Time will tell on new Southeast football recruits

I've never heard a college coach in any sport say he or she didn't land a good recruiting class.

So Southeast Missouri State football coach Tony Samuel naturally raved about his latest batch of recruits Wednesday as the signing period began.

Samuel and his staff landed 17 players, with several more expected to sign in the weeks and months ahead.

I'm not suggesting the Redhawks didn't nab some talented players and promising prospects, but at this level it's almost impossible for the average fan to make any judgements because most of the recruits are virtual unknowns to the majority of us.

Samuel did seem genuinely excited about the signees, saying publicly that the Redhawks basically got what they were looking for.

One interesting aspect of Wednesday's signees is that the bulk were high school seniors, with only three junior college transfers in the bunch.

Normally, since Southeast returns so many key players from last season, that might be expected in order to build for the future. But with Samuel in the last year of his contract and likely needing at least a solid season to keep his job, people might have expected him to look for more immediate help.

That still might happen because there figures to be more roster additions before fall practice begins in August.

As for Wednesday's signees, other than reading their stats, I'm not familiar with most of them.

But, based on what I saw while watching the 2009 Missouri Class 6 state championship game on TV, I am at least confident that the Redhawks landed an impressive return specialist to replace record-setting Jacob McKinley after he decided to leave the program.

Spencer Davis of Hazelwood Central High School in suburban St. Louis returned eight punts for touchdowns as a senior. One came during that televised matchup with Blue Springs, a dazzling 76-yarder that was the longest in a state title game.

When I saw Davis run that punt all the way back, my first thought was, "Man, that kid can fly. He is really good." I had no idea at the time that he would wind up at Southeast, but I think Redhawks fans will get a kick out of watching him return punts and kickoffs, along with other areas in which his skills might be used.

Davis, part of two state championship teams at Hazelwood Central, is also an all-state sprinter in track who, Samuel told me, has run a 10.6 in the 100 meters. Now that really is flying.

Samuel said Davis was looked at by some major programs who were eventually scared off by his size. Southeast listed him as 5-foot-8, 175 pounds in its official press release Wednesday, although the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has listed him a bit shorter and lighter.

Regardless, Davis sounds like a nice catch for Southeast.

I'm sure some of the other signees will turn out to be nice catches as well. Only time will tell.

---

While Samuel was excited when talking about his signees, he also was fired up to reveal a notable academic achievement for the Redhawks.

Samuel told me 36 Southeast football players notched a grade-point average of at least 3.0 for the fall semester, the most since he took over the program before the 2006 season.

---

The Southeast softball team, coming off a year that featured the program's most wins since 2000, opens the season Thursday at Jackson State.

Then the following week the Southeast baseball squad kicks off its campaign Feb. 19 at Auburn.

Although the calendar says it's still winter, spring definitely is in the air.

---

My sympathy goes out to the family of Ron Shumate Jr., who died unexpectedly last week at age 48. He had been living in Hixson, Tenn., which is near Chattanooga.

Shumate, the son of former longtime Southeast men's basketball coach Ron Shumate, played quarterback at Southeast in the mid-1980s.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.