SPRINGFIELD Missouri State announced the addition of four transfer students to its football program today, including three junior college transfers and a transfer from the University of Missouri. All four student-athletes are enrolled at Missouri State and attending classes this semester.
Michael Keck (6-4, 215, So., DE, Harrisonville, Mo.) will join the Bears this spring after departing Gary Pinkel’s Missouri team one game into the 2008 season. Keck was redshirted in 2007 at Missouri and was No. 2 on the Tigers’ depth chart in the 2008 preseason. He played in the Missouri’s 2008 season opener against Illinois and then departed the team. He was rated the state's No. 2 player from the 2007 recruiting class by Rivals.com, just behind Columbia Rock Bridge tight end Aron White, who now plays at Georgia. He was a four-year starter at Harrisonville High School and helped coach Fred Bouchard’s teams to a collective 53-3 record in four seasons, including three Missouri Class 3 titles and one runner-up finish.
Erik Dahl (6-3, 275, Jr., OL, Shawnee, Kan.) was a two-time NJCAA All-American at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan., which won back-to-back national juco championships in 2007 and 2008. He was also a two-time all-Jayhawk Conference and all-Region VI selection, while helping the Grizzlies to a 23-1 record in his two seasons. Butler’s ball carriers averaged 4.3 yards per carry and scored 26 touchdowns this season behind its talented offensive line, while accounting for 2,332 passing yards and 23 aerial touchdowns. Dahl (DOLL) attended Shawnee Mission Northwest High School where he was team captain and a second-team all-conference performer for coach Aaron Barnett.
Robert Shapel (6-4, 300, Jr., OL, Iola, Kan.) was also a member of the Butler Community College program the past two seasons and helped Dahl anchor the team’s highly-touted offensive line. He was an all-Jayhawk League offensive tackle in 2008 and was instrumental in the team’s 16-0 run through the league the past two seasons, in addition to the pair of Region VI and NJCAA national titles. Shapel (SHAY-pull) was a four-year starter at Iola (Kan.) High School for coach Dean Taylor and was an all-conference lineman, also earning first-team all-area defensive honors as well as Kansas 4A all-state honorable mention distinction.
Adam Beauchamp (6-0, 235, Jr., LB, Prescott Valley, Ariz.) comes to the Bears from Glendale (Ariz.) Community College where he was a first-team all-Western States Football League and all-Arizona Community College Athletics Conference pick as a senior as well as NJCAA all-region. Coach Mickey Bell’s Gauchos finished the season with an 8-2 record and No. 9 nationally ranking in 2008 after a 6-4 campaign in 2007. Beauchamp (BEE-chum) was a standout running back at Bradshaw Mountain High School in Prescott Valley, Ariz., rushing for a school record 2,220 yards and earning Arizona running back of the year honors after leading the state in rushing. He also was a three-time all-region selection and was named Arizona’s Old Spice Red Zone Player of the Year in 2006 for coach Chuck Apap’s Bears.
Missouri State finished the 2008 season with a 4-7 record and 3-5 mark in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bears were 3-3 on the road this season and claimed their most conference victories since 2004. Coach Terry Allen’s squad opens the 2009 season in Little Rock, Ark., on September 5 against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
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