While gyms, athletic fields, and weight rooms have been empty for the past two months, college coaches have been busy recruiting the next class of student-athletes through the unusual circumstances. Central Methodist has been unable to host players on official visits, leaving coaches to sell the university and athletic programs though words and photos.

Both the mens’ basketball and soccer teams have added players to the future roster, including some exciting student-athletes from Missouri.

Central Methodist Men's Basketball

The CMU basketball team will look very different next season. Of the ten players who played double-digit minutes per game, four have graduated and three have transferred. Rijnard Hartman and Kyle McDermed will return after honorable mention all-conference seasons, and Trae Meny will be back as well.

The Eagles have added five players over the last two months, including a NJCAA DII second team All-American Chandler Bevans from John Wood Community College. The incoming class will be looking to bounce back from a 12-18 season, the team’s worst record since 2011.

“We just really felt it was best for us to start over as best we can, and I think we’ve done an amazing job,” head coach Jeff Sherman said.

Associate head coach Matt Sherman is the Eagles’ recruiting coordinator.

“He’s pretty darn good,” Jeff Sherman said. “He’s got a passion for basketball. He knows me, obviously, and he knows the school. He’s a good people person.

“This has not been an easy year to recruit. You can’t have kids up for visits, we can’t get out and go see people. It has been tough. Many families don’t want to sign until they can see what they’re going to possibly get into. And you don’t even know if that’s going to be a possibility.”

Adding to the challenges is a cut from 11 scholarships to eight as part of the merger between NAIA Division I and Division II, which is up from six scholarships to eight now as well.

“You’ve got to be a little more selective and have a better strategy,” Sherman said.

It’s a little complicated, because the limit does not affect how many scholarships you can give out, just how many scholarship players you can play during the season. Additionally, any student-athlete with a GPA above 3.6 does not count towards the scholarship limit and those with at least a 3.3 are counted as half of a scholarship. The result is that coaches can’t always recruit the best players available; they recruit the best players that are going to be able to play under the scholarship limit. 

“We have signed some players that we are really excited about,” Sherman said. “It’s going to give us a lot of possibilities, we’re going to be a different type of team. We’re going to bring in some more local flavor and I think we’re in the running for a few more players that we can announce in the next couple of weeks.”

Chandler Bevans - 6-07 - Junior

Chandler Bevans is a 6-foot 7-inch forward from Kahoka with two seasons of eligibility remaining. He was a three-time all-state player at Clark County R-1 and averaged nearly 17 points and eight rebounds per game last year at John Wood Community College.

“He’s improving every year, he’s getting bigger every year,” Sherman said. “He’s got great post moves, he’s got a good shot. He can score, he can rebound, he can defend. He’s not a phenomenal athlete… but he’s good and he’s smart.”

Woods could play the four position with the 6-foot 11-inch Hartman on the court or a small-ball five with his array of post moves and rebounding ability.

“We actually allowed our offer to stay with him longer than we have anybody else,” Sherman said. “We let him have it and we were just going to wait until he decided. In my eyes, we weren’t going to find a player that we liked as much as Chandler.”

Austin Fisher - 5-11 - Junior

Austin Fisher can flat out score, according to Sherman.

Fisher, the first signing of this cycle, is comes to CMU from Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee. He averaged 16 point per game last season and shot 38 percent from the 3-point line on a high volume of shots. 

“He can play, that’s why he was our number one signing,” Sherman said. “We have been on him for a long time. He can run the point, he can be a shooting guard.”

Sherman said that one of the reasons that Fisher stood out to him, was the similarities with a former CMU first-team All-American, Brian Egejuru.

“If someone can remind me of Brian Egejuru, he’s good,” Sherman said.

“He’s talented, he is quick. He is going to be an exciting player to watch, he’s got a great personality.”

Amir Pettiford - 6-03 - Junior

Amir Pettiford does a lot of things well. The left-handed transfer from Chesapeake Community College averaged 14 points per game on 46 percent shooting last year. At 6-foot 3-inches he also grabbed an impressive 6.5 rebounds per contest.

“He can score, he can attack the basket,” Sherman said. “He’s a little stronger, a good defender, a complete package. He’s an inside outside threat, and he’s going to provide that experience, he’s had two very good years where he’s at. He has an infectious personality, that’s fun. He’s also a worker.”

Trent Lyles - 6-01 - RS Sophomore

The Eagles wanted to get Trent Lyles out of high school. The two-time all-state guard from Sedalia scored over 2,000 points in his career at Sacred Heart. He ended up going to junior college and redshirting his first year. Injuries limited Lyles during the past season. He was unable to play during the fall semester, and has played in only 13 games since graduating in 2018.

“I think we got our big sleeper,” Sherman said. “I think if he had played more than that number of games, I don’t think we would have got a chance to get him.

“I think Matt just did an amazing job,” Sherman said about the recruitment. “Matt went up, saw him practice during the season. Got a chance to talk to him, we connected with the family.”

Lyles is a great athlete, and like the other players that CMU is bringing in, he fits the team-focused culture that Sherman is trying to build for the next couple seasons.

“They are very good athletes, very fun to watch, and very good teammates,” Sherman said. “They’re going to be out there supporting each other, backing each other up, because that’s what you’re hearing from the teammates that they’re playing with now.”

Marcus Anthony - 6-02 - Freshman

More recently, Central Methodist has added Marcus Anthony, who just wrapped up a first-team all-state season at Helias Catholic. The Eagles were unsuccessful in early attempts to recruit some of the top high school players, but that ended up working in their favor when they had a spot left for the district player of the year.

“We went after some really good freshmen, and we were second choice,” Sherman said.

“I’m kind of glad now, because now we’ve got Marcus. I think he was the best player in mid-Missouri. He could be a career player.”

Anthony could possibly redshirt this year, but he also has the talent to see action if his adjustment to the college level goes well. He led Helias to the Class 4 state semifinals before the season ended due to COVID-19 concerns.

“Just a phenomenal talent,” Sherman said. “All of these players will bring something different, but I think we just hit the jackpot with what we really wanted to do and what we wanted to create.

“We just wanted to have good people, and we wanted to pick programs that were winners. All of the programs that these players are coming from are winning programs and I think that makes a big difference.”

The Eagle coaching staff will be working to fill the last few spots on the roster over the coming weeks, but they are excited about the talent that has signed during the first few months of the offseason.

“We got really lucky on a few kids,” Sherman said. “Hats off to Matt, because I think he was the difference. He was understandable enough, he communicated, he sold the school and got the information out to everybody. He just does a nice job and I think that the families felt comfortable with the school and the program and the coaching staff and what we want to try to do moving forward.”

Central Methodist Men's Soccer

Isaac Johnson - Freshman

Isaac Johnson will be joining the two-time defending national champions on the CMU soccer field this fall. As a senior at Helias, the team captain was a first-team all-state selection. He set the school record for assists in a season with 17 and finished tied for the all-time record with 40 during his career.

In his final season, Johnson was also first-team all-region, first-team all-conference, and was the all-region defensive player of the year.

Cole Hutson - Freshman

Cole Hutson comes to Central Methodist after a very successful high school career.

Hutson was a two-year captain for Lindbergh, who reached the Class 4 final four during the past season. Hutson also was a part of two top club state titles with SLSG Elite.

Hutson was named first-team all-state and first-team all-metro during his final season.

Billy Nzojyibwami - Junior

Billy Nzojyibwami is a transfer from William Woods University who joined the Eagles for the spring semester.

He scored 13 of the team’s 28 goals last year after leading the conference with 15 goals as a freshman.

He was named NAIA All-American Honorable Mention as a freshman along with American Midwest Conference player of the year and freshman of the year.

Johnny Gibula - Senior

Johnny Gibula is a 6’6 center back/defensive center mid who also joined Central Methodist for the spring semester after transferring from the University of Mary, which discontinued its soccer program after 2019.

Tarnue Tyler - Senior

Tarnue Tyler who was raised in Columbia, comes to CMU after three seasons with NCAA Division I Alabama-Birmingham.

He played in 51 games while at UAB and started all 18 games during his freshman season.

He has 22 career shots on goal and has scored three times.

Tarnue was a first-team all-state player at Rock Bridge and was Named Co-Central Missouri player of the year in 2014 and 2015.