Southeast men rejoin title hunt in Nashville

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team isn't heading into the Ohio Valley Conference tournament with the momentum it wanted after losses at Tennessee State and Austin Peay.

But the Redhawks at least are headed to this week's event in Nashville, Tenn., something a Southeast men's hoop squad had not been able to accomplish since the 2006-07 season.

It seems like a lifetime ago when Southeast entered the OVC tournament as one of the teams to beat.

But it really hasn't been that long since the then-Indians of coach Gary Garner lost to Murray State on a shot at the buzzer in the 1998-99 tournament final, then came back the following year to beat the Racers for Southeast's only NCAA Division I tournament berth.

Much has changed with Southeast's program since then -- most of it negative -- but maybe this season's minor breakthrough is a sign that things are headed in the right direction under second-year coach Dickey Nutt.

It's not realistic to expect the current Redhawks to pull off the type of Music City magic that happened a little more than 10 years ago, but with the new tournament format it wouldn't be a huge surprise for Southeast to notch its first postseason win since the 2004-05 campaign.

In past years the top four seeds hosted the bottom four seeds in the opening round of the eight-team event. The semifinals and finals were played in Nashville.

Now all eight squads advance to Nashville. The top two seeds receive double byes into the semifinals and the next two seeds gain first-round byes.

The bottom four seeds play in Wednesday's first round -- needing four wins over four days to emerge as champion -- so in theory those early matchups should be much more competitive than many of the previous opening rounds.

Seventh-seeded Southeast will face sixth-seeded Eastern Kentucky at 8 p.m. The Redhawks lost both regular-season meetings to the Colonels, but Southeast should have a shot on a neutral floor against a squad that finished just one spot ahead of it in the standings.

Murray State enters as the No. 1 seed after claiming its record 22nd OVC regular-season title, but the defending-champion Racers are not an overwhelming favorite like last year.

Second-seeded Morehead State, No. 3 Austin Peay and No. 4 Tennessee Tech all have the talent to emerge as the OVC's NCAA tournament representative, plus they join Murray in having the advantage of not needing four wins over four days.

It should be an interesting week in Nashville, and for a change Southeast is at least invited to the party.

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Speaking of Garner, it didn't take long for him to revive a struggling program at Dakota State University.

That really shouldn't come as a surprise because, regardless of what happened during his final seasons at Southeast, the man can flat out coach.

Garner, in his second season with the NAIA squad from Madison, S.D., led the Trojans to their first winning record (15-14) since 1993. They were 7-22 the year before Garner took over.

Assisting Garner in his current position is his son Matt, who was a student assistant for his father at Southeast.

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The young Southeast women's basketball team, riddled by injury and illness, failed to make the OVC tournament for the second straight year after not missing the event since the 1996-97 season.

And now the John Ishee watch starts up again as the university decides whether to bring Southeast's coach back for a sixth season.

Ishee's original four-year contract expired after last season and he was given a one-year extension. We should find out soon whether another extension is in Ishee's future.

As somebody who likes and respects Ishee, and wants to see him be able to work with a relatively healthy roster for an entire season, I'm hoping Ishee will remain with the Redhawks.

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Rod Barnes was among three finalists for the Southeast men's basketball coaching position that ultimately went to Scott Edgar prior to the 2006-07 season.

There was plenty of speculation that Barnes would get the job before Edgar was hired -- and we all know how that turned out.

Who knows how Barnes would have done at Southeast, but he didn't fare well at Georgia State, which hired him prior to the 2007-08 campaign.

Barnes was fired by Georgia State on Sunday after the team finished the regular season 11-18 overall and 6-12 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Barnes was 44-79 in four seasons, including 24-48 in league play.

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Southeast administrators say a new FieldTurf surface and scoreboard, along with improved lighting, definitely will be in place at Houck Stadium for the start of the 2011 football season.

That's great news because Houck certainly could use the upgrades.

As far as the scoreboard, I was told that very same thing the past two years but it never happened. Southeast officials, however, assure me this time there will be no false alarm with the scoreboard.

By the way, Southeast football begins spring practice April 2. Workouts will conclude April 30 with the spring game.

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The area high school basketball season is officially in crunch time as Class 4 and 5 teams wrapped up their district tournaments last week, with Classes 1, 2 and 3 teams battling for district championships this week.

While plenty of local teams are having impressive seasons, special congratulations to a pair of area squads for pulling off notable accomplishments.

Central's boys claimed their first district title since 1997 with Friday's win over Jackson in the Class 5 District 1 final.

And major kudos to Chaffee's boys, who will finish with the program's first winning record since 1980.

Looking ahead, I'm interested to follow a few story lines on the local hoops scene:

Can Sikeston's boys run through the season undefeated, which would mean ending as Class 4 state champions?

Can Meadow Heights' girls finally break through and make the Class 2 final four after falling in the quarterfinals each of the past two years?

Can any Class 1 squad in the state even come close to playing with the Otto Porter-led Scott County Central boys as they chase what appears to be an inevitable third straight championship?

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian,