SCOOBA — Life can sometimes deal some harsh realities on the recruiting trail.
East Mississippi Community College football coach Buddy Stephens has heard a little bit of it all from recruits and their parents. When you lead the state’s best program, it goes with the territory.
“When we first got here, nobody thought we were going to win,” Stephens said. “Then we started winning. Then you start recruiting better and the state opens up all of a sudden. When the state opened up, now you are recruiting overall and recruiting tactics change.”
The Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges eliminated recruiting districts prior to the 2011 season. In the previous 20 years, each of the MACJC’s 14 institutions could protect 22 players from their districts. For some schools, it was six counties. For others, it was eight. The protected players had to play at their home community college or out of state.
The MACJC presidents eliminated those districts in 2011 to allow student-athletes the freedom to choose any state school. The present 55-man MACJC football rosters are restricted to eight out-of-state players. The balance of the roster can come from anywhere in the state.
“People have been accusing us of running up the score,” Stephens said. “What people don’t realize is sometimes the score is a direct correlation to how people recruit. We face people who run us down and talk bad about us. One coach at one college told a parent we had 10 football players kicked off because of a drug raid at our school.
“People talk bad about us. They lie about us. They run down Scooba. They run down the college. If you are going to talk bad about us on the recruiting trail, you better be able to back it up on the field. I have a huge problem with this. People think they can say what they want and do what they want. At some time, you have to pay the consequences. We are paying our price right now, and we are going to grow and get better.”
EMCC saw its season cut short when a brawl took place in the regular-season finale against Mississippi Delta C.C in Moorhead. EMCC was leading 48-0 with 59 seconds left in the first half when a fight broke out on the Mississippi Delta sidelines. The incident led to a series of skirmishes on the playing surface of Jim Randall Stadium.
The day after the fight, EMCC was banned from the MACJC playoffs. For the first time since 2007 — the year before Stephens’ arrival – the Lions didn’t get to play in a playoff game. Instead, the team finished without an appearance in the postseason but a fifth-straight North Division title and an 8-1 record.
Despite the difficult ending to the season, EMCC still should be in line to pull in the state’s best junior college recruiting class for 2016.
West Point senior defensive back Jeffrey Drake said he has heard from all of the state’s 14 junior colleges. EMCC is in his preferred top five. He said the brawl hasn’t affected the school’s stock.
Columbus junior quarterback C.J. Gholar has another year before he sets his college plans. He said EMCC remains one of the nation’s best programs, and he expects the team to make a full recovery next season. Two of Gholar’s senior teammates also said EMCC is at the top of their wish list.
EMCC freshman defensive back Alexander Lipscomb said as many as four or five of his former teammates at Columbus High could sign with EMCC in February. He encourages his friends and former teammates to come on board.
“It is all about championships here,” Lipscomb said. “We are determined to get back to winning championships. I think players will still look at us as a place to go to win championships. You can’t be haunted by one unfortunate incident. You have to learn from it, grow and get better.”
Stephens said his program’s recruiting philosophy might change in the next year. Including protected players, EMCC used to have as many as 25 players from the Golden Triangle area. This year’s roster included six from the original recruiting district (Clay, Kemper, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Noxubee, and Oktibbeha counties).
Against Mississippi Delta win, Southeast Lauderdale wide receiver Damion Willis was the only starter from the original district. However, Lipscomb drew several starts at defensive back, while Starkville High’s Jacquez Horsley was the team’s third-leading rusher.
“We may alter some of the things we have been doing slightly,” Stephens said. “We may need a few more local kids. I think they would be more invested in the community. That’s probably a step that we need to take.
“We really want to lock down our backyard. We need the best players in the local area playing for us. It’s a pride thing. We have the best program, and the talent in our area is good enough to sustain that.”
Starkville High senior Avery Brown is a cousin to former EMCC running back Preston Baker. Landing Brown would allow EMCC to continue the trend of talented running backs from Starkville, which included Baker and now Horsley.
Former Aberdeen High wide receiver Sammie Burroughs just finished his career at EMCC. His alma mater is undefeated in region play and a Class 3A favorite. Stephens has had a long line of successful players from defending Class 4A state champion Noxubee County.
“The brawl won’t cost us any players,” Horsley said. “It just shows we are brotherhood. Everybody on the outside hates us, and we know that. You just have to deal with it. It makes you work a little bit harder because you have to to get where you want to go.
“A lot of guys have already asked me to put in a good word for them. We are getting back to championships next year. Now is the right time to come.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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