Men's basketball team gets commitment from prep standout

Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball program has received a verbal commitment from a top St. Louis area high school player.

Eric Jones, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior forward at Webster Groves High School, plans to sign a national letter of intent with Southeast when the early signing period begins Nov. 10, Statesmen coach Jay Blossom said Friday.

"Eric is really excited about SEMO and I think they got a steal," Blossom said.

Jones averaged 12 points and four rebounds per game as a junior last season for a balanced Webster Groves team that went 24-5. He shot 55 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range, while also blocking 21 shots. He was a St. Louis Post-Dispatch honorable mention All-Metro selection and was the Suburban South Conference player of the year.

"Eric is an unbelievable athlete, a highlight type dunker, and he's probably our best three-point shooter," Blossom said. "He's the type kid where his best basketball is in front of him. I think he has a chance with some work to be a really good three player for SEMO, although he plays the four for us.

"Eric is also a good kid who does well in the classroom."

Blossom said Jones received early interest from several other Division I programs, including Southwest Missouri State.

Webster Groves is regarded as one of the state's premier squads and has been selected to participate in the annual Shootout at Savvis Center in St. Louis on Dec. 9.

Jones could not be reached for comment. Southeast coaches are prohibited by NCAA rules from commenting on recruits until the signing becomes official.

OVC cross country meet

Southeast cross country coach Eric Heins is looking for top-three finishes from both his teams at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships today in Martin, Tenn.

The women's 5,000-meter race begins at 9 a.m., with the men's 8,000-meter race to follow at 9:45 a.m.

"Our goal is to finish in the top three with both the men and women and I think we've got a good shot at it," Heins said.

Last year, Southeast's women were third and the men fifth out of 11 teams.

Southeast's top returning finisher is senior Brian Whitehead, who placed fifth a year ago. On the women's side, junior Brooke Woodruff was 11th and senior Kris Woolf 13th. Junior Jen Caywood has been the women's top finisher the last three weeks and recently won OVC runner of the week honors.

Southeast's women are hampered by the absence of Lindsay Zeiler, the 2002 OVC champion as a freshman who missed last season's meet with a stress fracture and is again out this year with a similar injury.

Volleyball at home tonight

Southeast's volleyball team will try to climb back to .500 in OVC play tonight when Tennessee State visits Houck Field House for a 7 p.m. match.

Southeast, 6-15 overall, is 5-6 in OVC play, good for seventh place among 11 squads entering action around the league Friday. Tennessee State (4-23, 1-11) is in last place.

Sunday, Southeast plays a non-conference home match against Drake at 2 p.m. Drake was 3-17 overall and 1-10 in Missouri Valley Conference play entering a Friday match Friday.