Tappmeyer joins list of interesting prospects for Southeast

Men's coaching position continues to garner plenty of interest.

I've received several e-mails recently touting the candidacy of Steve Tappmeyer for Southeast Missouri State's vacant men's basketball coaching position.

Tappmeyer played basketball at Southeast for two seasons -- he earned honorable-mention all-MIAA honors in 1977-78 -- and was later a graduate assistant coach for the university.

Since 1988, Tappmeyer has been the highly successful head coach at Division II Northwest Missouri State, compiling a 348-178 record and making eight national tournament appearances.

I have no idea how seriously Tappmeyer will be considered for the Southeast job, but sources tell me that Southeast athletic director Don Kaverman -- who will play a big role in making the call on the hire -- is very impressed with Tappmeyer, although he has no Division I experience, which may be a hindrance.

Kaverman is familiar with Tappmeyer through his days as the athletic director at Missouri Western, which competes with Northwest Missouri State in the MIAA.

Another Division II head coach who is reportedly interested in the Southeast post -- and I'm sure there are plenty of those out there -- is Southern Indian's Rick Herdes, a former assistant under Bruce Pearl, who is in his first year at Tennessee after a successful run at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Herdes has had all kinds of success at Southern Indiana, but again, he has no Division I experience, so it also remains to be seen how seriously he'll be considered for the position.

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Also on the Southeast's men's basketball coaching front, a couple of interesting potential candidates popped up recently.

While a host of Division I assistants and lower-division head coaches have expressed interest, I hadn't heard of any current Division I head coaches looking into the position.

But several days ago, a source told me that Furman head coach Larry Davis could be very interested.

Davis has turned around a formerly struggling program, posting three straight winning seasons, but the source said Davis doesn't believe Furman has the resources to consistently challenge for the Southern Conference title.

The source, however, said Davis -- like a lot of coaches -- believes Southeast has the resources to consistently challenge for the Ohio Valley Conference championship.

In addition to being the head coach at Furman, which is located in South Carolina, Davis has been an assistant at major programs Wake Forest and Minnesota.

And another person with Division I head coaching experience, ex-Mississippi coach Rod Barnes, also has reportedly expressed his interest in the Southeast job.

Barnes had an impressive run early in his tenure at Ole Miss, taking the Rebels to the NCAA tournament, but they struggled in recent years and he was recently let go.

Kaverman is said to be extremely impressed with Barnes and Davis, and one or both could very well wind up as a finalist for the position.

Of course, that is all speculation, and nobody really knows what type of coaching candidate Southeast truly believes will be the best fit for its situation.

But it's fun to speculate, and I'm sure there will continue to be plenty of that, until Southeast is ready to announce its finalists for the position, which might not be for at least another couple of weeks.

Kaverman told me that, without naming names, he has received interest from so many top-notch candidates -- who are currently working on virtually all levels, from Division I on down -- it is going to be tough not only to narrow things down but to also come up with one final choice.

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It's been a blast covering Southeast's first trip to the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.

And, although I would normally spend much of this column commenting about the Redhawks' game Saturday night against powerhouse Stanford, its late start made that out of the question.

The Redhawks and Cardinal weren't scheduled to tip off until about 9:30 p.m. Cape Girardeau time at the Pepsi Center in Denver, meaning the contest ended after my deadline for this space.

No matter what happened against Stanford, this will go down as the most successful women's basketball season since the university made the move up to Division I with the 1991-92 season.

What coach B.J. Smith has done with the program is nothing short of remarkable. In the four years Smith has been at Southeast, the Redhawks have compiled the best overall and league records among all Ohio Valley Conference teams.

Now, if you're a Southeast fan, you can only hope that Smith sticks around for a while. Whether that will be the case has not yet been determined.

First, there is always the chance Smith will be targeted by a bigger program. That often happens with successful coaches.

But more importantly, Southeast supporters are holding their breath over alleged NCAA rules violations that had representatives of both the NCAA and the OVC snooping around the university over the past week, and will reportedly bring those groups back on campus soon.

I've written before that I genuinely like Smith -- he's simply a likable guy -- and I hope there turns out to be nothing to this NCAA flap so he can continue coaching the Redhawks for years to come.

But until that's determined -- one way or the other -- the Redhawks and their faithful should bask in the celebration of their glorious season.

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I don't think any group had more fun the past few days in Denver than Southeast's fine band, directed by Barry Bernhardt.

Those kids really know how to live it up.

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I received a neat e-mail before I left for Denver from former Southeast women's basketball player Sarita Wesley, sending the current Redhawks her best wishes as they prepared for the NCAA tournament.

Wesley was the splendid point guard on Southeast's final Division II team, in 1990-91, that lost in the national championship game played at a sold-out Show Me Center.

I relayed Wesley's message to Smith and he seemed genuinely delighted.

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Major congratulations to Southeast softball coach Lana Richmond on posting her 700th career victory last Sunday, when the Redhawks took the opener of a doubleheader with Northern Iowa.

Richmond entered a weekend series at Austin Peay with a sparkling 701-457-2 career record in her 24 seasons at Southeast.

Add the more than 200 wins Richmond racked up during seven seasons as Southeast's volleyball coach in the 1980s, and the Kentucky native has over 900 victories at the university.

What a remarkable career, and considering she's only 47 years old -- I generally hate giving out a woman's age, so forgive me, coach -- she should be able to crank out whole lot more wins before she's finished.

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Cape Girardeau native Don Maurer, a Notre Dame High School graduate, a former boys basketball coach for the Bulldogs and a member of the school's athletic hall of fame, recently announced his retirement from coaching after a long and distinguished career.

Maurer is stepping down after five years as the boys basketball coach at Mary Institute-Country Day School in St. Louis County, although he will continue to work for the school as associate director of athletics after previously serving as assistant athletic director.

Maurer's 26 years as a high school head coach include a stretch at Notre Dame during the late 1970s and early 1980s. He won a state title during his first season at MICDS.

Here's wishing the classy Maurer all the best in his new position. I know him well and he is a great guy.

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As usual, the NCAA men's tournament is off to a rousing start, with a host of lower-seeded teams pulling off upsets.

But with all the parity in college basketball these days, I don't know if you can really call them upsets anymore.

Whatever you call them, however, it is neat to see so many anonymous, unheralded programs shocking -- or at least scaring -- the big boys.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.