SE HOOPS TO HAVE NOEW, MAYBE IMPROVED LOOK

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner won't flat come out and say that the Indians will be better than they were last season.

But, during Southeast's media day luncheon at the Show Me Center Tuesday, Garner gave plenty of hints that should have Southeast fans salivating.

"We've got eight new players, so it might take us a while to get going," said Garner. "But we'll be more athletic, we'll have more depth, and I really like the attitude of this team.

"At the end of the year, we could be better (than last season). I feel really good about this team."

The Indians, coming off their best-ever Division I season last year in Garner's second campaign at the helm, begin official practice Saturday, the first day the NCAA allows Division I teams to start workouts.

Surpassing last year's performance certainly won't be easy. The Indians won 20 games for the first time at the Division I level, going 20-9. They finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 15-3 record, the second-highest number of wins ever for an OVC team.

And the Indians very nearly advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time, losing in the OVC Tournament championship game on a buzzer-beating shot by Murray State.

"Our goal last year was to make the NCAA Tournament, and we fell five seconds short," Garner said. "Our goal again this year is to make the NCAA Tournament."

The Indians suffered some key losses as center Bud Eley, the OVC Player of the Year, point guard Kahn Cotton and premier shooting guard Cory Johnson all used up their eligibility.

Although Garner realizes that trio will be sorely missed -- particularly Eley, who was by far the OVC's dominant big man -- he believes the Indians have the talent to make up for those losses.

Garner said he will be counting heavily on the leadership abilities of the team's only three seniors: 6-foot-6 forward Roderick Johnson, 6-6 forward Mike Branson and 6-8 center/forward Brian Bunche.

Johnson is the team's top returning scorer and rebounder after averaging 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in earning OVC all-newcomer honors last year, when he shot 57 percent from the field.

Branson averaged 10.7 points and 4.3 rebounds and had a big OVC Tournament with 50 points in three games to earn all-tourney honors. Branson recently suffered a sprained ankle in a pickup game and will miss the first few days of practice but it shouldn't affect him in the long run.

The extremely physical Bunche was a key backup behind Eley, averaging 3.4 points and 3.1 rebounds.

"Our three seniors are the ones we have to depend on to lead us on and off the court," said Garner.

The only other returning scholarship player from last year, sophomore backup point guard Fred Abraham, is academically ineligible for the first semester.

While Garner will be counting heavily on his three seniors, he'll also be depending greatly on Southeast's newcomers, led by five highly-touted junior-college transfers who all will either start or see extended playing time.

"We were really happy with our recruiting," said Garner of a class rated among the top 40 nationally by one publication.

Michael Stokes, a 6-foot point guard from Trinity Valley (Texas), made the all-tourney team at the junior-college national tournament. Garner said Stokes, who averaged 17 points and six assists last year, might be the quickest player he's ever coached.

Antonio Short, a 6-2 shooting guard from Moberly (Mo.), averaged nearly 20 points to earn second-team juco All-American honors. Garner labels him a pure scorer.

Amory Sanders, a 6-1 shooting guard from Three Rivers in Poplar Bluff, averaged 15 points per game to earn all-region honors. Garner said he might be as good a shooter as Cory Johnson, which is saying something.

Nyah Jones, a 6-11 center from Meridian (Miss.), did not have big juco numbers, but he originally signed with Missouri and Garner said he should give the Indians solid inside scoring.

Emmanuel McCuthison, a 6-4 swingman from Lincoln Trail (Ill.), averaged 15 points and eight rebounds. While not heavily recruited, Garner said McCuthison has been a big surprise and will challenge to start.

Another first-year player is Drew Demond, a 6-7 forward who was redshirted last year after suffering an achilles injury in high school. Garner said he will help out.

Two true freshmen on the squad are Tim Scheer of New Haven (Mo.) and Demarcus Hence of Memphis (Tenn.), a pair of 6-6 forwards. Garner said both should eventually be impressive players for the Indians but he would ideally like to redshirt them this season.