Junior quarterback Cole Stinson and junior wide receiver Micah Rucker looked as though they’d been playing together forever Saturday during Eastern’s 21-0 win against Southeast Missouri.

Stinson completed 10 passes to Rucker, good for 180 yards and three touchdowns. The two roommates put up numbers Saturday that the duo did back in 2001, when both played for Estero High School near Ft. Myers, Fla.

Rucker was a junior and Stinson was a sophomore that year.

“It was the same then as it is now. It was fun, I mean, when he throws the ball I’m going to catch it,” Rucker said. “He knows where I’m going to go as far as where I am going to break my routes off at and stuff like that. It’s like a good chemistry.”

The two had grown up in the same area and known of each other since middle school, but didn’t actually become friends until around that 2001 season when they played together.

“I think (their friendship) is a very good thing,” said Barry Stinson, Cole’s father. “Micah Rucker is one of the greatest people I know. He is a heck of a good man.”

“He’s our other son,” said Patti Stinson, Cole’s step-mom.

After his junior year in high school Cole transferred to Dunbar High School because he wasn’t getting to start at Estero,

At the same time, after his senior year, Rucker went to the University of Minnesota.

“(Micah’s) freshman year I would call him up and talk to him about recruiting and stuff and try and get advice about schools and stuff because he had already gone through it all,” Stinson said.

After Cole graduated, he went to Ball State in Muncie, Ind.

Stinson played in seven games his freshman year at Ball State, starting four and throwing for 1,101 yards and five touchdowns. Stinson did not play much his sophomore year, only appearing in two games.

Eastern quarterbacks coach Jorge Munoz had some friends coaching at Ball State that called him and asked if Eastern would be interested in a quarterback, Eastern acting head coach Mark Hutson said.

Munoz called the Ball State coaches and started the recruiting process. Cole came to visit Charleston and he made the decision to transfer.

After three years of not getting enough playing time at Minnesota, Rucker decided to start looking elsewhere.

“(Rucker) said, ‘I want to be playing more and I am not going to stop until I do what I need to do for me,'” said Rucker’s mother Geneva. “And I think he is where he needs to be. He is always saying ‘The coaches here have a lot of respect for me and I have a lot of respect for them.'”

After hearing that Rucker was unhappy with his playing time in Minnesota, Stinson went to the coaches here at Eastern and asked if they would be interested in a 6-foot-6 inch, 220-pound wide receiver.

“And we were like, ‘you got to be kidding,'” Hutson said. “They don’t just do that. Yeah, we are interested.'”

Hutson said they both came in early to two-a-days and then after practice, Rucker and Stinson always stay after and throw together some more.

“Usually you never know when a transfer comes in, sometimes it is for various reasons, and they don’t fit well into the family,” Hutson said. “But both of those two have fit into the family and not only grown stronger in that group, but they’ve brought our group up with their work ethic and what quality people they are.”

When Stinson and Rucker do get free time, which is not often, they like to watch SportsCenter, go to the Student Recreation Center and swim or play ping pong, bowl or watch movies.

“It’s pretty basic here in Charleston,” Rucker said.

Stinson agreed. “Yeah, we definitely can’t go to the beach,” he said.

Stinson and Rucker attribute much of their success on the field to always being around each other and having known each other for so long.

“Being around each other so much, you get different tendencies and you get to learn different things about each other,” Rucker said. “Maybe awhile ago we were trying to figure each other out a little bit. But now as far as working out and throwing the football, it’s easy. It’s just like waking up in the morning or something.”

High school teammates and roomates junior wide receiver Micah Rucker and junior quarterback Cole Stinson play video games in their apartment during some off time from school and practices. Eric Hiltner/Daily Eastern News

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