THE LASTEST LINE: CORDER-KING AGAIN NO. 1 FT SHOOTER

The nation's top free-throw shooter among women's college basketball players once again resides in Cape Girardeau.

Final NCAA Division I statistics were released recently and Southeast Missouri State University product Paula Corder-King led the foul-shooting pack for the second year in a row.

Corder-King, who completed an impressive two-year career for the Otahkians during the 1999-2000 season, hit 69 of 74 free throws for a sizzling 93.2 percent.

Last year, Corder-King was even better from the charity stripe, shooting 94.1 percent on 111 of 118. Along the way, she set an Ohio Valley Conference record by making 39 straight free throws.

And Corder-King was not the only SEMO basketball player to rank among the nation's best during the 1999-2000 campaign.

Roderick Johnson, a senior on the men's squad that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, wound up seventh in Division I field-goal shooting at 60.6 percent.

In addition, the Johnson-led Indians ranked fifth in team field-goal percentage defense (38.0) and 17th in team scoring defense (61.6 points per game).

Major kudos to Corder-King and Johnson, along with the Indians' defense, for making their mark against the thousands of other Division I players across the country.

Their accomplishments are certainly no small feat.

* Good luck to a pair of former college football stars with area ties who recently signed free-agent contracts with NFL teams.

Fullback Nathan Norman, a Jackson High graduate who played at Arkansas, landed with Carolina while cornerback Brian Hinton, a SEMO product, inked with Kansas City.

While the odds of making the NFL are certainly stacked against the pair, NFL rosters are filled with former free agents, so both certainly have a shot.

And as inspiration, they need look no further than another former local standout who has carved out a nice NFL career after originally signing as a free agent -- ex-SEMO cornerback Marquis Walker.

* Speaking of the NFL draft, a pair of OVC players -- both from Tennessee State -- were selected, with offensive lineman Michael Thompson and receiver/kick returner Avion Black both going in the fourth round.

* Congratulations to Mike Kiehne, who was recently named Jackson High's new boys basketball coach.

I've known Kiehne for quite a while and the former Jackson hoop star certainly bleeds Indian red. I'm confident nobody is going to work harder than Kiehne in his new position.

* Chad Kish, a former area basketball coach who spent several seasons as an assistant to Derek McCord at Scott City, has started a basketball recruiting service for boys and girls high school players.

Based in the St. Louis area, HoopStars Midwest offers prep athletes a wide variety of services, including a prospects camp that will be attended by a host of college coaches on all levels.

For more information on the new recruiting service, call (314) 276-hoop or (314) 542-0310.

* And still on the subject of prep hoops, the second annual Area's Best' all-star game will be played Friday night in Scott City.

The contest features many of Southeast Missouri's top seniors from this past season in a North vs. South format.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian