THE LATEST LINE: GARNER A HOT ITEM THESE DAYS

Colorado State apparently showed Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner the money -- but his love for the Show Me State and SEMO are evidently what kept him from making the move.

And, if your a SEMO hoop fan, I'm sure you couldn't be happier by Garner's decision to turn down quite a bit more money at CSU and remain with the Indians.

But, by the same token, SEMO supporters should get used to Garner being courted by other schools, or at least mentioned as a possible candidate when openings arise.

That's generally what happens when a coach does the kind of job Garner has done with the SEMO program, which reached unprecedented Division I heights this year.

Not only has Garner done a terrific job with the SEMO basketball program, he's also a heck of a good guy who has demonstrated nothing but class on and off the court.

Garner possesses qualities as a coach and as a person that any school would no doubt love to have.

It's just good that SEMO will continue to have him.

* Still on the subject of Garner, SEMO athletic director Don Kaverman told me that Garner's contract is in the process of being reworked, but nothing has been put in writing yet and school officials still have to approach the Board of Regents about it.

Also, it should be noted that Garner's contract was in the process of being reworked before the Colorado State situation came up. Schools commonly rework coach's contracts when their teams have been highly successful in order to try and keep a particular coach from taking another job.

Sources have told me that Garner, whose base salary at SEMO has been $80,000 annually (he actually makes a bit more than that through camps and radio and television shows), would have likely received a total compensation package of about $240,000 -- along with some enticing incentives -- if he had become CSU's new coach.

And, although nobody will confirm that Garner was actually offered the job, indications are that he was the top choice of CSU officials to take over their basketball program.

* You hate to get too excited early in the baseball season -- mainly because the season is so, so long -- but the Cardinals seem to have definitely upgraded their team enough to make a serious run at things.

But Cardinal fans have gotten their hopes up and been disappointed the last few years, so we'll see what happens.

* Fans of local sports certainly didn't have a shortage of things to do over the weekend.

The schedule was extremely full, with, among other things: SEMO's All Sport Relays; SEMO's key OVC baseball series with Middle Tennessee; SEMO's big OVC softball series with Eastern Kentucky; and the Jackson Invitational track meet.

If you were able to take in some or most of those events, then consider yourself a die-hard fan of area sports.

* By all accounts, first-year SEMO football coach Tim Billings has been relatively pleased by how his first spring practice session has been going, despite a variety of injuries and defections.

The Indians will conclude spring workouts Saturday with their annual intrasquad scrimmage, set for 7 p.m. in Jackson because Houck Stadium's new artificial surface is not yet ready for use, although it is within a few weeks of being ready.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian