Nutt signs his fifth player since taking over program

~ The men's basketball program added juco guard Sam Pearson.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball program has signed another player.

Sam Pearson, a 6-foot-2 sophomore at Moberly (Mo.) Area Community College, played both the point guard and shooting guard positions for the Greyhounds this year.

Pearson, an all-Region 16 selection, led the region in scoring with an average of 17.5 points per game.

"I am very pleased to announce Sam's signing," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "He has a scorer's mentality, yet he has the ability to run the point for us. To lead that region in scoring is very impressive. We need that scoring on the perimeter.

"He's a big, strong athletic kid, which will allow him to be a lockdown defensive player. He comes from a tremendous family and he is a young man of great character. We feel like we're getting the total package with Sam."

Pearson, a St. Louis native, played his freshman season in 2007-08 at Tennessee-Martin of the Ohio Valley Conference, where he appeared in all 33 games and made four starts. He averaged just 1.8 points but had 59 assists against only 39 turnovers.

This past season at Moberly, Pearson shot around 39 percent overall from the field and 28 percent from 3-point range.

"I think Southeast is a great fit for me, coach Nutt has a winning background and he is a player's coach. I am ready to lead the Redhawks back to the top of the OVC," Pearson said in a release. "I really like the city of Cape Girardeau and the campus. Being only a short distance from St. Louis, my family will have a chance to watch me play."

Kyle Gerdeman, Pearson's coach at Moberly, said Pearson is an impressive athlete who has an especially strong mid-range offensive game.

"He's got good point guard skills and at the same time he's got a scorer's mentality," said Gerdeman, a Southeast graduate. "From 15 feet in, he can really score.

"He's a smart player and a good kid. I think he'll do well at Southeast."

Gerdeman said some of the other schools that showed interest in Pearson were Oral Roberts, Central Michigan and Valparaiso.

"He had some pretty good programs looking at him," Gerdeman said.

Pearson, a graduate of Hazelwood Central High School in suburban St. Louis, is Southeast's fifth signee since Nutt was hired March 12.

Nutt landed four players April 15, the first day of the spring signing period, including 6-7 junior college forward Leon Powell from Indian Hills (Iowa) and 5-11 junior college point guard Anthony Allison from Missouri State-West Plains.

Powell, like Pearson, is from St. Louis. Powell attended Vashon High School.

"It's important for us to recruit in the St. Louis area," Nutt said. "I think getting these two young men from St. Louis is a good start for us."

Southeast's other two signees are high school seniors, 6-5 wing LaQuentin Miles from Jacksonville, Ark., and 6-2 combo guard Marland Smith from Little Rock, Ark.

Also recently announced as joining the Redhawks next season will be Nutt's son Lucas, a 5-11 point guard who is a senior at Jonesboro (Ark.) High School. Lucas Nutt will be a walk-on at Southeast.

"We're excited about our new players, but at the same time we still feel like we have a lot of work to do," Dickey Nutt said. "Now what we don't want is to step out and make quick decisions without a lot of research, but we still have some [scholarship] offers out there."

One player Nutt hoped would pick Southeast after recently making an official campus visit is apparently instead heading to Missouri.

Tyler Stone, a 6-8 high school senior from Memphis, Tenn., who visited Missouri over the weekend, reportedly has given the Tigers a verbal commitment.