Southeast's Nutt era about to start

~ Coaches Ishee and Nutt will hold their first basketball practices of the season Friday

Dickey Nutt has worked with and watched his first Southeast Missouri State men's basketball squad during individual and limited team sessions.

But Nutt will get his initial extended view of the Redhawks as full-scale practice officially begins Friday.

Southeast actually has a kickoff practice planned today as part of the limited offseason team work allowable under NCAA guidelines.

"We're excited about getting going, getting out there on the practice floor," said Nutt, hired to turn around a struggling program that will carry the nation's longest losing streak -- 19 games -- into the season. "I think every coach in America is excited at this time of the year."

The 2008-09 Redhawks went 3-27, including 0-18 in the Ohio Valley Conference, as they became just the seventh men's basketball team to go winless in OVC play.

Southeast returns only four players, the highest scorer among that group being junior forward Jajuan Maxwell at 7.2 points per game.

Nutt has restocked the roster with 11 new players, although he likely won't have the services of top recruit Leon Powell.

Powell, a junior forward, almost is certain to miss the season after suffering a torn ACL during a pickup game several months ago. Powell still would have two years of eligibility remaining.

"All the years I've been coaching, 25, 26-plus years, as a head coach and assistant, rarely have we ever had to recruit over five players," Nutt said. "But it's an exciting time. I'm very happy with the young men we've got."

Southeast's roster will feature three seniors, six juniors, two sophomores and four freshmen.

"We're excited about growing this program," Nutt said. "I promised my guys I would never talk about or use the word rebuilding. We know, in all reality, sure, it's going to take time, but the time is now.

"We have every reason to expect we're going to compete in every game. We have reason to be excited because we feel we have a lot to sell at Southeast Missouri State."

The Redhawks play the first of two home exhibition games Nov. 5 against Harris-Stowe. The regular season begins Nov. 14 at Saint Louis University.

Women also begin

The Southeast women's basketball team also will hold its first official, full-scale practice Friday.

"I'm excited. It's time to get started," fourth-year coach John Ishee said.

Southeast was 15-15 last season, including a fifth-place 10-8 in OVC play, and failed to reach the OVC tournament semifinals for the first time in seven years.

That came after Ishee led Southeast to OVC regular-season titles in his first two years, along with one conference tournament crown and NCAA tournament berth. His record with the Redhawks is 62-32.

Like Southeast's men, the women return four players. Junior wing Lauren Sharpe is the top returning scorer at eight points a contest.

Southeast's extremely young roster will feature one senior, one junior, two sophomores and nine freshmen.

"We have a lot of work to do because we're such a young group," Ishee said.

Southeast's nine-player recruiting class -- all freshmen -- has been ranked 88th nationally by Dan Olson's Collegiate Girls Basketball Scouting Report.

"The key word is fresh, but I really like this group," Ishee said of his newcomers. "They're outstanding people and their talents are good enough to get us where we want to be, which is at the top of the conference.

"It's just going to take some time."

The Redhawks play their lone exhibition game Nov. 9 at home against Christian Brothers. The first regular-season contest is Nov. 13 at home against Missouri-St. Louis.