Last updated Oct. 20, 2014
Dickey Nutt’s teams have improved each of his first five seasons at Southeast Missouri and his program will look to continue that trend in 2014-15.
For the second-straight season, Southeast finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division. The Redhawks, who advanced to the OVC Tournament for the fourth-consecutive year, went 18-14 overall and 8-8 in league play. The Redhawks enjoyed back-to-back winning campaigns for just the second time during their NCAA Division I era, as the 18 victories were most in a season since 2000-01.
Statistically, Southeast ranked among the top-10 teams in the nation in field goal percentage (2nd, .499), scoring offense (6th, 82.9 ppg) and assists (7th, 16.7 apg). The Redhawks led the OVC in each of those categories, as well.
Prior to that, Southeast finished second in the OVC West Division and tied for fifth in the league with an overall record of 17-16 and 8-8 in conference during the 2012-13 season. That year marked the Redhawks first winning season since 2004-05.
The Redhawks not only established a new team single-season record with 256 three-pointers in 2012-13, but ended the year ranked first in the OVC and eighth in the nation in three-point shooting (39.8 percent).
Southeast also put an end to a 14-game road losing streak in its series against Austin Peay, a game where it buried a school record 20 threes. Two days after beating the Governors, 108-81, the Redhawks won at Murray State for the first time since 2006-07.
The convincing 84-68 victory over the Racers completed a sweep of the Austin Peay/Murray State road swing for the first time in school history.
A year before that, Nutt’s 2011-12 squad saw a +5 increase in the win column. The Redhawks went 15-16 overall and 9-7 in OVC play en route to making the league’s postseason tournament. That year, Southeast registered its first winning conference record in seven seasons.
Additionally, the 2011-12 season marked the first year where Southeast had a full roster with Nutt as its coach. The Redhawks spent Nutt’s first two years with depleted numbers due to various injuries.
In 2010-11, Nutt led Southeast to its first OVC Tournament appearance since 2006-07. The Redhawks, who played a big chunk of that season with only eight players, overcame a slow start by going 10-12 in their final 22 games to finish seventh in the conference.
Leon Powell, who led the nation in field goal percentage, became the first All-OVC selection under Nutt in 2010-11. Powell, who was the Redhawks top scorer, rebounder and shot-blocker, earned both Second-Team and All-Newcomer honors that season. Tyler Stone followed with All-OVC honors in 2011-12 (Second-Team), 2012-13 (Second-Team) and 2013-14 (First-Team), giving Nutt an All-OVC performer each of the last four years. Jarekious Bradley joined Stone on last year’s All-Conference team as a second-team and all-newcomer selection. In addition, Marland Smith broke Southeast’s all-time career record in three-point field goals made, Nino Johnson broke the school’s all-time single-season record in blocks and Lucas Nutt broke Southeast’s all-time career record in assists under Nutt’s tutelage.
Off the court, Nutt’s teams have enjoyed plenty of academic success, as over 20 of his players graduated. In fact, there is a 100 percent graduation rate for Southeast men’s basketball student-athletes beginning their freshman year.
A native of Little Rock, Ark., Nutt took over as the 19th head coach in Southeast men’s basketball history on March 12, 2009.
In his debut at Southeast in 2009-10, Nutt began laying the foundation for a turnaround in
Redhawk basketball.
Nutt’s coaching philosophy is simple – “Win games, recruit young men with outstanding character and graduate young people.”
“I believe we are building this program the right way. We are recruiting good young men who take a lot of pride in being Redhawks and want to obtain a degree from this University,” said Nutt.
Nutt recorded his first victory at Southeast when the Redhawks snapped a 21-game losing streak at Northern Illinois on Nov. 22, 2009. Southeast finished with seven wins that year, three more than the previous two seasons combined.
Nutt has coached in 534 games in 18 seasons at the NCAA Division I level. He recorded his 250th career victory when Southeast beat UMKC on Jan. 29, 2014.
He has also had one NCAA Division I statistical champion, five All-OVC picks, five NABC All-District selections, three OVC Medal of Honor recipients and 11 OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll honorees as the Redhawks head coach.
Not to mention, Nutt’s 2011-12 team led the OVC in field goal percentage (.475), and his 2012-13 club topped the conference in field goal percentage defense (.402), three-point field goal percentage (.398), assists (15.8 apg) and defensive rebounds (27.6 rpg). In 2013-14, Southeast led the OVC in scoring offense (82.9 ppg), field goal percentage (.499), assists (16.7 apg) and defensive rebounds (26.0 rpg).
Nutt comes from a thick coaching bloodline and brings a level of enthusiasm and passion for basketball that is downright contagious.
Prior to taking the Southeast helm, Nutt spent over two decades at Arkansas State University. He worked as an assistant coach from 1987-95 before serving as head coach from 1995-2008.
Nutt compiled an overall record of 189-187 and 102-101 in the Sun Belt Conference en route to becoming the second-winningest coach in ASU history and posting the second-most career victories in the Sun Belt Conference. He guided the then-Indians to two Sun Belt Conference regular-season titles (1998, 2007) and one Sun Belt Tournament crown (1999). Nutt was named the Sun Belt’s Coach of the Year in 1998 and National Basketball Coaches Association District 9 Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999.
Utilizing his dynamic and congenial personality, strong family background and rich home-grown work ethic, Nutt accomplished what no other coach in ASU history has been able to do -- take the Indians to the NCAA Tournament.
Nutt did just that when he guided ASU to an 18-12 record and its only NCAA Tournament berth in 1999. The Indians lost to Utah in the first round of the Midwest Regional (New Orleans, La.) that year.
Nutt and his staff claimed three Sun Belt Conference titles. He also saw 10 of his players earn All-Conference honors and five garner All-Tournament accolades in the Sun Belt. In addition, he had at least one player named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year under his tutelage.
However, Nutt’s life isn’t all about college basketball. His love for children and dedication to community service has prompted he and his wife, Cathy, to make several charitable donations over the years.
One of the more notable donations they made was in 2001 to the local Jonesboro Parker Community Center gymnasium, a place where area youth can go to play basketball instead of roaming the streets. He and Cathy offered up half the funds if the city would match their donation to help finish those basketball courts.
Nearly 500 children - boys and girls - joined basketball teams at the community center when the project was complete.
Nutt, who is also well-known for his contributions to schools and churches, is an avid speaker at numerous events, camps and clinics throughout the Southeast Missouri community and surrounding areas. His effort to pack the Show Me Center for Southeast’s
“Show Me Sellout” events in 2009-10 and 2010-11 drew season-high home crowds each of those years.
Nutt began his collegiate coaching career at Oklahoma State under Leonard Hamilton (current head coach at Florida State) with then-assistants Tim Carter (current head coach at South Carolina State) and Bill Self (current head coach at Kansas). He also played four years for the Cowboys, who, at the time, were members of the Big 8 Conference.
Nutt landed his first head coaching job at Arkansas State in 1995. He was the 14th men’s basketball coach in ASU’s 80-year basketball history. Before that, he spent eight seasons as the then-Indians top assistant coach.
Nutt bears one of the most recognizable names in college basketball and comes from one of the nation’s most respected sports families.
He is the second of four sons to Houston and Emogene Nutt. Houston Sr., who passed away in the spring of 2005, was the longtime athletic director and basketball coach at the Arkansas School for the Deaf in Little Rock. Houston Sr., was often seen at athletic events supporting all four sons.
Dickey’s oldest brother, Houston, currently works for CBS as a college football in studio analyst. Prior to that, Houston was the head football coach at Ole Miss (2008-11, Murray State (1993-96), Boise State (1997) and Arkansas (1998-2007).
Meanwhile, Danny Nutt was the Razorbacks’ running backs coach from 1998-2006 and later worked as Ole Miss’ Assistant Athletics Director for Player Development. He is presently the running backs coach at Eastern Illinois.
Dennis, who previously spent six years as a head coach at Texas State and worked as a scout for the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, is now the head men’s basketball coach at Ouachita Baptist.
The Nutt coaching foursome was featured in an article in Sports Illustrated in 1999.
Dickey is married to the former Cathy Thompson of Oklahoma City and they have two sons, Logan and Lucas, and one daughter, Lexis.
Lucas, who broke Southeast’s all-time career record in assists, is the boys basketball coach at Senath-Hornersville High School. Logan is the boys basketball coach at Woodland High School.
