Recruitment continues across all sports

Recruiting has picked up this summer for fall sports as teams look to fill their roster for the upcoming season. The Lady Lions soccer team is looking to repeat as Southland Conference champions. They will have to do it with a mixture of new talent and returning players. The women’s basketball team however, will be looking to bounce back from two consecutive poor seasons with a new roster and new Head Coach Errol Gauff. The Lady Lions volleyball team is coming back from a successful season that ended in the first round of the Southland Conference tournament.
The Lion's Roar/Jonathan Rhodes

Through most of this summer, Lions sports teams have been recruiting new players to their team and to the university. Recruiting is not just done in the summer or off-season, but all year long. Recruiting is done in order to fill out the roster each season. One team that has done this very well so far is the Lady Lions volleyball team.

“We have a very strong group of recruits joining us for the upcoming season,” said Head volleyball Coach Jim Smoot. “They will bring high level experience, skill and a winning tradition to our program. Savannah Alcazar and Chloee Holden were starters on the 2016 Junior Olympic 17 Open division national championship team. Elyssa Purcell is coming to us after being a redshirt freshman at Central Florida and our two local girls, Jodi Edo and Emily Waddell, have both shown great promise this club season. As far as the players skill set, that changes every year depending our current needs. But, we always look for athletes with a strong work ethic and a desire to fulfill their potential. We also want to bring in players that will mesh well with our team and love being at Southeastern.”

The Lady Lions basketball team recruited new players under their first year Head Coach Errol Gauff. The new players: Rayne High School and two-time District 3-4A Most Valuable Player guard Charlesha Dugas, Hattiesburg High School guard Tamia Stinson, Copiah-Lincoln Community College forward Tytiana Hall, Jacksonville College forward Sam Weir and Jones County Junior College wing Ashailee Brailey.

“Personally, I think recruiting went well,” said Gauff. “I know people say we got a late start, but I like our signees. I believe they will add athleticism and competitiveness to our team.”

The Lady Lions soccer team recruited six players from many different locations in February such as defender Rebecca Gillett from Christchurch, New Zealand, midfielder Alexandra Gundersen from Reading, Pennsylvania, defender Caitlin LaMarche from Laguna Niguel, California, midfielder Caroline Lee from Tryon, North Carolina, striker Amber Marinero from West Covina, California and fullback Lenny Yekka from Mississauga, Ontario.

Three more signings were made to add to this recruiting class making a total of nine new additions to the defending Southland Conference Champions. M0idfielder Linda Karlsson from Norrkoping, Sweden, midfielder Ylva Svendsen from Bergen, Norway and goalkeeper Matilda Bylund from Kramfors, Sweden.

“We are very pleased with the new additions to the team that will add to a strong core group of returning student athletes,” said Head soccer Coach Blake Hornbuckle. “Recruiting is perpetual and a work in progress. We are recruiting multiple classes each recruiting cycle. While out looking at prospects for 2016, we are also looking at prospects for 2017, 2018 and beyond. I handle the majority of our recruiting along with Assistant Coach, Matt Muia. We look for prospects that fit our philosophy and mentality.”

Teams recruit in different ways. It is not always a one person job or a group of coaches traveling to find possible new recruits. In the case of the Lady Lion volleyball team, it is a one person job.

“My assistant coach Emily Jordan heads up our recruiting efforts,” said Smoot. “She is mainly responsible for the strong additions to our program in the past seasons. Her experience as a junior college coach and as a club coach in Texas has provided the connections necessary to build a recruiting network.”

However, for the Lady Lions basketball team, it is a collective effort by the coaches to recruit new players.

“Really all of the coaches look for potential student-athletes,” said Gauff. “We go to high school games, AAU events and a lot through contacts with coaches at different levels.”

Recruiting is not just looking for the most talented players in high school, but it is also about finding the players that fit in with the university and can represent the university in the best way.

“Initially, it’s her physical attributes and skill that attract you,” said Gauff. “How quick, agile and explosive she is. Then how does she handle and shoot the ball. But, what’s most important takes building a relationship to truly reveal and that’s what type of character she has and what type of academic student she is. Character is huge because you want good people because you can really coach them and can trust them on and off the floor.”

These teams will begin practices sometime early in the upcoming fall semester with the new recruits after they have enrolled in classes.

“Preseason training will begin August 3rd,” said Hornbuckle. “Due to NCAA rules, we can not work with them until that time frame.”

The women’s basketball team starts later in the semester.

“We have started our 2 hour per week practices,” said Gauff. “But, our first official practice cannot be before October 4.”

Volleyball practices will start the earliest.

“We will start practice the second week of August,” said Smoot.

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