The Morning Dish – Monday, September 15th
RIP Merle: One of the 1952 Hickory Huskers Indiana state championship team has passed away. Kent Poole, 39, who played the role of Merle Webb in the 1986 movie “Hoosiers”, was found dead at his home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, apparently committing suicide by hanging. According to Montgomery County Sheriff Dennis Rice, Poole, who had been depressed over an impending divorce, left a Jamestown bar and crashed his truck on his way home. He walked to his residence and called friend Kim Demaree to help him retrieve the vehicle, but when Demaree arrived at 3 a.m., Poole was hanging from a tree in his yard. Poole was a member of the 1982 Western Boone basketball squad that advanced to the state semifinals, and uttered the famous line in the movie, “Let’s win this one for all the small schools who never had a chance to get here.” Poole also played Molly Ringwald’s boyfriend in the 1988 movie “Fresh Horses”.
Bulldogs Down: The news isn’t good in Starkville this morning. First of all, starting forward Ontario Harper will miss the season after injuring his knee in a preseason workout. Harper, who averaged 5 rebounds per game last season, tore his ACL in his right knee, and was one of only two returning starters to head coach Rick Stansbury’s squad. The 6-5 Harper will likely be replaced by the tandem of Shane Power and Winsome Frazier.
Two Out at Southern Miss: Two Southern Miss incoming transfer students have been ruled academically ineligible for the upcoming season. Two Lee College (Baytown, Texas) transfers, Brannon Hayes, a 6-9 power forward, and Rudolph Mauricette, a 6-11 center, were ruled ineligible, and will not play for the Golden Eagles. Part of the problem was that both took summer term classes at Lee, and Lee’s summer session ended after Southern Miss classes started. Another recruit, Emmanuel Willis, has not enrolled at Southern Miss, and is instead attending a private academy. Only Ronald Pittmann remains from the Golden Eagles’ four-member recruiting class.
