Winans' recovery will be key for Southeast

Coming off three straight down years, it's no doubt important that Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team gets off to at least a decent start.

But that wasn't made any easier with the recent announcement that Derek Winans will probably miss at least the first few games of the season with a stress fracture in his leg.

Winans has been Southeast's leading scorer the past three seasons, ranks seventh on the school's career scoring list and is without a doubt the heart and soul of the squad with his relentless energy and constant hustle. Those traits have made him a fan favorite at the Show Me Center ever since he first donned a Southeast uniform.

And going even deeper than his athletic ability, Winans is also Southeast's first basketball Academic All-American, with a perfect 4.0 grade point average that means he has never received anything less than an "A" during his college years. That's amazing in itself.

Here's hoping Winans -- who, as far as the combination of athletics and academics has to rank as one of the best to ever suit up for a Southeast team in any sport in the history of the school -- makes a speedy and complete recovery.

Those wishes are not only for the team's sake but also because Winans certainly deserves the good fortune.

By any standards, it has not been a good year for Southeast's football team, which never has been able to quite overcome a brutal nonconference schedule and a rash of injuries.

But that doesn't diminish what the squad's big group of seniors -- there are more than 15 on the roster and most of them have been key players since they were freshmen -- have done for the program.

Many of the seniors -- including several local products who have turned in all-star careers -- performed important roles during Southeast's breakthrough 2002 season that featured an 8-4 record for the school's most victories since 1969.

I bring all of this up because Southeast will play its final home game Saturday against Tennessee Tech in a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Southeast will not be competing for any kind of championship Saturday, but it would still be nice if a big crowd showed up at Houck Stadium to give the seniors a fitting sendoff.

Former Southeast All-American wide receiver Willie Ponder caught his first pass of the year in last Sunday's 34-13 New York Giants win at Minnesota. Ponder, in his second NFL season, also returned one kickoff for 28 yards.

Despite having been on the inactive list for the previous few games, Ponder still ranks fourth in the NFC in kickoff returns with 26.2-yard average. That figure places him sixth overall in the NFL.

You can bet there was plenty of celebrating in Perryville over the last few days after the city's two high school football teams both claimed district championships.

St. Vincent's Class 1 district title, which it wrapped up Thursday night, was probably old hat because the Indians have captured seven district crowns in the past nine years.

But for Perryville Public, it's something of a new experience since the Pirates had last won a district in 1998.

What a job coach Rick Chastain and his staff have done in building the Perryville program back up -- and what a wild scene it must have been after the Pirates outlasted Dexter 47-41 in three overtimes Friday night.

Good luck to both squads as they head into the playoffs.

Southeast women's basketball has a new radio home this season as KWKZ (106.1 FM) will carry all the games, beginning with Monday night's home exhibition contest against Christian Brothers University.

Switching from FM to AM should be a boost for Southeast's program as more people will be able to pick up the games. Fans can also hear all the action on the Web for the first time, at www.kwkz.com.

Kevin Phillips will handle the play-by-play for the second straight season.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.