Gary Garner: Anthony Beane has applied to be Southeast men's basketball coach

Anthony Beane began his Division I coaching career as an assistant to Gary Garner at Southeast Missouri State in 1997.

According to Garner, who was interviewed Thursday night for a story about the men's basketball program that's scheduled to run in the Southeast Missourian on Sunday, his former assistant is applying for the vacant head coaching spot at Southeast.

"I think you'll find that you'll have many good candidates," Garner said in a phone interview Thursday evening. "I know that I have a former assistant that's applying for it -- Anthony Beane -- and I think he would be a great coach for Southeast Missouri State."

It's not known if Beane has been interviewed for the job by Southeast athletic director Mark Alnutt.

Beane was an assistant for Garner for three years during which Southeast posted consecutive 20-plus win seasons, including the 1999-2000 season when the team advanced to the NCAA tournament.

Beane, whose coaching stops have included being an assistant at Illinois State and Saint Louis, has been on Barry Hinson's staff at Southern Illinois since 2012.

Beane, a graduate of Bernie High School, played two seasons at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, before finishing his career at Kansas State.

Beane helped TRCC claim the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championship in 1991.

He was named the Big 8 Conference Newcomer of the Year at Kansas State in 1992 and earned all-conference honors twice.