Mineral Area has two to watch
As the end of the first semester nears, Mineral Area College in Missouri preps for its toughest test of the season. MAC will head north to Burlington to face Southeastern Iowa this weekend.
"They're coming off a loss," said assistant coach Kyle Gerdeman. "I think it's the toughest place in the country to go play. I was at Moberly the last three years and we never came close to them. I'll be happy just to be in the game for once."
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Mineral Area, 9-and-3 and winners of seven of its last eight, does have a shot in the game. Although the staff is in its first year (head coach and former Missouri Tiger Corey Tate had been an assistant for three seasons), the team has played well thanks in part to a couple of players.
"The sophomore that early on is getting the most Division One attention is Matt Foster," Gerdeman said.
Foster played a year at Louisiana-Lafayette before transferring due to a coaching change. He has missed the last three weeks or so with two separate ankle injuries, but Gerdeman liked what he saw before that.
"He is a 3-4, 6-foot-7 kid who really can shoot," Gerdeman said. "He knows how to play, he was leading us in rebounding when he went out. That was the knock on him, that maybe he was not tough enough, but he was doing real well. It was unfortunate for him to get hurt."
Gerdeman said UMKC and Arkansas State had been in to see Foster earlier this year. Illinois State, Ball State and Stephen F. Austin are other schools showing interest.
Sophomore Ryan Byrne, out of Illinois, isn't getting much attention yet. But Gerdeman thinks that may change.
"To me, he's getting overlooked by some people, we need to get his name out there," Gerdeman said. "People stop in and say 'Who's that kid, where did he come from?" Nobody is on him really hard right now."
Gerdeman says the 6-foot-3 Byrne is definitely a low-to-mid-major prospect. Byrne is averaging 14 points and five rebounds a game through the first 12 contests.