SEMO ATTRACTS SOUTHERN MISS QB

Nothing is official until he is actually enrolled in school and practicing with the football team.

But there appears to be no question that Heath Graham will be wearing a Southeast Missouri State University uniform next season.

Efforts to reach Graham -- who is finishing up the semester at Southern Mississippi -- have been unsuccessful, but his mother confirmed earlier this week that her son was planning to move to Cape Girardeau in a few weeks and was looking forward to enrolling at Southeast and wearing an Indian uniform in the 1997 season.

"We're all excited about it," said Elaine Graham. "Heath is very excited."

Graham, a 6-foot-3, 225-pounder who has one year of eligibility remaining, is transferring from Southern Mississippi, where he ranks second on the school's all-time passing yardage list but lost his starting job midway through the 1996 season.

As a player who is transferring to a lower division -- in this case from Division I-A to Division I-AA -- Graham will be eligible immediately under NCAA guidelines. Players who transfer from one I-A school to another are forced to sit out a full year.

Graham had mixed success at Southern Mississippi, but his 4,052 career passing yards ranks second in school history behind a pretty noted player -- Brett Favre, who led the Green Bay Packers to this year's Super Bowl title. Favre threw for 7,695 yards in college.

As a redshirt freshmen in 1994, Graham completed 121 of 208 passes for 1,603 yards and seven touchdowns, with 15 interceptions. He started the last six games of the season as the Golden Eagles went 6-5.

Graham started all 11 games in 1995, completing 161 of 325 passes for 1,816 yards and 15 touchdowns, with 18 interceptions. The Eagles again went 6-5.

As a junior in 1996, Graham started the first five games -- giving him 22 consecutive starts in all -- and completed 52 of 122 passes for 634 yards, with one touchdown and six interceptions.

Southern Mississippi went 4-1 during the first five games of the 1996 season, but Graham was benched after completing only 12 of 27 passes during a win against Louisville. He never took another snap as the Eagles -- with Lee Roberts at quarterback -- wound up 8-3.

For his Southern Mississippi career, Graham has completed 334 of 655 passes (51 percent), with 23 touchdowns and 39 interceptions.

Two of Graham's best performances in a Southern Mississippi uniform took place during his redshirt freshman season. He was 18 of 31 for 288 yards against LSU and 20 of 31 for 267 yards against Alabama.

Graham was a star all-around athlete in tiny Stringer, Miss., which is located about 30 miles from the Southern Mississippi campus is Hattiesburg. He helped lead Stringer High to three consecutive Class 1A (Mississippi's smallest classification) state titles in both football and baseball before signing with the Eagles.

Southeast coach John Mumford has declined to comment about Graham's expected arrival, saying he's not sure if he is allowed under NCAA guidelines to say anything until Graham is officially enrolled and on the squad.

Mumford did say, however, that no matter who joins the Indians, he considers competition for the starting quarterback position to be open. The starter going out of spring drills was returning regular Justin Martini, a senior-to-be who last season completed 103 of 234 passes (44 percent) for 1,225 yards, with five touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Also in the picture is touted freshman David Edgerton, who did not see any game action last season while being redshirted.

Heath Graham File

Height -- 6-3

Weight -- 225

Career at So. Mississippi

Year Att. Comp. Yards TD Int.

1994 121 208 1,603 7 15

1995 161 325 1,816 15 18

1996 52 122 634 1 6

Career 334 655 4,052 23 39