Redhawks give fans chance for sneak peek Saturday

~ The scrimmage, slated for 11 a.m., is open to the public.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team is more than a week away from playing its exhibition opener, but fans will have an opportunity to get an early look at the Redhawks on Saturday.

As part of Southeast's homecoming festivities, the Redhawks will play an intrasquad scrimmage at 11 a.m. at the Show Me Center. The public is invited, and there is no admission charge for the controlled scrimmage that will feature Ohio Valley Conference officials.

"We will have four 10-minute scrimmages with the players divided differently for each scrimmage," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "It will give us a chance to evaluate each of our players and will give our fans a chance to see all of the new players for the first time."

One of the newcomers, junior college transfer David Johnson, will miss the scrimmage with a badly sprained right thumb sustained during Monday's practice. He is expected to be sidelined for about 10 days.

Southeast lost its top three scorers and top two rebounders from last year's 15-14 team that went 9-7 in the OVC. The Redhawks return just four players, including two starters, and have seven newcomers.

"We know we will be ragged [Saturday] because there is no way we are ready for game type conditions, but you have to start sometime, and we hope the fans in town for the homecoming football game will come over and check us out," Garner said.

The Redhawks, who are in their second week of practice, play the first of two exhibition games on Nov. 4 when Missouri-St. Louis visits the Show Me Center. The regular season opener is Nov. 18 at home against Truman State.

"I feel really good about this year's team," Garner said. "We have been getting great effort in practice and the team shows good togetherness. It is apparent that we have more athleticism than in the past."

Redhawks get commitment

Southeast recently received a commitment from JuJuan Maxwell, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound senior at Raytown High School in Kansas City, Mo.

Maxwell said he plans to sign a letter of intent with the Redhawks when the week-long early signing period begins on Nov. 9.

Maxwell averaged about 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks per game as a junior to earn Class 5 second-team all-state honors.

"I'm very excited about coming to SEMO," Maxwell said. "When I came down there for my visit, I liked the environment, the players, the coaches, the school, everything."

Maxwell plays primarily inside for his high school team, but Raytown coach Mark Scanlon doesn't envision his star having trouble shifting to a forward position in college.

"He plays inside for us because we're small, but he can step outside and shoot," Scanlon said. "He's a very good athlete, and he's a great kid. The people there will love him."

Wichita State, Creighton and Murray State were among the programs to also show some interest in Maxwell, but he said Southeast recruited him the hardest.

"Some of the schools would contact me, then I wouldn't hear from them for a while, but SEMO showed interest the entire time," he said. "Coach [Ronnie] Dean recruited me. I really liked him, and the other coaches."

Southeast coaches are prohibited by NCAA regulations from commenting on Maxwell until he signs a letter of intent.

National TV exposure

Three Southeast games this season are slated for national television, including the Jan. 28 home date against Murray State that will be on ESPN2, according to the OVC's television package released Wednesday.

That Jan. 28 matchup is currently the only OVC regular-season contest scheduled to be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2, the other being the OVC Tournament championship that will air on ESPN2.

Several OVC games will air on ESPNU, which currently is carried in only limited markets. Among those is Southeast's Jan. 2 home game against Eastern Kentucky.

Also, the Redhawks' Dec. 28 nonconference matchup at national runnerup Illinois is scheduled to air on ESPNU.

"Any time we can be on national television, it's great exposure not only for our basketball program but also our university," Garner said.