mackim56

Well I wish the Bill's could have landed him, however he has to go with his own wish. He was 6' 7" 205 3 yrs ago. {never seen him listed anyplace at 6' 6"} He put on weight at Three Rivers and any team that backed off must have seen him on a off night. 1st team Juco All-American # 22 on Rivals Juco players. At any rate I wish him well.

What two Juco players from Ill-State do you not think could have transfered in to SLU from thier Juco Schools???

As a outsider guess dosn't matter much what I think, however I'll toss my 2cents in anyway. Some on here seen intent on hiring a "name" coach? Some object to a Div-2 coach? Some don't want a coach who is 60 yrs old ? I say you need a proven winner period. I would rather have a D-2 coach who has been a winner forever than a name coach that has a so-so record. AGE, I agree get a older coach "Pete" or who ever with Assistants ready to move up in couple yrs. Most mature{ ok older} coaches know HOW to win and won't be looking to move on. Hey the winniest Coach in College basketball is in his 70's and still going strong and SLU had a chance to hire him few years ago and should have {to late now }.

Mineral area has a stable full of 6' -- 6' 3" guards - Fowler just signed with UALR.

From what I'am hearing University of Ar at Little rock {UALR} is front runner for Hassell and John Fowler, both at Mac Juco. Heard SEMO not in picture anymore -- just what I heard.

Have not seen a up-date but early in year Willie was being recruited by Montana State, SEMO, Tenn-Martin and Henderson State. Will try and get a up-date.

I have been watching Hassell for two years and I would take him in a heartbeat. Big rival of MG and Three Rivers, had some big games agaist us. Great shooter, very fast, will take it to the hole, plays much bigger than 5' 10". Can't remenber who has been recruting mim but will see what I can find.

The Poplar Bluff paper today said Mantas is no closer to making any commitment either way, after his SLU visit. Still plans on other visits then make up his mind. PS: anybody know who they paired him up with to show him around??

Before being named All-American MG had firm offers from SLU,Idaho ST, Arkansas State, Western KY, Nevada-Reno, Evansville, Ill.-State, Hawaii, Dayton and East Carolina With interest from Georgia, Ole Miss, Rutgers, Illinois, Oklahoma and Tennessee. I understand he was impressed with SLU when you played North Carolina -- he was there and does work out with Hansbrough when he is in town.

Nestor Colmenares F 6'7 225 So Indian Hills Community College-Ottumwa 1st Team Cory Cooperwood F 6'6 200 Fr Wallace State Community College-Hanceville 1st Team Julian Allen G 6'4" 200 So Garden City Community College 1st Team Marcus Thornton G 6'3" 190 So Kilgore College 1st Team Donald Boone G 6'3" 185 So Southwest Tennessee Community College 1st Team Tyler Kepkay G 6'0" 180 So College of Eastern Utah 1st Team Jamarcus Ellis G 6'6 220 So Chipola College 1st Team Mantas Griskenas F 6'7" 205 So Three Rivers Community College (MO) 1st Team ******** Steve Harley G 5'11" 165 So South Plains College 1st Team Omar Leary G 5'10" 170 So Northeastern Junior College 1st Team Rob Robinson F/C 6'8" 225 Fr Globe Institute of Technology 2nd Team Fred Brathwaite F 6'4" 210 So Georgia Perimeter College 2nd Team Wesley Jones F 6'7" 220 So Pearl River Community College 2nd Team Shondre Guest F 6'7 190 So Aiken Technical College 2nd Team Ian Grady F 6'6" 220 So Allegany College of Maryland 2nd Team Devron Bostick G 6'4" 210 Fr Southwestern Illinois College 2nd Team Marlo Davis PG 6'0" 160 So Lake Region State College 2nd Team Reggie Huffman F 6'6" 205 So Western Oklahoma State College 2nd Team Kenny Dawkins PG 5'10" 160 So Arizona Western College 2nd Team Laron Frazier G 5'11" 160 So Highland Community College-Illinois 2nd Team Henry Salter G 6'4" 215 So Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College 3rd Team Sadell Ayala G 6'2" 190 So Iowa Western Community College 3rd Team Dashaun Williams G 6'3" 200 So Monroe College 3rd Team Geoff Payne F 6'7" 210 So Snow College 3rd Team Willie Hassell G 5'10" 175 So Mineral Area College 3rd Team Barry Eberhardt F 6'6" 240 So Coffeyville Community College 3rd Team *********** Ramon Clemente F 6'6" 225 So Paris Junior College 3rd Team Tony Dennison G 6'3" 170 Fr Broward Community College 3rd Team Robert Jarvis G 5'10" 185 So Seminole Community College 3rd Team Daniel Thomas F 6'7" 210 So Temple College 3rd Team Not a lot of size on this year team !!!!!!

MG who was suppose to have been in St Louis for visit at SLU over the weekend was just named 1st team Juco All-American, by NJCAA. Will his recruitment heat up even more now?

I have a subscription to Jucojunction will see if can find anything else on Alexander for you. Be nice if could land Alexander and MG. Mac PS: I got nothing more than Stlfan -- is a new updated article.

Found this on Juco Juntionfrom Three Rivers. Here is the scoop: has one visit set up at St. Louis U. He has offers from St. Louis, Idaho St., Arkansas St., Western KY, Nevada-Reno, Evansville, Illinois St., Hawaii, Dayton, & East Carolina. He has received interest from several high majors- Georgia, Ole Miss, Rutgers, Illinois, Maryland, Oklahoma, & Tennessee. Gabe DeArmond Editor PowerMizzou.com [email protected] Contributing expert to: JucoJunction.com

I apologize as my previous post was misleading. I didn't say Poplar Bluff was MG "hometown", however I "did" leave that impression and it "was" intensional, SORRY. I was highly offended that a poster on here indicated Poplar Bluff was a less than desirable place to live. OK, now to your question MG is from Lithuania -- Archie is from Russia. I would suppose a larger city would certainly have a larger population of folks from Lithuania and Russia than a small town. Three Rivers recruits not only Nation wide but WORLD wide. We most years have the allowed 3-4 foreign players on your rooster.

On our local region 16 Juco board the subject came up also and earlier fans would ask MG where he was going and he said he couldn't or wouldn't talk about it till season was over. He is getting tons of letters from all over but the Three Schools who seem to be really going after him is SLU, Ark-State and Idaho but that is all I know for now. Will keep you up on anything I hear -- if your interested.

Poplar Bluff is no different than most other places in that some have money -- some don't. Someone ask if I was a 20 yr old College student -- no I'am 57 yrs old and that could make a difference in how one feels. My point was -- what a way to try and recruit someone -- put his home down.

Thanks for your vote on how nice it must be to Live in Poplar Bluff!!! I have a cousin who lives in St Louis, with the same thoughts. I ask him how often he does all the wonderfull things the city offers -- he said oh man 10 - 12 times a year. I laughed at him. I live in a 3,000 ft brick home in area of Doctors, Lawyers and business owners. {Paid less than $150,000.00} I live less than a 10 min drive from work. My tax's and overall cost of living is much less than the city. Now I'am not going to put your fine city down, however as for me I will stay "in the sticks" and drive to the city when I want something I don't have here.

Well it is disappointing when the season ends and you didn't win the ring, however this years team wasn't expected to win our region "State" much less play in sweet 16 National Njcaa tourney. We were very young only 3 Soph and the rest were Freshmen. We started 3 Freshmen, so we had a great year and look forward to next year with a 6' 11" c and 6' 9" pf and experienced PG comming back. Mantas G has not indicated a major that I know of but word is he is a good student, on tract to grad with no problem. Very good English. From here on unless I hear anything on his recruiting, won't hear from me. Good Luck with recruiting MG and others. mac

Raiders lose again in triple over-time to Texas, despite double double from MG. OK now time for recruiting to start

Raiders lose by about 15, best we can do now is 5th in Nation, Still not bad but dog gonnit, Three Rivers and Griskenas picked a bad time for one worse games all year. We just didn't play well enough to have a chance. Griskenas got in foul trouble very early, hate to say this but he didn't get anything done tonight. 3 points on 1-1 from 3 point land. Hand full rebounds and when Mantas don't show up we are in trouble. Just one of those games.

I'll let you know how Mantas and Three Rivers did tonight, after the game. We play Chipola FL at 8pm, winner goes to final four. Not many give the Raiders much chance however. Chipola was ranked #1 most of the year they are 30-1 i think. Chipola beat the Alabama team we beat last night twice during regular season. Anything can happen in a one game thing. Indian hills Iowa went undefeated during regular season but lost first game in tourney today. Indian Hills beat us by 6 points in Feb. We shall see.

Some very interesting posts!!! Someone mentioned that Juco Coachs like to see thier players go to big name Schools, for future recruiting and I think that is a valid point, however this is where SLU might have a advantage with Three Rivers players. He dosn't need that as a recruiting tool. Just the name Three Rivers and Gene Bess is enough in recruiting. {If your going to have to go Juco there are not many better places to go and no better Coach} than Bess and Three Rivers. 37 years and close to 1,030 wins. Coach Bess really cares about his players education { his player graduation rate is higher than the student population as a whole.} He is honest with his players and what level he thinks they can play. It is rare for one of our players to go someplace like North Carolina, Ks, Fl, ect. but they are all over the Valley and other Mid-Major conferences. By the way ALL his players will get offers from somebody and they do every year, that is his biggest recruiting tool. I don't think Griskennas is a MAJOR player but he is a strong Mid- Major, so SLU may have a shot at him. I think Jeff Ford was the last Three Rivers player SLU has had. Anybody remember FORD? They are same type player but Greskenas is a little bigger.

I know Brad has been to Poplar Bluff at least twice to see him play, however Missouri, Okla, Ohio and others have also. Mantas G, has gave no indication of where he is thinking right now, wants to just concentract on National Tourney, for now. Like I have said on other Posts -- he is only 6' 7" about 220 lbs and plays the 2-3 for us. He get rebounds on quickness rather than bulk.

Griskenas 15 points 17 rebound Valvo 11 rebounds 25 points as Three Rivers advances 8 teams left in winners bracket at Njcaa {juco} National Tourney. They play #3 ranked Chipola, Fl tomorrow night. Three Rivers beat Alabama 64-63 on two free throws with 4 seconds to play after blowing a 8 point leed with under two min to play but helt on for the win. PS Griskenas got those 17 boards going up agaist Alabama 7' footer and another big 6' 8" kid.

Griskenas official line: 2-5 2pt goal 1-1 3pt goal 12-15 free throws 11 rebounds 3 blocked shots 3 steals He is our best rebounder playing the 2 and 3 spot -- not real big 6'7" about 215 lbs but with a 40 in vertical and gets up quick like a deer. 3star you may be right about Missouri and Oklahoma looking for next year Archie Valvo 6' 9" 235 is getting looks but only a freshmn, he got in foul trouble early Tuesday night but had 4 boards and 12 points in 14 min. We have another 6'9" and 6' 11" kid comming off bench both freshman. Mineral area has a host of guards people are looking at and John Fowler 6'4" {plays 6'7"] reminds me of Monroe Douglas, so he may end up at a small D-1 like Ark-State but he can play. At least 3 of thier guards have offers and looks from D-1 teams. Mineral area was just one more big man away from being a top 10 Juco in the Nation.