LMC loaded with major talent

It's not tough to figure out why Lon Morris College is one of the better junior college basketball programs around. Just ask head coach Dale Dotson how many of his players he thinks will play Division One ball next year.

"I think all of them will," Dotson says. "All of our guys usually play Division One."

The Bearcats certainly have a start on that happening. 6-foot-6 sophomore Kyile Byrd signed early with Texas-San Antonio. 6-foot-4 guard Michael Neal is going to play for the Oklahoma Sooners next season.

"He's a big time player," Dotson said of Neal. "He's just a great basketball player. People look at scores and all that kind of nonsense, they don't see really what a guy can do. He's averaging 18. He's capable of 30, but he doesn't care. He is a coach's player. Thankfully, he is a great player that's a coach's player."

Dotson points to one particular game in boasting about Neal. The Bearcats trailed Tyler by five points with 12 seconds left in regulation. Neal hit a three. Lon Morris sent Tyler to the line where the opposition went 1-for-2. Neal came down and hit a game-tying three at the buzzer and Lon Morris went on to win in overtime. That's Reggie Miller-like.

"I've been coaching since 1967 and I've never coached a player better without the basketball," Dotson said. "He's not a between the legs, behind the back, watch me kind of guy. He will wear you out without the ball. That's why I say he's a coach's player."

Neal may be the star, but Lon Morris didn't get to 14-and-1 by being a one-man show. Melvyn Richardson and Todd Henry are also getting plenty of Division One attention, all the way from the mid-major level to the Big Ten.

"Melvin is 6-8, a big body, 235. He's a block player, a rebounder. He can shoot it from 15-16 feet," Dotson said. "Henry is a 6-6, three/four guy, just tougher than a boot. He will go rebound the ball, can score, can run."

In addition, Colombian sophomore Norbey Aragon is a little too old for D1 ball, but is being recruited by the nation's elite D2 programs.

Talk about this story on the JucoJunction Board.