Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach speaks highly about recruits

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt is excited about the three players his program landed during the NCAA's week-long early signing period that began Wednesday.

Nutt especially is fired up over nabbing highly regarded 6-foot-3, 215-pound point guard C.J. Reese.

Reese, who at one time received interest from several Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference programs, is rated by ESPN among the nation's top 100 high school point guards.

ESPN ranks Reese a two-star recruit and the ninth-best player in Tennessee.

"We feel like he's a special guy, and we feel very fortunate to sign him," Nutt said. "A lot of people were interested and talking to him. It says a lot about our campus, our community and our basketball program."

Reese, a native of Atlanta, is entering his second season at the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn. He averaged 14.2 points, 4.8 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game last year in helping McCallie reach the Division II-AA state championship game. It was McCallie's first appearance in a state final.

Reese led Westlake, from the Atlanta area, to the Georgia Class AAAAA state final as a sophomore. He moved to Chattanooga after the school year.

"He's got a big, strong body. He's very athletic. He has a knack for finding people and he can score," Nutt said. "I thought my staff did a super job of locating this young man. We feel like we're getting an outstanding true point guard to help us build our program."

Nutt also is high on the two De Soto (Mo.) High School seniors Southeast signed, 6-2, 200-pound combo guard Jared White and 6-10, 250-pound center Colin Ferguson.

Both had received interest from Missouri Valley Conference and Sun Belt Conference programs. White also was being recruited for football by FCS programs.

White averaged 19.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.9 steals last season. He shot 49 percent from the field, including nearly 35 percent from 3-point range.

"We were able to watch him a couple of years in our team camp," Nutt said. "He plays with such heart. He's another very tough, big-bodied guard. He can do a lot of things. We were very lucky to sign him."

Ferguson, considered raw but promising, averaged 10.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks last year. He shot 52 percent from the field.

"He's as athletic as you'll see, and it's hard to teach 6-foot-10," Nutt said. "We've watched him improve tremendously the last two years. He can shoot the 3. He can bang. He can jump. I really feel like the future is ahead of him.

"Jared and Colin come from a very good high school program. We try to recruit programs. Coach [Allen] Davis does a great job."

Nutt said Southeast likely won't sign any more players during the early period.

"I'm excited about our early signing class," Nutt said. "We signed three very good high school players, and that is important to us."