Southeast Missouri State plans busy weekend

Southeast Missouri State certainly won't be lacking for activity this weekend.

The campus will be buzzing with a myriad of events highlighted by the fourth annual Walk for Women's Athletics and the first Athletic Alumni Weekend.

Walk for Women's Athletics was started by Southeast associate director of athletics Cindy Gannon, who wanted to provide an event that would raise awareness of Southeast's women's athletic program while also raising money for the university's athletics scholarship fund to benefit both female and male athletes.

Money has been pledged over the past year, and Walk for Women's Athletics will culminate with a 30-minute walk through campus beginning and ending at Houck Field House.

Saturday's walk will begin around 9:30 a.m., after a 9 a.m. check-in. After the walk, there will be a light brunch at Houck Field House, along with presentations that include door prizes and special prizes.

More than 200 people have participated in each of the first three walks and at least that many is expected Saturday.

People can donate any amount of money, and even those not wishing to donate money can walk. As much as $25,000 has been raised through past walks.

Athletes and coaches from all Southeast sports as well as administrators will be on hand for the event.

The inaugural Athletic Alumni Weekend, designed to bring former Southeast athletes from all sports back to campus, will feature events Friday through Sunday.

Among activities planned are the baseball program's Joe Uhls Golf Tournament and a social gathering Friday; the Walk for Women's Athletics, a 5K run, a baseball doubleheader, a softball doubleheader, a spring football scrimmage and a picnic Saturday; and a baseball game, a softball game and a gathering at Hunter Valley Winery on Sunday. Additional events are in the works.

Information on all of the above is available at gosoutheast.com, where people can sign up for events.

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Frank Haith might not have been a popular choice to take over the Missouri basketball program -- at least initially -- but his hiring means the Tigers' staff almost certainly will have a Southeast connection.

Although there has not been an official announcement, former Redhawks assistant Toby Lane, who was on Haith's staff at Miami the past four years, reportedly will join Haith at Mizzou.

Lane spent three seasons under two coaches at Southeast. He served during Gary Garner's final two years and was on Scott Edgar's initial staff during the 2006-07 campaign before going to Miami.

Among Haith's early priorities at Mizzou is to land Otto Porter, Scott County Central's standout 6-foot-9 senior forward who ranks among the nation's top unsigned players. The spring signing period begins Wednesday, although Porter isn't expected to make a decision for a while.

Porter, who visited Georgetown over the weekend and will reportedly decide between the Hoyas, Kansas and Mizzou, will play in Saturday's Jordan Brand Classic all-star game in Charlotte, N.C.

The contest, featuring the nation's premier players, will be televised at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

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After all the great games in one of the most exciting and unpredictable NCAA men's basketball tournaments, maybe the law of averages took over.

Last week's national championship game was downright ugly, with third-seeded Connecticut dominating the second half and rolling past eighth-seeded Butler 53-41.

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The Southeast women's basketball team knew it had played a really good opponent when the Redhawks were destroyed 97-21 at Notre Dame on Jan. 2.

Little did the Redhawks know at the time that they were facing the NCAA runner-up.

That turned out to be the case as Notre Dame fell just short of its second national title, losing to Texas A&M on Tuesday.

Speaking of Southeast women's hoops, a new coach should be named soon after three finalists, as previously reported, visited the campus for interviews last week.

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Area baseball teams that make it to the state's final four will have less travel ahead of them starting in 2012.

The Missouri State High School Activities Association Board of Directors voted recently to move the baseball championships from Springfield, Mo., to T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Mo., for a four-year period beginning in 2012.

O'Fallon is in the St. Louis area. T.R. Hughes, an impressive park that opened in 1999, is home to the River City Rascals of the professional Frontier League.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.