“font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal;”>Frank

Haith has been off and running since becoming the new men’s

basketball coach at the University of Missouri. Haith has the

reputation of being an excellent recruiter on the national level.

He has already talked about keeping the top talent in the state of

Missouri at home, especially the top players in the St. Louis metro

area that have been getting away in recent years.

The MU

program has done well in recruiting Kansas City area talent in

recent years, but getting into the STL has been the program

Achilles Heel. The chickens really came home to roost this year

during the NCAA Tournament when we saw STL products Josh Harrellson

(St. Charles), Alex Tyus (Hazelwood Central) and Jesse Perry

(Arizona) shine. The ultimate kick in the butt had to be last week

when the Show-Me State’s first ever Gatorade National Player of the

Year showed up at his press conference donned in his Florida Gators

sweatshirt.

That has

to change.

One good

place to get the in-state momentum recruiting going in the right

direction (especially our side of the state) is to hire an

assistant coach with some ties to the area. There are two young men

who fit the bill and I think would be excellent additions to

Haith’s new staff.

The first

name that comes to mind if former Cardinal Ritter College Prep star

Chris Carrawell. Carrawell enjoyed a great career at Duke,

including being name the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the

Year in 2000. He is still a member of Mike Krzyzewski’s staff and

has Coach K’s recommendation. Chris would give the Missouri program

instant credibility around the state and especially in St. Louis.

His name also still has a little national swag having been a

standout at Duke.

The other

name is Derek Thomas, who is currently an assistant coach at the

University at Detroit. Derek is no stranger to the Show-Me State.

He is a Kansas City native. D.T. also spent many years in St. Louis

as a head coach at CBC High and an assistant coach at Saint Louis

University. He was also a former Division I head coach at Western

Illinois University. Derek still actively recruits the St. Louis

area.

I think

it’s time for the University of Missouri to have a person on its

men’s basketball staff from the St. Louis area. We haven’t had one

on the previous two staffs. I think this would be a great place to

start.

Just my

thoughts.

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“font-family: Verdana;”> *The Bradley Beal postseason

All-Star Basketball Game Tour continues this weekend in Charlotte,

N.C. where he will play in the Jordan Brand All-Star Classic. The

game will be televised on ESPN2 on Saturday at 8 p.m. Scott County

Central (Mo.) star Otto Porter, Jr. will also be playing in the

Jordan Brand Classic. Last weekend, Beal had eight points, four

rebounds and three assists to help the USA All-Stars defeat the

World Select Team 92-80 in the Nike Hoops Summit in

Portland.

 

“font-family: Verdana;”> *McCluer North High standout

B.J. Young was named the Most Outstanding Player for his North Team

at the Inaugural All-American Classic, which was held in Houston

during Final Four weekend. Young scored a team-high 17 points in

the North’s 93-91 overtime loss to the South. Young rallied the

North team back from a 20-point second-half deficit to force

overtime.

 

“font-family: Verdana;”> *Congratulations to UMSL

basketball standout Gerald Fulton, Jr., who was named to the

All-Great Lakes Valley Conference First Team and the Daktronics

All-Midwest Regional Team after a stellar junior season for the

Tritons. The 6’2” Fulton averaged 22 points a game to lead UMSL to

a 16-10 season, which was the program’s most victories in more than

a decade.

 

“font-family: Verdana;”> *I

will be appearing at the St. Louis Public Library Walnut Park

Branch (5760 West Florissant) on Saturday, May 7 for a presentation

and book signing for my various publications, including, The

PHL in the STL, You Might Need a Jacket: Hilarious Stories of Wacky

Sports Parents and You Might Need a Jacket II. My presentation

will be from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Hope to see you all there. It should

be a good time.

“font-family: Verdana;”> 

“font-family: Verdana;”> (You can follow Earl

Austin Jr. daily on his basketball website,

“http://www.earlaustinjr.com/”>

“font-style: normal;”>www.earlaustinjr.com

. You can also

follow Earl on twitter.com/earlaustinjr. and

Facebook).