Southeast men's basketball set to begin practice today

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team has improved its record during each of Dickey Nutt's four seasons as coach.

This year figures to afford the Redhawks their best chance yet at a major breakthrough -- and Nutt isn't shying away from those expectations entering today's start of practice.

"I'm very excited and I know our players are very excited. We've got a lot of pieces to the puzzle. We've got to put it together," Nutt said. "I think we'll be about 10 players deep and we'll really be able to stretch the floor defensively.

"We're going to put a long and athletic team out on the floor. I think we'll be exciting to watch and I hope our fans come out to support us."

While the official Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll won't be out for a few weeks, at least two magazines have picked the Redhawks to win the OVC West Division.

Southeast finished second in the OVC West last year but figures to rank as the favorite this season after Murray State lost all of its top players.

"We're stepping into territory we're not used to. Expectations are sky high," Nutt said. "A lot of coaches like to shy away from expectations. We don't. It's what you work for. We try to capitalize on it. I think it's good for our program, for our fans, for recruiting."

Last season's Redhawks went 17-16 for the program's first winning record since the 2004-05 team went 15-14. Southeast recorded the program's most victories since the 2000-01 squad won 18 games and claimed a win in the OVC tournament for the third consecutive year -- a first for the program.

Nutt was disappointed with Southeast's 8-8 OVC mark -- a game worse than the previous year's 9-7 ledger -- but the Redhawks did finish second in the OVC West as they tied for fifth overall in the 12-team league.

"I felt like we could have done better but we made a good step, we did things we hadn't done in a long time," Nutt said.

Southeast finished among the top two in several of the OVC's major statistical categories.

The Redhawks were first in field-goal percentage defense (40.2), first in 3-point field-goal percentage (39.8), second in scoring (74.1 ppg), second in field-goal percentage (46.9), second in blocks (4.9) and second in assists (15.8).

"Those are all positives," Nutt said.

While the Redhawks will miss their three seniors from last year who accounted for the bulk of Southeast's 3-pointers -- shooting guards Corey Wilford, Southeast's second-leading scorer; Marland Smith, the program's career record-holder for 3-point baskets; and Nick Niemczyk -- they return a strong talent base and have added several key newcomers.

Headlining the returning components are the imposing front line of 6-foot-8, 230-pound senior forward Tyler Stone, the team's top scorer and No. 2 rebounder, and 6-8, 230-pound junior forward Nino Johnson, the squad's leading rebounder who set the school single-season record for blocked shots; senior point guard Lucas Nutt, third on Southeast's career assists list; and senior guard A.J. Jones, who came on late last year.

Stone, second-team all-OVC for the second straight season, averaged 15.5 points and 7.8 rebounds while blocking 44 shots. He was eighth in the league in scoring, fourth in rebounding and fifth in blocks. At least one publication has picked him as the OVC preseason player of the year.

Johnson averaged 11.1 points and 8.8 boards while rejecting 84 shots. He was second in the OVC in both rebounding and blocks.

Nutt (5.6 ppg) was second in the OVC with 178 assists and committed just 71 turnovers to rank second in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Jones averaged 8.6 points and hit 30 3-pointers while shooting 42.9 percent from long range.

"We're counting on those four guys heavily," Dickey Nutt said. "We only have four players coming back that have logged any minutes at all for us, but the good thing is a lot of the guys who are new have been here and practicing with us."

Nutt expects major contributions from several of the newcomers, led by Auburn transfer Josh Langford and junior college transfer Jarekious Bradley.

The 6-7, 215-pound Langford, an elite athlete who can play multiple positions, was rated Alabama's top high school player as a senior. He will become eligible after the first semester -- on Dec. 21 -- and then have one final year of eligibility in 2014-15.

"Josh is very, very athletic, maybe the best athlete I've ever coached," Nutt said. "I think our fans are going to love watching him play."

Bradley, a 6-5, 220-pound wing-type player, earned first-team junior college All-American honors last season at East Mississippi Community College, where he ranked eighth nationally among Division I junior college players in scoring with 21.1 points per game. He originally committed to Arkansas while in high school.

"Jarekious comes in with a lot of hype and he hasn't disappointed us in the early going," Nutt said.

Langford is not the only Division I transfer who will play for the Redhawks this year.

Central Florida transfer Wayne Martin Jr., a 6-7 sophomore forward, practiced with the Redhawks all last season, while Langford and redshirt freshman point guard C.J. Reese practiced with Southeast during the second semester.

"C.J. has really improved and I think Wayne will be able to help us," Nutt said.

Southeast should also get contributions from 6-5 junior college transfer wing Darrian Gray and 6-5 freshman guard Antonius Cleveland.

"Antonius has really stood out among the new players and Darrian has a chance to help us," Nutt said.

Also in the mix are three invited walk-on guards: freshman Kyle Stroder, a former Leopold High School standout; freshman Jamaal Calvin; and junior Will Holifield, a Sikeston High School graduate who played the past two seasons at Three Rivers College.

"They're all gym rats and we're glad they're a part of our program," Nutt said.

Southeast has two home exhibition games, Oct. 29 against Hannibal-LaGrange and Nov. 2 against Ouachita Baptist, before opening the season Nov. 8 at Saint Louis University.