SE MAY ADD A PLAYER UP FRONT, BUT WILL DEFINITELY HAVE A... CHANGING OF THE GUARDS

Last year, graduation gutted the front line of Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team and the Indians had a hard time rebuilding that area, at least until late in the season.

As the wraps were put on the 2000-01 campaign last week with a 72-70 overtime loss at Austin Peay in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, the Indians will now face a different challenge for next season -- rebuilding their backcourt.

But even though the Indians' top four scorers from an 18-12 squad that finished a fifth-place 8-8 in the nine-team OVC were all senior perimeter players, Garner said he feels good about Southeast's guard situation for next season.

"We feel better than most people outside our basketball family feel," said Garner. "We lose four perimeter players, but we already have in our program three people we feel confident in."

Filling the shoes of stellar point guard Michael Stokes, shooting guard Antonio Short, swingman Emmanuel McCuthison and backup shooting guard Amory Sanders won't be easy. Those four players combined to average 45 of the Indians' 72 points per game and led in most other categories as well.

"Those four players had very good seasons for us," said Garner. "They won't be easy to replace."

Still, Garner likes what he's seen out of point guard Bobby Smith and shooting guards Derek Winans and Justin Smith, who all practiced with the Indians but did not participate in games this season.

Bobby Smith, expected to step right in for Stokes next year, started 17 of 18 games at Villanova two years ago before leaving the program. The Wildcats' leader in assists as a sophomore, he'll have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Winans, a freshman out of Shawnee (Ill.) High School, redshirted this year and will have all four seasons of eligibility left. Justin Smith, who transferred from Arkansas State at the semester, will be able to play three more seasons after becoming eligible at the semester next year.

"All three of them have a chance to be good players, and I think Bobby Smith and Derek Winans can be really good players," Garner said.

Joel Shelton, who backed up Stokes this year as a freshman, had his moments and particularly came on toward the end of the season.

"I was real pleased with the way Joel played this year," said Garner. "At our level, it's hard for a freshman. You're not going to get the McDonald's All-Americans. But I thought he did fine for his first year."

Another guard for next season will be early signee Brett Hale, who recently completed a sensational career at Dexter High School.

And figuring to add even more depth in the backcourt is senior Matt Morris, who has been in the program for four years. He sat out this season because of mononucleosis and should be able to receive a medical redshirt.

"We'll be young at the perimeter, but I like our talent," Garner said.

Up front, the Indians' only senior this year was center Nyah Jones, who came on at the end of the season after struggling for much of the campaign.

Southeast's improved inside play was the primary reason why the Indians finished the regular season with five straight wins and keying that charge were sophomores Drew DeMond, Daniel Weaver and Tim Scheer.

Along with that trio, the Indians will also return juniors Terry Rogers, who had solid moments early but saw his playing time reduced significantly toward the end of the season, and Monte Gordon, who was a virtual non-factor all year after suffering through a variety of preseason ailments.

"We only lose Nyah, so we basically have our front line back," Garner said. "We would like to add somebody inside, a big kid who can rebound and get the ball in the basket, but if we don't, I feel good about the inside game we have back.

"They really came on at the end of the season and they're going to get better. Drew really came on with his scoring. He and Tim are really going to improve. Daniel got a lot better. I think Terry will be much better next year. And I think Monte can be a factor. He just didn't get to play because of all his physical problems."

Another underclassman this year, redshirt freshman swingman Damarcus Hence, played little early but then came on to be a key contributor late in the campaign.

Add it all up and Garner said, "I like our players coming back. I think we'll have a good team."

Of course, Garner would like to add some pieces to the puzzle. The Indians definitely have one available scholarship and could possibly have two, depending on the results of an appeal regarding a new NCAA rule that limits a team to signing five players in any one school year.

The Indians have already technically signed four players this year, with the Smiths, Winans (who was not on scholarship his first year at Southeast) and Hale.

Southeast had five scholarship seniors this season but another scholarship player (Joe Webb) left after just a few weeks of practice. Garner is hopeful the Indians will be able to sign an additional player to make up for the loss of Webb.

"That rule was put in to keep schools from running players off in order to use their scholarships," said Garner. "We didn't run Joe Webb off, he just left. Hopefully we'll be able to use that scholarship and sign somebody."

While some programs would be happy with an 18-12 record, Garner acknowledged that the Indians' expectations were much higher than that, especially after earning an OVC regular-season co-championship and OVC Tournament title last year.

"Ending the season 18-12, it's not that bad I guess," he said. "Our first year here (four years ago), we were 14-13 and I was really happy with that. You would say this year is better because we went 18-12, but it's not because we had high hopes.

"But the last six, seven, eight games, we really came together. I was really happy with the way the season ended, except the loss to Austin Peay."

* Sanders, who missed the final two games of the season with a torn tendon in the little finger on his shooting hand, continues to lead the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage at .558.

National statistics won't be final until the NCAA Tournament is over, but Sanders will have enough attempts to qualify and, barring a player getting extremely hot, should stand a good chance of finishing as the first Indian to ever lead the nation in a statistical category.

THE ANNUAL TURNOVER

RETURNING

Marcus Hence, F

Drew DeMond, SO., F

Monte Gordon, Jr., F

Matt Morris, Sr., G

Tim Scheer, So., F

Joel Shelton, Fr., G

Daniel Weaver, So., F

Terry Rogers, Jr., C

DEPARTING

Nyah Jones, Sr., C

Emmanuel McCuthison, Sr., F

Amory Sanders, Sr., G

Antonio Short, Sr., G

Michael Stokes, Sr., PG

NEWCOMERS

Bobby Smith, PG

Justin Smith, G

Derek Winans, G

Brett Hale, G