Redhawks' Mahon first OVC player taken in draft

The Ohio Valley Conference didn't have quite the haul this year as in 2010 when it came to baseball's amateur draft.

But the OVC still had a strong representation during last week's annual 50-round, three-day event.

One year after having a conference-record 13 players selected, the OVC saw eight players picked. That gives the league 46 players drafted over the past five years. Not too shabby.

Southeast Missouri State left-handed pitcher Logan Mahon was the first OVC player drafted last week. Mahon was taken in the 22nd round by the Colorado Rockies, the 678th overall selection.

Mahon had an impressive senior season following his move to the bullpen after being one of Southeast's OVC starters as a junior.

I knew Mahon opened plenty of eyes and had a good chance to get drafted. But I had no idea he was regarded highly enough to go in the top 25 rounds of the draft, something that has only happened to four other Southeast players.

Mahon, in fact, even seemed a bit surprised that he had been drafted that high when I talked to him a few hours after his selection.

But more power to Mahon, who will be assigned to one of the Rockies' minor league affiliates as he tries to make every kid's dream come true by reaching the major leagues.

The other OVC players drafted last week were Eastern Illinois outfielder Zach Borenstein (23rd round, Dodgers); Tennessee Tech outfielder Chad Oberacker (25th, Athletics); Austin Peay pitcher Jack Snodgrass (27th, Giants), Austin Peay pitcher Jeremy Dobbs (33rd, Mariners), Tennessee-Martin second baseman Trey Karlen (33rd, Nationals), Austin Peay pitcher Ryne Harper (37th, Braves) and Jacksonville State first baseman Ben Waldrip (40th, Royals).

Borenstein, Dobbs and Waldrip are juniors, meaning they have the option of returning to school for their final seasons of eligibility.

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Southeast's highest-ever baseball draft pick is pitcher Galen McSpadden, who was taken in the sixth round in 1974 by the Padres.

The program's next three highest selections are infielder Zach Borowiak (14th round, 2003, Red Sox), pitcher Brandon Smith (18th round, 2002, Red Sox) and pitcher Ryan Spille (19th round, 1999, Blue Jays).

None of them reached the big leagues. McSpadden came the closest, earning a spot on San Diego's 40-man major league roster in 1977 and 1978 but he suffered an arm injury in 1978 and was released.

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The Southeast football team has lost another assistant as wide receivers coach Lorenzo Brinkley recently left the program. No replacement has been announced.

Brinkley, a St. Louis native who was a high school coach in the city for several years before coming to Southeast, is going back to the prep ranks as the offensive coordinator for Kirkwood High School in suburban St. Louis.

That makes it four assistants from last season who have departed, the others being Vincent White, Kenny Wilhite and Troy Dumas.

One more Southeast football note: It recently was announced that the Redhawks' Sept. 17 game at Purdue will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.

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Women's college basketball players will have to shoot their 3-pointers from a little farther out, beginning with the 2011-12 season.

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel recently approved a recommendation to move the women's 3-point line back one foot to 20 feet, 9 inches, the same distance the men have used since 2008-09.

Also for the 2011-12 campaign, women's teams will test a 10-second half-court rule during exhibition games and closed scrimmages.

One other notable rules change beginning in 2011-12 for both men and women is the addition of an arc three feet from the basket, inside which a defender cannot take a charge. This change is modeled after the NBA.

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According to a media report last week, the Southwestern Athletic Conference has extended an invitation to OVC member Tennessee State to join the league, although the report said the conference doesn't have a timetable for TSU's acceptance or refusal.

It has long been rumored that TSU, the OVC's only historically black university, would join the SWAC, which consists solely of historically black universities.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.