Fauvergue decides to play for Southern

May 03, 2008 01:41 am

— By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Missouri Southern owned an inside advantage while recruiting Joseph Fauvergue.
“Kyle (Schrage, the Lions’ 6-foot-8 center from Carl Junction), I talk to him all the time,” Fauvergue said. “He likes it there. He’s a big reason why I’m going there. I see how much he’s improved, and I want to follow in his footsteps.”
Fauvergue, Carl Junction’s leading scorer each of the last three seasons, signed with the Lions on Friday afternoon in the high school commons area.
“I considered Evangel and Avila, but I pretty much had Southern set on my mind the whole time,” Fauvergue said. “Kyle is there, and it will be fun playing with him. They have a great coaching staff. I love all those guys. They have a great team, it’s close to home, and that’s the level I want to be at.”
“Obviously the fact Kyle is from Carl Junction, he and Joe playing together probably was a factor,” Lions head coach Robert Corn said. “We have two quality young men here in our program who are local products.”
Fauvergue, 6-foot-3 guard, is the Bulldogs’ career scoring leader with 1,550 points. He played varsity four years, coming off the bench as a freshman before starting the last three years. Last season he averaged 20.9 points and 4.2 rebounds, shot 51 percent from the field (209-of-410), 73 percent from the foul line (75-of-103) and 39 percent from 3-point range (50-of-129). He was voted co-player of the year on The Globe’s all-area team.
“I have to gain muscle and speed and work on my defensive game,” Fauvergue said. “Pretty much everything really. I think I’ll give them a 3-point threat, but they’ve extended the line back. Hopefully that won’t have too much effect on the shot.”
“He has a chance to develop into a very good college shooter,” Corn said. “Obviously one of our goals in recruiting was to try to improve our 3-point shooting. Joe has the capability to be a very good 3-point shooter, but he also has the chance as he gains strength and experience to develop his overall game as well.”
“The main thing with him, he’s a great offensive player and always has been,” said Lance Robbins, Fauvergu’s high school coach. “He’s going to have to learn to play hard on the defensive end all the time. It’s a whole different level of basketball. I think he’ll be able to do it.”