Road to OVC tourney gets tougher for Redhawks

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team still has a chance to make the Ohio Valley Conference tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

But things are not looking nearly as good for the Redhawks as they were a few weeks ago.

Southeast is down to eight available players, is saddled with a six-game losing streak and has just one OVC home date remaining.

It sure doesn't appear to be a recipe for success.

You can't fault the Redhawks' effort during Saturday's 93-86 home loss to talented Tennessee Tech in a game witnessed by nearly 6,000 fans for the "Show Me Sellout" promotion.

Southeast looked a lot better than during Thursday's 65-56 overtime home defeat to last-place Jacksonville State.

The Redhawks (5-17, 4-8) still are eighth in the 10-team OVC -- the top eight make the conference tournament -- but they lead ninth-place Tennessee-Martin by just one-half game and Jacksonville State by only 1 1/2 games.

A few more wins likely will be needed to slip into the OVC tournament. With a road-dominated remaining schedule, those don't figure to come easily.

Nobody said this rebuilding process would be easy. Let's face it, second-year coach Dickey Nutt inherited a junk pile of a program that ranked among the nation's worst when he took over.

It's not realistic to expect most coaches to be able to dig out of that NCAA probation-riddled mess overnight, so it wouldn't be fair for fans to pile on Nutt.

It takes time and patience to turn around the situation Nutt inherited, although fans only satisfied by wins don't see that.

It's likely the Redhawks would have fared at least a bit better this year -- and there is still plenty of the season left to somewhat right the ship -- had they not been hit with injuries to key players.

But all along the Redhawks partially were aiming toward next season, when touted transfers Michael Porter and Tyler Stone become eligible and some heralded recruits join the fold.

Even with next year's infusion of new blood, Southeast still will have holes in the backcourt it needs to address through the recruiting process.

Southeast should have more talent and depth next season to show considerable improvement from Nutt's first two campaigns.

If the Redhawks still are struggling so much a year from now, then fans might have legitimate cause for concern.

Until then, patience should remain a virtue.

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It's almost hard to believe, but there are only two home games left for both Southeast basketball squads.

The men host Murray State on Feb. 16 and the BracketBuster on Feb. 19, while the women entertain Murray State on Feb. 17 and Tennessee-Martin on Feb. 19.

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Southeast football coach Tony Samuel's contract expires today and still no official word from the university on whether Samuel will return next season.

Almost everybody -- myself included -- believes Samuel will be back, but why so much secrecy from university administrators?

Maybe when all the smoke clears things will make some sense, but right now, with Samuel's status being such a hot topic among fans, the Southeast administration has looked shaky with the way it's handled the situation from a public relations standpoint.

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Scott County Central senior Otto Porter's stock continues to rise.

Porter is No. 42 on ESPN's latest rankings of the nation's top high school boys basketball seniors.

Porter, a 6-foot-9 forward, is among just two players in ESPN's top 100 to have not signed with a college. The spring signing period begins in April.

Most people I talk to continue to believe Porter will wind up at the University of Missouri, which is where early speculation had him going. MU's style of play would seem to suit Porter well.

Two other players from Missouri, both guards from the St. Louis area, are on ESPN's top 100 list.

Chaminade's Bradley Beal is No. 8 and McCluer North's B.J. Young -- who played in Central's recent Tiger Shootout -- is No. 21.

Beal has signed with Florida and Young is headed to Arkansas.

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Count me among the many area basketball fans who would love to see a Sikeston vs. Scott County Central Part III matchup this season.

SCC, ranked first in Class 1, appears headed to its third consecutive state championship.

Undefeated Sikeston, No. 1 in Class 4, appears to have a strong chance of reaching the final four and perhaps even claiming the state title.

When the squads met two years ago at the Show Me Center, a capacity crowd saw Sikeston edge SCC in a thriller.

Last season another big Show Me Center crowd, but not a sellout, saw the Braves win decisively.

I've got to think the Show Me Center would be filled to the rafters if the squads hooked up this year.

That meeting almost certainly won't happen, but it is fun to dream about.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.