Mineral Area forward gaining steam

With Mike Anderson getting a late start on his first recruiting class at Missouri, the Tigers have been checking out the junior college circuit to fill some holes for the Class of 2006. One player in whom Missouri has shown a lot of recent interest is right in their own state.

Mineral Area College forward Darryl Butterfield is still undecided and the Tigers have made a late push for his services.

"I think in the future he might take a visit to the University of Missouri," said MAC head coach Corey Tate, a former Tiger himself. "They're very interested."

Butterfield has already taken one visit and is on his way to a second.

"He visited Austin Peay, he liked it, they've offered him. He is flying out today to visit Wisconsin-Milwaukee. They want to talk to him a little bit, take a look at him," said Mineral Area assistant Kyle Gerdeman. "Missouri came down, saw him, said they liked him. They talked to Coach Tate and Darryl a little bit. That's the majority of it right now."

Butterfield averaged 8.4 points and 4.9 rebounds as a sophomore at Mineral Area. He was named to the all-region team. But his coaches say his biggest asset won't show up in a box score.

"His number on strength is he works so hard and that always makes up for a lot of skill work, anything else you don't have," Tate said. "He's a tough kid, he knows how to play the game."

"It's how hard he plays," echoed Gerdeman. "He is a competitor. He has that warrior mentality."

Of course, that's not all the coaches like.

"He's a 6-7 athlete, he has a strong body, he's about 235 right now," Gerdeman said. "He can finish around the basket, he has a nice shot to 15 feet. He's got some perimeter skills as far as passing and ball handling and he is a great defender."

Mizzou might seem like a natural fit for Butterfield since his coach played college ball in Columbia. But Tate won't be pushing Butterfield in any particular direction.

"If it works out, great," Tate said. "As long as he goes to a University, that's what matters."