by Brandon Vogel

Here’s something to keep your eye on for 2011 — Iowa Western football. It took Coach Scott Strohmeier all of two years to turn the school into a player in the junior college ranks. In 2008 the Council Bluffs community college didn’t even have football. In 2010 the Reivers finished their second season 9-2 and one game away from playing for a national title. Last week six IWCC players signed to continue their careers at Division I schools. They aren’t just going anywhere, either. Quarterback Zack Stoudt could be an SEC starter after signing with Ole Miss; and defensive tackle Jared Ebert will try to crack the line-up at Oregon. It will be interesting to see how closely Nebraska aligns itself with the new program at IWCC. The Huskers have looked to the juco level for some key additions under Bo Pelini. The staff seems to have a cozy relationship with Fort Scott (KS) Community College, landing Lavonte David, Jermarcus Hardrick, Brandon Kinnie and Stanley Jean-Baptiste from the school. The City College of San Francisco has also been good to Nebraska, sending Zac Lee, Dejon Gomes and Maurice Purify to Lincoln. Don’t see any reason Nebraska shouldn’t be neighborly to the new program just up the road. --Former Bellevue East star pitcher Buddy Carlyle signed a minor league contract with the Yankees. It’s a long way from Bellevue to the Bronx but maybe the change will provide the middle-reliever with a little spark. After appearing in a career-high 45 games with Atlanta in 2008, Carlyle took the mound only 16 times with the big league club last season. It’s not tough to make the Yankees, right? --Here’s something I didn’t know existed: the National Jesuit Player of the Week award. Creighton’s Kenny Lawson won it last week along with the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week award following his 30-point, 18-rebound performance — both career highs — in a much-needed win over St. Joseph’s Dec. 11 It had been a slow start for Lawson, the preseason MVC player of the year, but maybe this game represents a turning point. Coming in to that game Lawson was averaging 10.7 points per game after pacing the Jays with 13.1 PPG last year.

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