Want to see Southeast Missouri athletes? Head to St. Louis
If it was a competition, the scoreboard behind the end zone would read Lindenwood 15, SEMO 3.
That's the final count of Southeast Missouri-area recruits both schools picked up on National Signing Day, that late-winter day college football programs rely on each year to tout big gains, big names and big hype for the season ahead.
The gains for Lindenwood: More than a dozen scrappy all-state football picks with name recognition and big numbers joining a team that was 11-2 and an NAIA playoff qualifier last season.
The gains for SEMO: Three solid local picks among the 28 recruits who will be counted on to help save coach Tony Samuel's job.
Linebacker Blake Peiffer of Jackson, lineman Craig Robinson of Hayti and quarterback Derek Gibson of North County all signed letters of intent for Southeast — itself a tough sell coming off a 4-8 season that included two overtime wins.
Lindenwood, a St. Louis school fast becoming a haven for local talent, gained a mix of seniors at every position, including quarterback Blake Parr of Kennett (a 2,000-yard passer in 2008), running back Joey Lewandowski of Fredericktown (a 1,900-yard rusher in '08), and Dustin Noll of Ste. Genevieve (a 1,500-yard receiver in '08).
Two other prized local recruits also went elsewhere: Linebacker Tony Martin of Park Hills Central signed with Ball State, and quarterback Kory Faulkner of Ste. Genevieve with SIU-Carbondale. SEMO, incidentally, was a blip on the radar for both.
For Samuel and the coaches that preceded him, winning the game on the field has always been just half the battle. Even harder is the fight to win local recruits and convincing Division I — even NAIA — prospects that Southeast is a destination, not a second choice. Local recruits equals local fans equals local excitement. And so on.
SEMO could ask Lindenwood how it's done.
25 comments:
"and convincing Division I — even NAIA — prospects that Southeast is a destination"
Why would Semo try convince an NAIA player to play for them? That's just crazy. You need to really step back and think abut that.
You tried way too hard on this one.
Al
You forgot about Rashad Fields from Caruthersville, transferring in from Arkansas St - and Tyler Epstein from Farmington, transferring in from No Iowa. Both of those kids were recruited by Semo originally, but decided to go elsewhere. Now they have decided to attend the local school.
Again, you tried way too hard on this one. You should hold your criticisms for things they do that deserve it (and there is usually plenty once the season starts).
Al
The reason they went to Lindenwood is because they are not good enough to play D-1 football. I dont care how bad Semo is, they are not going to become a good program by recuiting NAIA kids.
I think it is a joke that you try to compare the two. Samuel is doing a much better job at recruiting the area then previous coaches have. I feel that they got the best players this year in the area except for Faulkner. Sometimes you are going to miss out on kids.
Jamie, I think you're right on. I know discussing the Sikeston-SCC game is off your subject, but it does relate. Look at the buzz the Sikeston-SCC game has generated. I mean, a high school sellout of a Division I school arena?!!?!!? The mens' program may not have that many spectators all year!! Why not actually recruit some of these local kids? And before anyone says it...yes, Southeast can compete in the OVC with local kids. Obviously, the previous system of recruiting hasn't yielded any results. Regardless of what anyone believes, southeast Missouri has some of the best high school basketball in the state. Gene Bess competes every year on the national scene with local kids. Why not Southeast?
There's some very valid issues with basketball recruiting locally. And certainly some criticism is deserved there, but this blog was about football players. You just can't compare kids that sign with Lindenwood to kids that sign with 1-AA schools. That's like saying the So Illinois Miners had a better record than the Pittsburgh Pirates, so the Pirates should be signing those guys instead of the ones they are signing.
Unless I'm missing someone - there were 4 kids in the Se Mo Region that signed on the 1AA level, and Semo got 3 of them. That's good news, not bad news.
Al
I understand that the article is about football. I was just making a point about Southeast athletics, in general. It seems to me that there is an attitude that Southeast can't win in any sport with local kids. I think that is a big mistake. I was just using the Sikeston-SCC basketball game as an example of how the region would support a team that had more than 1 or 2 local players. And...I do agree that it is encouraging that Southeast got 3 out of 4 very good recruits.
Al, I give Tony Samuel credit for making the effort to recruit locally. I never faulted him for that. But the fact that they signed 3 local seniors is hardly worth a pat on the back.
SEMO still hasn't gotten to the point where it's going to be the first choice for local seniors. Talent and skill level aside, ask the 15 local signees who went with Lindenwood if they even had a desire to play at SEMO -- some would say yes, but some would certainly say no.
The problem, which SEMO has had since going to Division I-AA, is perception among local recruits. There are still too many athletes who would rather play for an NAIA team that went 11-2 last season than to play for the local NCAA team that went 4-8.
If it is true that area fans will come out just to support local players, then the stands should be filled at Semo next year, as they will have:
Philip Klaproth from Bluff is a potential star at LB, started as a true FR and was 3rd on the team in tackles last year
Matt James from Jackson is the starting LT
Kris Cottner from Perryville will see the field often on special teams and was playing quite a bit as a true FR last year in the secondary, before his injury forced him to miss most of the season. He's a year older and bigger now though, so he'll see the field plenty I bet.
Ashton Farmer from Charleston will see plenty of time at TE
Antonio Garritano from Jackson may end up seeing time at TE also
Tyler Epstein from Farmington will be competing for a starting LB job after transferring in from No Iowa
Rashad Fields from Caruthersville has a chance to be the starting Safety as a FR next year, but even if he doesn't start he'll surely get on the field often.
Nathan Grass from St Gen Valle sees the field a lot, even as a backup FB.
There's a couple other players from Jackson that will be on the squad - Joel Penrod and Matt Crader.
Throw in the fact that Blake Pfeiffer from Jackson and Craig Robinson from Hayti very well may get playing time as true Freshmen - and we'll have a whole lot of Southeast Missouri products on the field.
I can't wait to see all the local fans come out and support these players from the Se Mo region that are contributing at Semo. It's gonna be great to have all these fans in attendance this year!
Al
"But the fact that they signed 3 local seniors is hardly worth a pat on the back."
It isn't Samuel's fault that there are only 4 players in the region that garnered scholarship offers on the 1-AA level. It isn't Semo's fault, that by all accounts (and ask any college coach out there, including the ones from Murray, Siu-C, etc) that this was a down year for talent in the area.
"ask the 15 local signees who went with Lindenwood if they even had a desire to play at SEMO"
C'mon, you're just framing this the way you want the answer to be. I can frame it a different way, and get a completely different result than you:
Ask the coaches at Semo, or Murray St, or Martin, or Mo State, or Siu-C, if they had a desire to offer a D1-AA scholarship to any of those 15 players.....
You're just framing this the way you want it to go, which is to criticize Semo. There's simply no merit here for it though.
Al
This is odd. Jamie stay in Florida, the heat is getting to your brain.
How many kids from the SE Missouri Area signed with DI teams? How many of those went to SEMO? That's your question. This is bunk issue spoting at best.
That's like saying a Detroit kid didn't sign with Michigan who signed with Grand Valley State. These coaches use recruiting services and such and you just don't sign a kid based on where he lives. You sign a kid based on the type of talent he is, his potential to make an impact. Flipping Al's argument a little bit. Gary Garner went out of his way to sign kids from SE Missouri, and produced the worst three year period in OVC History. None of those kids, except for Brett Hale stayed around longer then two years. You just don't sign kids that don't belong in DI, reglardless if they live across the street from the stadium, or in Orlando. SEMO will never get anywhere in DI athletics if it becomes the dumpster for local lower-level athletic talent. Based on what I have read, I think Samuel has brought in a good recruiting class. Lindenwood probably did as well, for an NAIA school.
I agree with most of the comments that think you are off the mark on this one.
Well said BDR...I agree. I am tired of local parents and fans griping because Semo doesn't recruit local talent. I just hope whoever the new coach is doesn't think that he has to recruit local talent to put butts in the seats. Winning will do that.
You are idoit Jamie, what's your problem? SEMO is an ok area for talent. Also SEMO kill Lindenwood on the field. Also have you consider half the kids in area can't even make it at SEMO.I bet you are a great player who could never be recruit to SEMO. Contiune to be hater, you will get far!
Jamie, you must have been a blue chip athlete!I bet you had Ohio State and USC all over you coming out of high school. Where do you come up with this stuff, because you never have been around major D1 athletics. Your so smart and think you know everything but you really have clue! I would love to live in your world! It must be nice to think you have an opinion and judge when you have no merit! Continue to live the dream and I hope you are hired as the next coach because you won't even win game! How about you know and understand recruiting before you judge, because your words don't mean anything.
Anyone who compares NAIA to D1 foootball has no clue about football. It is veyr obvious that you have no experience with college football.
Jamie, I am a local guy, and all your people hate on Semo. You guys are always taking about how bad Semo is and how everything is messed up. This is another example of you trying to belittle Semo. Samule is trying the best he can to turn this program around. Since he has been here, he has tried to recruit the top players in this area. Are you telling me that East Prairie produces D1 talent? They had two or three kids go to lindenwood. That is a joke.
I would respect your guys blogs a lot more if they were legitimate arguments. They are far from it. Yeah, I know that you want peopel to resond to your blogs, but to me it seems like you have no knowledge in sports. You guys do a good job of covering sports in the area, but you have yet to show me you know what you are talking about.
Someone made a very good point about these D1aa schools not offering NAIA kids. They are simply not good enough. Are you trying to tell me that these kids from E.P and Charleston would drive by Semo and head up to Lindenwood just because they win? I dont believe that because these schools havent won in years. Those kids dont know the feeling of winning a championship. They will take the best they can get and unfortunately is a NAIA school. One step above High school football.
I'm outraged at Lindenwood after looking at who they did sign.. NOT ONE SINGLE PLAYER WHO LIVES INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS OF SAINT CHARLES!! As a citizen of St. Chuck, I demand an investigation. How dare they even think about going down state when they couldn't at least sign one kid from St. Charles West? Come on now.. No kids from St. Louis city either, and only 1 kid from STL county, and a couple from St. Chuck county, further out from St. Chuck then Jackson is to SEMO. You mean to tell me that there is no NAIA talent in Metro St. Louis.. that the only place for good NAIA talent is in the bootheel?
Come on now..see how silly this game is. This has to be one of the worst blogs of all time!
Steve: There is a reason people hate on SEMO: They're no good and they cheat. And can you say their athletic program is NOT messed up? Are you kidding me? Do these NCAA violations year after year mean nothing to you? Can you honestly say you've never spoken bad about SEMO's pathetic athletic department? Come on now. Quit acting like Jamie is the only person in the world who criticizes SEMO. Steve, since you have so much experience in college football and know everything about it, why the hell do the Redhawks suck every year?
Jamie, if you can put with all this, you should be a basketball referee!
This is what happens when I don't read comments on my own blog for two days -- I fall way behind.
Look, I respect the argument that backs SEMO. And yes, it's encouraging to see the football program with local names on the roster.
Obviously not every local athlete who signed at Lindenwood has the talent level to compete for a spot at SEMO, but it's my hope that Samuel and his staff do their best to scoop up as much local talent as they can, then look outside the area after that.
And if they do that, that's all any of us can really ask for.
By the way, I know that being anonymous is an option we have on here, which is fine, and if you want to call me or any other poster on here an idiot, I really don't care -- but I'd respect your opinion more if your name was signed to it.
http://mosports.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=252&mid=120747987&sid=946&tid=120747987&style=2&Override=1
Apparently Dustin Noll didn't sign with Lindenwood.
This about Football, Not basketball. What violations are there against the football team? None. So for the personwho said that there are all these incidents, I dont know when they happened. Player conduct doesnt not count. Holloman was Billings recruit.
The reason that the Football team hasnt competed in the D1aa levelis because of facilities. The adminstration does not support football like it should. These kids go out and get beat 55-0 and earn $300,000 but it all goes to the other sports to. They have had the same lockerroom for 20 years. They dont even have a game day lockerroom. They use a gym floor. How do you expect to get recruits with facilities that bad? Not going to happen. A coach a Murray State told me that Semo use to be ahead of everyone else because they had Field turf. Now everyone has it and Semo has no leg up on anyone.
Look at all the changes that Tennessee Martin has made over the years. New stands, brand new football facility by the field. Guess what they have been in the hunt the last three years. Martin has no trouble beating Semo now. The school has got to commit to football.
I have spoke to many coaches and every one of them said that the Show me Center is one of the best facilities around for this level of play. They are the ones committing the violations not football. Samuel has also mentioned that Billings had his hands tied behind his back
joey lewandowski from fredericktown and dutin noll are rooming together at lindenwood. i talked to them both at the maaa tournament at mineral area college.
Did SEMO offer any of the kids that signed from Lindenwood? The kid from Festus (Riggs I believe) is the only one that I ever heard mentioned as a possible 1-AA talent. The Ste. Gen qb that chose SIU is the only local player I am aware of that we offered and lost.
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