Marion guard to sign with Southeast men's basketball team Wednesday

Marion, Illinois, senior guard Robby Dosier will sign a National Letter of Intent Wednesday afternoon to play basketball at Southeast Missouri State, according to Marion basketball coach Shane Hawkins.

Dosier committed to Southeast in September. Southeast men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt cannot comment on recruits due to NCAA rules until they sign an NLI.

"He's kind of a throwback, gym rat player," Hawkins said of the 6-foot-3 Dosier. "He's in the gym all the time. He's that rare breed that's always working on his skill, and I think that's the main reason right now why he's had the opportunity to sign a Division I scholarship, and I think his best basketball is ahead of him because he's going to continue to improve."

Dosier attended Carbondale High School in Carbondale, Illinois, as a freshman and sophomore, but moved to Marion prior to his junior year.

"He struggled early, and I think it was playing with new players, playing in a different style, so it took him a while to get comfortable with what we were doing and playing with guys he'd never played with before," Hawkins said. "...I think he got really comfortable probably mid-January after we'd played 15-18 games. He was really good for us down the stretch and into the postseason."

Marion finished the season 16-14 and advanced to a 3A sectional championship. The Wildcats won their first regional title since 1990.

Dosier averaged about 10 points and four rebounds his junior season, Hawkins said.

"He gave us another weapon offensively," Hawkins said. "Anytime you have somebody that can make open shots, it just gives you another dimension out on the floor. He can score the basketball, and I think that the way the game's played you can never score too many points. I think that when he got comfortable with what we were doing is when our team really took that last step to the next level. There's no doubt we played our best basketball the last quarter of the season and we got on a good run going into the postseason, and I think he was a big reason for that."

Hawkins believes the hiring of Southeast assistant coach Stetson Hairston last summer helped Dosier connect with Southeast.

Hairston played basketball at Southern Illinois during the same time that Hawkins was an assistant for the Salukis.

"When they got in the mix and they kind of watched Robby a little bit they really liked him and he really liked them, and liked the opportunity of something that was close enough he felt comfortable with," Hawkins said. "I think it's a situation where both sides are very, very happy."