Recruiters hot on the Lincoln Trail

Everick Sullivan wasn't sure what to expect when he took over as Lincoln Trail College's head coach this summer.

“I came in in July and I didn't have a lot of time to recruit a lot of guys in,” Sullivan said. “What I ended up having is a sophomore class that is pretty steady and some good guards.”

“One thing you either got it or don't got it, guys who play hard every play. That's what I have,” Sullivan added. “You add skill level to that, I have that. Everybody knows you win games with guards.”

Sullivan's guards have won him a number of games so far. Lincoln Trail is 8-and-2, including wins over Three Rivers and Vincennes so far. Only Vincennes (by one) and Highland (by four) have beaten Sullivan's team.

One of the big reasons why is 6-foot sophomore guard Emanuel Howard, who they call “Bud.”

“The workhorse of the team, the kind of guy that's hard to find, Bud Howard was first team all-GRAC last year and I brought him back,” Sullivan said. “He's unreal. I think he might have been an all-state football player. His love is football. I'm not sure his position, but if you see him, see his body type, you can see what I'm talking about. He's a crazy athlete at that size. He's so hard nosed, he hits the floor five or six times a game. When we played Three Rivers, he was getting balls nobody else would think he'd get to.”

Sullivan said schools like Southeast Louisiana and Illinois State are keeping an eye on Howard. He's been joined in the backcourt by Marques Dawson who says his biggest sports thrill is once racking up 16 steals in a game.

“He has a really really unbelievable knack for getting his hands on balls and stealing the ball,” Sullivan said. “He's a slasher, can get to the basket, shoot the ball. He's not a great consistent outside shooter, but he can definitely become that.”

Dawson is used to big-time competition. Growing up in Huntington, West Virginia, he played ball at Rosehill Academy on a team that included phenom O.J. Mayo.

Sullivan said UAB is the school watching Dawson the most closely, but that Baylor, San Jose State and Texas A&M have also shown some interest.

The sophomore class is solid, but Sullivan is excited about his freshmen as well.

“I've got a couple kids I think are going to be special,” he said. “Fred Finley, 6-5, kind of a Sprewell type game. He really knows how to play, can play point guard, we can play him at the one, two, three or four. Another kid, one of the fastest I have ever coached, is Jermaine Thomas from Manley High school in Chicago. Both of those kids have been coming off the bench and picking us up.”