Nutt lands another recruit - his son

~ Lucas Nutt will join the Redhawks as a walk-on after an all-state senior season in Jonesboro, Ark.

Southeast Missouri State first-year men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt will be joined in the Redhawks' program by a familiar face.

Lucas Nutt, a senior at Jonesboro (Ark.) High School, will play for his father as a walk-on next season.

"I am very excited," said Dickey Nutt, hired at Southeast on March 12. "I'm looking forward to him being a big part of our program."

Lucas Nutt doesn't figure to be a typical walk-on, since several Division I programs expressed interest in him during his senior season.

Nutt, a 5-foot-11 all-state point guard, averaged a team-high 17.7 points per game this year for a Jonesboro squad that advanced to the Class 6A state tournament. He scored 17 points and had four assists in the Sun Senior Classic, a local all-star game.

"Lucas had a very good high school career," Dickey Nutt said. "He's very heady, he passes the ball extremely well and he's very fast.

"He grew up on a basketball court. He's an extension of the coach. He had choices and chances to go other places. We're excited to have him with us."

Added a laughing Nutt: "I knew I had a chance to land him because I know his mamma pretty well."

Nutt acknowledged that an athlete who plays for his father will generally come under a bit more scrutiny than most other players.

"Sometimes it's a sensitive situation. He knows I'll be a lot harder on him, he'll have to be there a lot earlier than the other guys," Nutt said. "I say that with a smile, but there's a lot of truth to that."

Regardless, Nutt eagerly awaits having his son play for the Redhawks.

"It's a special situation when a dad can coach his son," he said.

There was some speculation that the oldest of Nutt's two sons, Logan, would also be a walk-on at Southeast.

But Nutt said Logan will play for the University of Mississippi as a walk-on. The 5-10 Logan averaged 5.1 points as a sophomore guard at Missouri State University-West Plains, a junior college in West Plains, Mo.

Meanwhile, Nutt said he continues the recruiting process that he hopes will lead to several other signings to go along with the four players he landed April 15, the first day of the spring signing period.

"It's an ongoing process," Nutt said. "Hopefully in the next few days we'll have some good news for Southeast basketball fans. We're very excited about the days coming in front of us."

One player Nutt had targeted and was considering Southeast won't play for the Redhawks.

Stephon Weaver, a sophomore guard at Connors State College in Warner, Okla., has signed with Florida International, which recently hired former NBA great Isiah Thomas as coach.

Weaver was a third-team junior college All-American this year after leading the Cowboys to a fourth-place finish at the national tournament.

As for assistant coaches, Nutt said he is still in the process of finding two more to join recently hired Jeremy Case. Nutt said once this year's recruiting is done, he'll be able to focus more on filling out his staff.

Also, Nutt said he's going to do everything he can to get Southern Illinois-Carbondale back on the schedule next season.

"That's one of the things we've talked about, for our fans," Nutt said. "I hear that on a daily basis, how our fans want that.

"Right now our program is not ready for that, but I don't think we should penalize our fans because of it. We're doing everything we can to make it happen."