~ The former Sikeston star said he previously considered playing basketball at Southeast

Michael Porter said there is a good chance he would have signed with Southeast Missouri State out of high school if Dickey Nutt already had been the Redhawks' coach for a while.

Better late than never as far as Porter is concerned.

Porter, the former Sikeston basketball standout who recently transferred to Southeast from Missouri State, said he is excited to join the program located only about 30 miles from where he grew up.

"It definitely will be fun to come back home and play in front of the home crowd," Porter said over the weekend. "We'll see what we can do to turn the program around."

Porter, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward, said he seriously considered signing with Southeast after his all-state senior season.

That's how much of an impression Nutt made on him even though Nutt was hired only about a month before the start of the NCAA's spring signing period in 2009.

"If he was there when I was younger, I probably would have went to SEMO right away," Porter said.

Instead, Porter opted for Missouri State, where he had an injury plagued 2009-10 freshman season, playing in just six games and receiving a medical redshirt.

When Porter decided he wanted to get closer to home -- partly due to the birth of his first child, a son, who lives in the area -- Southeast was the natural choice.

"Coach Nutt is definitely my type of guy. I'm real comfortable with him. I like his style," Porter said. "I met most of the players and they're all cool guys."

Porter's freshman campaign at Missouri State included an emergency appendectomy and a torn hamstring.

In the six games Porter played, he averaged 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in a reserve role that saw him average just more than 11 minutes per contest. He scored a team-high 16 points at Arkansas Little Rock on Dec. 2 and grabbed five rebounds against Air Force on Dec. 5.

Porter's bad luck continued after the season when he was involved in a single-vehicle accident that resulted in hip surgery in early June.

Porter said he is trying to take his recovery "as slow as possible, but it's healing up good." He said he might not be cleared when practice begins in October but should be close.

"I'll probably be able to go through some of the drills," he said.

Porter said he will try to get a hardship waiver from the NCAA so he can be eligible to play this season. Otherwise he would have to sit out the campaign under NCAA transfer rules, although he still can practice.

Southeast, with classes starting today, is still in the process of finalizing all the paperwork regarding Porter's transfer. Nutt is prohibited by NCAA regulations from commenting until that happens.

Tabb still a possibility

There is still a strong possibility that former University of Tennessee player Josh Tabb will join the Redhawks this season. An announcement could come any day.

Tabb, a 6-4, 195-pound guard, played three seasons at Tennessee. The Carbondale (Ill.) High School product who began his prep career at Century High School in Ullin, Ill., withdrew from Tennessee in late October to return to Illinois to help care for his sick mother.

That came after Tabb had been suspended indefinitely from team activities Sept. 18. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl gave no reason for Tabb's suspension, other than saying he "hadn't taken care of his business like we expect him to as a senior.''

Tabb, who played both guard positions at Tennessee, started 11 games during the 2008-09 season, averaging 3.4 points and 17.4 minutes per contest while shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point range (14 of 33).

Tabb averaged 1.3 points and 9.3 minutes as a sophomore while averaging 3.5 points and 17.6 minutes as a freshman, when he made three starts.

Tabb would have one season of eligibility at Southeast but he would be able to play this year.