Former Leopold star faces new game at Southeast

Kyle Stroder knows he faces some fairly steep odds in trying to earn quality playing time with the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team, at least during his freshman season this year.

That doesn't diminish the Leopold High School graduate's enthusiasm for being on the squad as an invited walk-on.

"I like it a lot," Stroder said. "I'm just working hard every day, just trying to get better every day."

Stroder came to Southeast with impressive credentials after a star-studded high school career.

The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter was a Class 1 all-stater and the Southeast Missourian player of the year as a senior last season when he led Leopold to a 24-3 record for the most wins in school history.

Stroder averaged 21.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.4 assists per game, hitting 44 percent of his 3-point attempts and 46 percent from the floor overall.

But the soft-spoken Stroder admits it's a big jump from dominating against primarily small-school opponents to competing against much bigger, stronger and quicker Division I college athletes.

"Everybody's a lot better on this level," Stroder said. "Just adjusting to the quickness, how big everybody is. It took me a little while to adjust but after a while it kind of felt natural."

Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said he's been pleased with Stroder's progress during preseason practice. Nutt has especially been impressed with Stroder's shooting ability and work ethic.

"He can make shots. The thing he's adjusting to is the speed, the level of play," Nutt said. "He's one of the hardest workers we've got. If he'll stick with it, I really think he has a future."

That future likely won't be this season as Stroder figures to be hard-pressed to receive much, if any, playing time.

"That's up to the coaches. I'm trying to do all I can," Stroder said.

Regardless of how much or how little Stroder plays, he couldn't envision a better place to be at after he said he didn't receive much recruiting interest after his brilliant high school career.

"I didn't really have a whole lot of offers," he said. "SEMO is the main place I wanted to go so it worked out well."

Stroder is one of four invited walk-on guards on the Redhawks' roster. The others are junior Will Holifield, a Sikeston High School graduate who played the past two seasons at Three Rivers College; junior Caleb Woods from Dyersburg State Community College; and freshman Jamaal Calvin from Chattanooga, Tenn.

"They're all working hard," Nutt said.