he said. "Our membership the last few years has fluctuated between 750 and 850 and we're still within that range."

Kaverman said Booster Club cash donations have increased, going from $307,640 to $312,503. That doesn't include several sport-specific organizations that were started this school year, including the Top 20 Club for men's basketball that has brought in about $40,000 so far.

"We've got a good base of people who have really supported the program and they've pretty much stuck with us," Kaverman said.

Eric Foote, Southeast's assistant athletic director for marketing and promotions, said there hasn't been a considerable dropoff in revenue generated through advertising tools for basketball. The school sold 12 of its 14 game-day sponsorship packages compared to a 14-game sell-out last year. Sales of sponsorship signs in the Show Me Center are unchanged, he said.

"For posters and schedule cards, finding sponsors has been much more difficult, but I think that's more the economy right now," Foote said. "For game-day programs, most of the advertising for that is done well before the season, so that has not been down significantly, if at all."

Affairs on the court

Garner said he has been surprised by how positive the players have remained despite the adversity.

"It's been very good, considering everything," he said. "When you have the record we've had, it's tough. Most teams would have folded by now. These kids have really hung together. They're playing hard, practicing hard. I couldn't have asked for any more."

Added Garner, who has a 329-224 record in 19 seasons as a head coach and won a Division II national championship at Fort Hays State in Kansas, "These kids have handled it a lot better than I have. I think about it when I wake up in the morning and when I go to bed at night. I'm not sleeping as well as I did. Something would be wrong if it didn't bother you."

Said junior forward Tim Scheer, one of the Indians' co-captains, "Everybody has kept playing hard and we've all stayed positive. We haven't given up at all. We've really gotten better and we think we can do something in the OVC tournament."

Two of the program's most loyal fans say they are disappointed by the team's record but not down on the program.

Jerry Ford, a member of the Booster Club's executive board, said he has watched most of the Indians' home games since 1952.

"A lot of things happened to bring it to this point," Ford said. "Losing those players we thought we'd have really hurt. We just don't have the size and strength. A lot of guys are playing out of position.

"But I still enjoy coming to the games, it's just more fun when we're winning."

Lee Flanagan might rank as Southeast's most ardent fan. The only games he's missed over the last three years -- home or away -- came two years ago when an ice storm prevented him from getting to a tournament in Texas.

"It's not really frustrating. I look at it as a rebuilding year more than anything. It's been a lot of bad luck" Flanagan said. "It's disappointing, but I think coach Garner has done a pretty good job with what he's got."

The road ahead

The Indians' ability to stay close in many of their losses, plus the late-season surge, has built a sense of optimism for next season.

"It's hard to think about next year because this season is still going on and we all think we can make some noise in the OVC Tournament, but I'm really excited," said redshirt freshman guard Derek Winans, the Indians' leading scorer at 15.2 points per game. "We've gotten so much better and we'll have just about everybody back. I think we can be really good the next few years."

The key may be to find talented recruits at key positions to go along with the promising young players who will return. Southeast, which signed a high school senior during the early signing period, has three scholarships remaining and is committed to filling those with junior-college players who can contribute immediately.

Garner said he worries that potential recruits will be scared off by a poor record, but he's taking an optimistic approach.

"Kids want to go where you win, but we think we can overcome that with what we've done the three previous years," Garner said.

The Indians can't sign more players until April. Garner is prohibited by NCAA guidelines from commenting on specific recruits before they sign, but he said he's encouraged.

"I feel like recruiting is going well, but at this time of the year, you always do," he said. "We are in on some good players who we're confident we're going to get. Recruiting is important every year, but it's really going to be important for us this year."

While Garner is focused on having the Indians finish the season strong -- their late run allowed them to slip into the eighth and final spot for the OVC Tournament -- he said he is excited about the future of the program.

"I think we'll be vastly improved next year," he said. "Whether we'll be able to improve enough to fight for the conference championship will be determined somewhat with our recruiting. If we are fortunate to add two or three juco players that can make us much better, who knows?

"The year after that I think we can be fighting for the conference championship again, and maybe next year if everything breaks just right."

Kaverman said he's as high on Garner now as he was two years ago when the Indians made it to the NCAA tournament.

"I have no doubt we'll be back in the conference championship hunt the next couple of years," he said. "If anything, this has made coach Garner even more determined, even more focused on turning it around, and I really believe we will."

mmishow@semissourian.com

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