Niemczyk's signing is an energy boost for sluggish Southeast

Nick Niemczyk's verbal commitment this week to play basketball at Southeast might be the best news this program has gotten since the addition of Will Bogan (for now, we'll overlook how that marriage went sour not long after it began).

Niemczyk, who started alongside Bogan at Bell City, is a Three Rivers Community College sophomore who gives SEMO its first injection of local talent since Bogan, himself an all-stater who — for better or worse — kept fans interested and talkative. It helped that he grabbed a few rebounds along the way.

With Niemczyk, the Redhawks get a familiar name with local appeal. At 6 feet, he's a sparkplug who averaged about 13 points per game on a TRCC team that finished second in the national tournament last month. He joins two recruits for next season — a 7-foot junior college sophomore and a 6-foot-8 high school senior — who add hefty size.

If this is second-year coach Dickey Nutt's idea of recruiting, the future is looking up.