Missouri State men's golf coach Neal Stafford has announced the signing of Eric Straub of Paducah, Ky., to a national letter of intent.  Straub will join the Bears in 2009-10 after a standout career at Heath High School, where he was the seventh-rated senior in the state, according to National Junior Golf Scoreboard.

Straub placed 14th at the state high school tournament and 11th at the Kentucky Junior Amateur in 2008. He was the regional runnerup his final three seasons and qualified for the state tournament all three seasons.  He finished fourth and seventh, respectively, at the 2006 and 2007 Kentucky Junior Amateur.

A three-sport standout, Straub won the Wendy's High School Heisman in Kentucky after also earning all-state soccer honors and all-district basketball honors last season.  He was the team captain in both sports and earned academic all-state honors in all three sports.

"I'm very pleased Eric has chosen to attend Missouri State," said Stafford. "He's a tremendous athlete with a very fundamentally sound golf swing. I think Eric has unlimited potential and will be a great addition to our program."

The Bears are coming off a fall season in which they posted a fifth-place finish in the season opener at Nebraska and took seventh at the D.A. Weibring Invitational. They'll open the spring campaign Feb. 15-16 at the Rice/Srixon Intercollegiate in Houston, Texas.