Team defections don't appear to be cause for alarm

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner said following the Indians' dismal 2001-02 season that he wouldn't be surprised if some players left the program.

Garner didn't know exactly who the defections might be, but he said any time a team struggles like the Indians did -- going 6-22 for one of the program's worst records -- a few players generally depart.

Although all of them insisted it had nothing to do with the woeful record, Garner was right on the money because last week Drew DeMond, Daniel Weaver and Kenny Johnson said they would not return to the Indians for their senior year next season.

But Southeast fans shouldn't get in a panic and think 'here we go again.' This is nothing like last year, when several anticipated key players or stars either were dismissed following legal troubles or left the program.

DeMond, Weaver and Johnson all seemed to be quality young men who caused no problems, but only DeMond was playing a lot by the end of last season.

Where the Indians will miss the trio the most is from a depth standpoint, particularly if Southeast has some injuries. Because of the NCAA scholarship rule, the Indians can't replace the three, meaning they will once again go with only 10 scholarship players next season -- three under the NCAA maximum.

But there is no question the Indians should improve considerably next season with the addition of 6-foot-7 Dainmon Gonner and 6-8 Brandon Griffin, two junior college transfers who signed with Southeast recently. The Indians have one more scholarship to give and hope to fill that in the next week or so.

And if New Madrid County Central High School senior point guard Dereke Tipler joins the program as a walk-on, that would help the Indians even more. Tipler has said he will attend Southeast, but nothing is official until he enrolls this summer and schools will continue to recruit Tipler, hoping to change his mind.

The Indians might not be ready to make a run at the Ohio Valley Conference title next year, but they should be able to climb the standings considerably after slumping to eighth place last season.

And then one more solid recruiting class -- since the Indians will have just two seniors next season, they'll be able to get back up to the maximum scholarship level -- will hopefully land them back among the OVC's elite.

Here's something of an interesting footnote on Southeast basketball.

Bobby Smith, the Villanova transfer point guard who was being counted on as the Indians' star last season before being booted after running into legal problems, recently declared himself for the NBA draft, although he is not likely to be selected.

After leaving Southeast last year, Smith surfaced at Robert Morris College in Chicago -- and wound up being the NAIA Division II national player of the year as he averaged 27.1 points per game for a squad that finished second in the nation.

Smith could return to Robert Morris next season if he doesn't hire an agent and withdraws from the NBA draft before the deadline.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.