Redhawks football season kickoff draws closer

The one surefire sign that the Southeast Missouri State football season is just about upon us is when the Redhawks finish their training camp.

Get ready for the games to begin because the Redhawks concluded their two-week camp Saturday with their second and final scrimmage.

Classes begin today, so Southeast reverts to a once-per-day afternoon practice schedule following classes.

From everything I can gather -- both by attending practices and scrimmages and talking to players and coaches -- Southeast had a solid camp and made considerable progress.

Those within the program seem genuinely optimistic that last year's record-setting season wasn't just a one-shot deal and that the Redhawks can back it up with another strong campaign.

I feel the same way, but we'll start finding out more when the season begins, which is in less than two weeks when SIU-Carbondale visits what figures to be a packed Houck Stadium on Sept. 3.

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Erik Sean conducted an interesting interview with Southeast men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt on Friday's Sports Huddle radio show.

Along with discussing the Redhawks' recently released schedule, Nutt touched on some other interesting topics.

There had been lingering questions about the status of forward Nate Schulte, who missed much of the 2010-11 season with a blood clot that caused serious health issues.

Nutt said Schulte, who was a key contributor as a junior last year before being sidelined, will not return to the Redhawks.

Nutt said Schulte is transferring to a Division II program closer to his home in Las Vegas.

Schulte's departure gives the Redhawks one available scholarship for this season. Although Nutt said there is a possibility Southeast could fill it, that doesn't appear likely.

Having an available scholarship never is a bad thing because it leaves open the possibility of a transfer.

Nutt also said that guard Nick Niemczyk, a Bell City product who averaged 13.4 points in five games before missing the rest of the season with knee problems, has been granted a medical redshirt.

That means Niemczyk, who was coming off major knee surgery before arriving at Southeast as a junior college transfer, still will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Finally, Nutt said the Redhawks tried to get SIU-Carbondale on this season's schedule but the Salukis nixed that.

It's a shame the programs couldn't come to an agreement because there is no reason teams less than an hour drive from each other should not be meeting on an annual basis.

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A former Southeast basketball player will have his college career extended.

Roderick Pearson has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA, meaning the point guard will be able to play for Oral Roberts University this season.

Pearson was at Southeast for two years before transferring to ORU in 2008. He sat out the 2008-09 campaign under NCAA transfer rules, then missed most of 2009-10 with a knee injury.

After missing almost two full seasons, Pearson returned to start 30 games for the Golden Eagles last year. He averaged 5.6 points and led the team with 92 assists.

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The Jacksonville State football team, the Ohio Valley Conference's preseason favorite and ranked ninth nationally entering the year, suffered a big blow in practice last week.

Preseason all-conference offensive tackle Odie Rush had surgery on his fractured left leg and will be out an undetermined amount of time.

Rush was JSU's only pick on the preseason all-OVC offense.

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Cody Livesay, a 2011 Anna-Jonesboro (Ill.) High School graduate who played with the Cape Girardeau Ford and Sons American Legion baseball team this summer, signed with the Atlanta Braves organization last week.

The outfielder was selected by the Braves in the 42nd round of the amateur draft in June.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.