Angus commits to Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team

Monroe College forward Joel Angus had already caught the eye of members of the Southeast Missouri State coaching staff when the Mustangs claimed the National Junior College Athletic Association Region XV championship.

The Redhawks offered the 6-foot-7, 215-pound Angus a scholarship following his 15-point, 10-rebound performance in a 78-70 loss to Trinity Valley in the first round of the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, in March.

Rick Ray was still coaching at Mississippi State at the time and was also in attendance at Angus' game, so when Southeast assistant Jamie Rosser mentioned the junior college player to Ray shortly after he was hired as the Redhawks' 20th coach in program history on April 13 he remembered him.

Rosser, who remained from former men's coach Dickey Nutt's staff following Nutt's firing on March 23, continued to recruit Angus and it paid off. Angus became the second player to commit to play for Ray within a matter of days when he announced his decision to become a Redhawk on Tuesday evening.

Groveport Madison High School senior power forward and former Toledo commit Tony Anderson announced his commitment to Southeast on Sunday.

"Well first of all I took a visit about a week ago and I really liked the campus, the school and the atmosphere -- like I see myself fitting in there," Angus said of his decision. "From an athletic standpoint I really like what Coach Ray is doing with the program and there's a lot of talented players on the team and I feel like we can win there so that was the big thing."

Angus also said he was drawn to Southeast because Ray has coached "at the highest level" and he believes that he's capable of bringing success to a Redhawks program that finished 13-17 and 7-9 in the Ohio Valley Conference in Nutt's final year.

Angus graduated from Boys and Girls High School in New York City in 2013, and spent the following year at Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Connecticut.

He began his collegiate career at Westchester Community College in New York, averaging 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds on a team that went 28-5.

Angus transferred to Monroe College in New York in the middle of his sophomore year. He averaged 15.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in 16 games.

He said he received offers from multiple other schools, including OVC schools UT Martin and Tennessee Tech.

"I'm really excited to be a part of SEMO's program," Angus said. "I'm glad I found a home."

Verbal commitments are non-binding but Angus said he plans to sign his National Letter of Intent with Southeast during the next week. Ray is unable to comment on specific recruits until they sign due to NCAA rules.

Anderson, a 6-9, 230-pound power forward from Groveport, Ohio, played just his senior season at Groveport.

He spent his freshman and sophomore years at Marion-Franklin High School in Columbus, Ohio, before choosing to attend Oak Hill Academy in Virginia where NBA players such as Carmelo Anthony and Rajon Rondo played.

Anderson received an offer from West Virginia as a sophomore, according to Groveport boys basketball coach Ryan Grashel, and had interest from several other schools, including Eastern Kentucky of the OVC. He committed to Toledo on April 3 before reopening his recruitment 10 days later.

"Tony's a tremendous talent, skilled player, has great size and athleticism," Grashel said. "I think the biggest plus for him is I think his best basketball's ahead of him. He put up good numbers for us this year, had multiple games with 20-plus points and 10 rebounds. But like I said he's a skilled player that's going to have a great college career because skilled bigs are hard to come by at that level."

The Redhawks returning post players will bring little experience into next season. Six-foot-8, 200-pound freshman forward TJ Thomas played in 15 games, averaging 2.2 points and 1.6 rebounds, while 6-5, 200-pound guard/forward Ladarius Coleman played in 10 games and averaged 2.7 points and 1.6 rebounds. Junior Trey Kellum, a 6-7, 215-pound transfer from Florida A&M, sat out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations.

"Whenever they got involved Tony seemed very interested in what they had to offer," Grashel said. "He was very excited, they got him on campus pretty quickly and really liked what he saw over this past weekend, so it was a pretty quick recruiting process as far as that's concerned. I think they just have a lot to offer that Tony's looking for."