May 14, 2003

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Southeast Missouri State University basketball coach Gary Garner has announced that Randy Holbrook, 6-10, 240, from St. Louis has signed a national letter of intent to attend Southeast in the fall of 2003.

Holbrook was ranked as one of the top 100 high school players in the nation while a senior at Kirkwood High School in 2000. He spent two seasons at Odessa Community College in Texas and will have two years eligibility remaining at Southeast.

An AAU teammate of Mike Nelke, who will also have two years eligibility beginning next season after transferring from Valparaiso, Holbrook was the Suburban West Player of the Year after his senior season when he led Kirkwood to a record of 24-3 while averaging 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks per game. He signed with Xavier out of high school and again after he completed his eligibility at Odessa. After failing to meet NCAA eligibility standards, Holbrook spent last season gaining college credits toward his eligibility. He still must pass seven hours this summer.

At Odessa, Holbrook averaged 12 points and eight rebounds per game.

"Holbrook should be a great addition to our basketball program," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "A very talented big man, he can put the ball on the floor and is a good jump shooter. He had 31 points in a national tournament game while playing at Odessa. I am excited about signing him, but I realize he has to pass the hours at a junior college this summer in order to be eligible."

Southeast will have five new players next season including Holbrook and Nelke as well as 6-7 Reggie Golson, 6-7 Dainmon Gonner, and 6-4 Norman Prather. Nelke, Golson and Gonner all practiced with Southeast last season while Prather signed in the fall prior to his final season at Mineral Area Community College.

Nelke played in 65 games and was on two Mid-Continent Conference championship teams and one NCAA tournament team during his stay at Valparaiso. As a freshman at Valpo, he led the team in 3-point field goal percentage with .472.

A graduate of McCluer High School in St. Louis where he is the all-time leading scorer, Nelke led all Missouri high school players with 91 treys during the 1998-99 season.

Golson was a medical redshirt last season after having knee surgery prior to the start of the season. Originally from the Kansas City area, Golson averaged 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game two years ago at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. He averaged 18 points and nine rebounds per game his senior season at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Kansas City, Kansas.

Gonner, originally from Ft. Worth, Texas, averaged 17.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game two seasons ago at Hutchinson. He enrolled at Southeast in January.

Prather, an all-state player at Caruthersville High School, played the last two seasons at Mineral Area.

In addition to the five new players, Southeast returns the entire starting five from last season when the Indians were 11-19 overall and 5-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"We've had a couple of rough years, but with the people we have returning and the five new players, I think we will be back in the hunt," Garner said.