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Feb. 16, 2024MARYVILLE, Mo.

Maryville sharpshooter signs with Morningside

Derek Quinlin signed his letter of intent to play basketball at Morningside University.

Derek Quinlin signed his letter of intent to play basketball at Morningside University.

Maryville High School dual-sport standout Derek Quinlin put pen to paper Friday officially signing to play basketball at Morningside University in Sioux City, IA next season.

The senior guard has had a stellar final season as a Spoofhound averaging 18 points per game, reaching 10th on the program's career scoring list with 1,092 points, and leading Maryville to a 15-6 record with two regular season games remaining.

Quinlin will join a Morningside team that has won the Great Plains Athletic Conference five times since 2018. The winning culture, style of play and the atmosphere around the Mustang program all factored into his decision.

"It was a good feel," Quinlin said. "I like how they play. They play fast, they shoot the ball. It was a different feeling than some of the other visits I went on. It just felt like home.

In addition to the success on the basketball court, Quinlin also flashed as an all-state quarterback for the Maryville football team. Morningside head basketball coach Trent Miller was impressed by the toughness and leadership shown in football, along with his ability on the hardwood. But the recruitment of Quinlin went deeper.

"As good as all of that stuff is athletically, the off the court for us is a gamechanger," Miller said. "Who he is as a guy, what he's about, his service, talking with (Quinlin's) mom and dad and just how strong their faith is, and how he wants to go be a part of something bigger than himself. We don't have a ton of boxes that have to be checked, but he's checked about every single one."

The initial connection between Quinlin and Morningside came with Northwest Missouri State ties. Former Bearcat men's basketball student assistant Landon Graver is a graduate assistant on the Mustangs coaching staff.

"(Graver) started talking about some of the things they had going on at Maryville High, and we were able to catch some film and watch Derek. We just thought 'man he does a lot of good things. Let's get that guy on campus.'"