The Southeast Missouri State men's and women's basketball programs filled some needs for the future with signings on the opening day of the NCAA's week-long early signing period Wednesday.
Marion, Illinois, senior guard Robby Dosier signed a national letter of intent to play for Redhawks coach Dickey Nutt.
Southeast women's coach Ty Margenthaler had four players sign to play for him next year: Olivia Crozier, Amber Lindfors and twin sisters Jennifer and Jessica Mackowiak.
Dosier, who moved to Marion from Carbondale, Illinois, following his sophomore year, averaged about 10 points and four rebounds per game last season.
"He's a really good shooter and that certainly was one of our biggest goals to locate guys that could shoot the basketball, and good free throw shooters on top of that, and he certainly is," Nutt said. "I'm really proud to be able to land a guy like Robby Dosier."
The 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard helped his team to its first regional championship since 1990. The Wildcats posted a 16-14 record and reached the 3A sectional championship his junior season. He also averaged 17 ppg for the Illinois Bears AAU team last summer.
"I think the thing that he brings is that he's very confident with his game," Nutt said. "He has a swag about him that makes him a good player. While we were watching him over the last year, it didn't matter who he was playing, it didn't matter who was on that floor with him, he felt like and he played like he was the best guy out there. If he missed a shot, he was going to take the next one, and I love that in a shooter."
Crozier, a 6-1 all-state forward from Madison, Indiana, averaged 14.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.2 assists and steals as a junior.
She was named the Madison Courier's Area Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year last season.
"You just look at her stat line and she's very, very good," Margenthaler said. "She's 6-1, a very strong player. I love the fact that she can step out and shoot the ball from 3-point range, but she's very comfortable and very active around the rim as well and is a very athletic kid."
Margenthaler also added a 6-4 post player from Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, in Lindfors.
Lindfors was all-conference and all-area, and was ranked the No. 30 player in the Chicago Area by the Bret McCormick All Star Girls report.
"What she brings to us is definitely her size," Margenthaler said. "She's not a 6-4, thin kid -- she's a very strong, put-together kid. She's going to really help us on the defensive end, no question. She can catch and score around the basket. She does move well for being a solid 6-4, and she's every bit of 6-4, which I'm very, very excited about. We had just not been able to get that kind of quality of player."
Lindfors and the Mackowiak twins played on the same AAU basketball team, the Illinois Elite.
Jennifer and Jessica Mackowiak are both 5-8 guards from Fenwick High School in Cicero, Illinois.
Jennifer, a point guard, averaged 12 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds as a junior, and was named the Suburban East Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore and junior.
"She's honestly just one of the best guards in the state of Illinois, definitely up in the Chicago area, for sure," Margenthaler said. "She's very dynamic on both ends. She can score the basketball and really defend. The one thing that she really brings that I really like is she's got just a will to win. I love point guards that communicate, and she really does that on the court."
Jessica, a shooting guard, averaged 15 points per game as a junior and shot 42.4 percent from behind the arc.
"They're totally different players," Margenthaler said. "Jennifer's a right-handed player, Jessica's a lefty. Jennifer's kind of a stocky, strong kid. Jessica's a little longer, lankier. She's a 2-guard, she's a 3-point shooter. I really liked her hustle, she's a good defender. Definitely her main strength on the offensive end is really extending the defense and she can really shoot the basketball quite well."
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