Redhawks men's squad takes turn for better

It's only nine games into the season, but right now I rate the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team a pleasant surprise.

The Redhawks have already matched the win total from last year's 3-27 campaign that featured an 0-18 Ohio Valley Conference record and led to a new coaching staff along with 11 new players.

Saturday's 74-66 victory at Tennessee State ended the program's OVC-record 26 game league losing streak that stood as the nation's longest active conference skid.

That came after another impressive performance ended in defeat, Thursday's 76-71 overtime setback at perennial OVC power Austin Peay.

I didn't know how long it would take the Redhawks (3-6, 1-1 OVC) to equal last season's amount of victories, but I'll admit I didn't see it happening in the first nine games.

Southeast is performing much better than I envisioned, and maybe the Redhawks have a bit more talent than I originally gave them credit for. They sure aren't looking like a last-place OVC squad, which is where they were predicted to finish.

I didn't really know much about Dickey Nutt's on-floor coaching before he came to Southeast this year, but it's obvious the guy knows what he's doing.

And Nutt's rep has always been as a strong recruiter, which bodes well for the future of the program as he continues to increase its talent level.

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Southeast's men and women -- 2-5 overall and 0-2 in the OVC while riding a five-game losing streak -- will have several more nonconference contests before resuming league play in early January.

The next action for the men is an interesting one as regional rival Southern Illinois-Carbondale visits the Show Me Center on Wednesday night.

SIU leads the longest series in Southeast history 68-44, but the teams have not met since the 2004-05 season when the Salukis posted a 72-68 victory.

Southeast's last win over the Salukis was 87-84 in 2000 when current SIU coach Chris Lowery was an assistant at Southeast.

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One of my favorite local events of the year will take place Friday at the Show Me Center as Southeast inducts its latest Hall of Fame class.

Former basketball standout William "Bud" Eley highlights the group of five individuals and one team that will be enshrined, although Eley is not expected to attend because he is currently playing professionally in Iran.

Eley, the 1999 OVC Male Athlete of the Year and the 1999 OVC basketball Player of the Year, will be joined by Rich Eichhorst (basketball, 1952 to 1956), Tuba Meto (volleyball, 1994 to 1997), Andrew Presberry (track, 1980 to 1982) and Linda Wells (softball, 1968 to 1972), along with the 1988-1989 men's basketball team coached by Ron Shumate that finished as the Division II national runner-up.

I'm looking forward to seeing the latest inductees.

Friday's event will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. Dinner will be served at 7, followed by the induction ceremony. It is open to the public, with tickets costing $25. To reserve tickets, call 651-2227.

The inductees also will be introduced at Saturday night's basketball game against Williams Baptist.

Southeast's Hall of Fame now will include 60 individuals and 12 teams since it was started in 2002.

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Former Southeast point guard Roderick Pearson was doing well in his rookie season at Oral Roberts, starting the Titans' first four games and hitting a game-winning shot at the buzzer to upset Stanford.

But Pearson's campaign is over after just those four contests as he recently suffered a torn ACL.

Pearson played at Southeast in 2006-07 and 2007-08 before going to ORU, where he practiced with the team last year but could not play in games under NCAA transfer rules.

It's a shame for Rod, who I found to be a likable young man and a heck of competitor.

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Remember Martino Brock, the touted basketball recruit who was signed at Southeast by former coach Scott Edgar a couple of years ago but failed to qualify academically and never attended school here?

Brock finally landed at South Alabama of the Sun Belt Conference for his first season of college hoops. The freshman wing has started all eight games for the 6-2 Jaguars, ranking second in scoring (11.9) and rebounding (6.6).

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Missouri State freshman basketball player Michael Porter, a Sikeston product, had quite a performance in just his second college game.

Porter scored 16 points Wednesday -- he hit seven of nine shots -- as the undefeated Bears won 75-62 at Arkansas-Little Rock.

Porter, a 6-foot-6 forward, missed Missouri State's first four contests because of an an appendectomy.

Missouri State is 7-0 for the first time in 13 years after Saturday's victory over Air Force.

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SIU's offense put up big numbers all season, but the Salukis were totally shut down during Saturday's 24-3 home loss to William & Mary in the Division I-AA football quarterfinals.

The Salukis managed just 187 total yards against William & Mary's defense. The visitors had 373 yards in a dominating performance.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian