Three Saints Sign National LOI’s

Three Seward County sophomores signed on the dotted line Wednesday afternoon in the All-American Room at SCCC as Spencer Franklin inked with Longwood, Charles Beauregard signed at Southwestern Oklahoma State, and Ernest Carter penned to head home to Topeka and Kansas Wesleyan on National Signing Day 2017.

Franklin is headed to NCAA Division I member Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Franklin averaged just under 10 points per game and grabbed four rebounds per game in his only season with the Saints in 2016-2017. He was limited to 16 games due to a nagging foot injury that eventually ended his season, but made his mark in those 16 contests, scoring in double figures eight times including a career best 21 against Barton in late November. He will join a Lancers program looking for a rebound year in 2017-2018 after struggling to a 6-24 mark a season ago. Asked about signing at Longwood, Franklin said “these guys have been on me the longest and showed confidence in me despite my injury to my foot, I am excited to go help them win.”

Beauregard signed with NCAA Division II member Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Beauregard wrapped up an outstanding Seward County career this season by becoming just the 13th player in school history to top the 1,000 point mark in the Saints final game of the year. He finished second on the team, averaging 16.1 points per game this season which also ranked 8th in the league. Beauregard put up big numbers a handful of times during his sophomore campaign including a 40 point effort late in the year against Dodge City and backed that up with 33 against Garden City the next time out. He will look to help the Bulldogs bounce back from a tough 2016-2017 in which they managed just a 6-22 record to miss the GAC playoffs. With a smile on his face, Beauregard said “I am going to miss everything about this place. The fans, the people, the staff, the coaches, and my teammates have made my two years here at Seward great.”

Carter will return home to Topeka to play for the NAIA Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes next season. Carter played in 30 games for Seward this season, leading the Saints in rebounding at 5.9 per game while also pitching in 3.8 points per night. Despite playing undersized at the forward position, Carter ripped down seven or more rebounds in 14 different games this year including a career best 11 twice late in the season against Neosho and Dodge City. He will join a KWU team that has improved their win total in each of the last three seasons and that is coming off of a 13-17 campaign that included a 9-13 mark in KCAC play. When asked what he liked most about Kansas Wesleyan’s program, Carter said “the coaches showed a lot of confidence in me, like I can be a player that can come in and help them right away. I am ready to take on whatever they throw at me, whether it is play the one, or play the five, or anything in-between there.”

Roy Allen