Southeastern Illinois College all-region guard Monie (moe-NAY) Hudson today became the sixth and final player to sign a national letter of intent with the University of Evansville men’s basketball program, Head Coach Marty Simmons announced.
The 6’0”, 185-pound Hudson will graduate from Southeastern Illinois College next month, and has two years of eligibility at Evansville. He is the sixth newcomer signed by the Aces’ coaching staff since last fall, and becomes the 13th and final scholarship player on the 2009-10 squad.
“Monie is a great addition because of his experience and his maturity,” Simmons said. “He comes from a very good program that’s won a lot of games in the last couple years. He’s tough, he delivers the basketball, and he can shoot the three. He’s a good all-around player.”
Hudson helped lead Coach Todd Franklin’s SIC squad to a 28-7 record in 2008 and a 24-5 record this past season. Hudson was the Region 24 Player of the Year in 2008, when he averaged 14.4 points in leading the Falcons to the NJCAA national quarterfinals. In 2008-09, he averaged 12.3 points, 4.6 assists, shot 40 percent from three-point range and was chosen for the second year in a row as a member of the all-region team.
Hudson is a 2007 graduate of Warren Central High School in Bowling Green, Ky. He was all-district, all-region and a member of the state tournament team as a senior, when the Dragons reached the final four of the state tourney.
Hudson is the first junior college player signed by the Aces for 2009-10. He joins incoming freshmen Colt Ryan (Batesville, Ind.), Derek Johnson (Houston, Texas), Troy Taylor (Anderson, Ind.), Lewis Jones (Memphis, Tenn.) and Ned Cox (San Antonio, Texas), along with sophomore Bryan Bouchie (Washington, Ind.), a transfer from Valparaiso University who will suit up for the first time at UE beginning this fall.
Hudson becomes part of a UE program that went 17-14 this past season and finished fifth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference. The Purple Aces advanced to their first post-season appearance in a decade, playing in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. The Aces made the biggest jump of any Missouri Valley Conference team, going from 10th in 2008 to fifth place in 2009. Simmons finished third in voting for MVC Coach of the Year. The seven newcomers to the UE squad will join seven letterwinners from this year’s squad, including frontcourt players Pieter van Tongeren, James Haarsma, Clint Hopf and C.J. Erickson, and guards Denver Holmes, Trevor Gregory and Kavon Lacey.
