Southern Miss addition returns home for final college season
A long, winding collegiate career for Gabe Lacy is making one final stop in Hattiesburg.
From one Golden Eagle nest to another, the Gulfport High graduate has transferred to Southern Miss from Tennessee Tech for his last season of college ball.
It’s the culmination of a journey that also featured a two-year stint at Jones College that led to Lacy’s desire to one day reach USM.
“I was able to go JUCO at Jones and had great coaches,” Lacy told the Sun Herald. “I had Ladd Rhodes, who went to Gulfport, started his coaching career at Jones and actually ended up at Southern Miss. I was like ‘gosh dang, man.’ Losing him and going to Southern (Miss), I was hoping I could find my way up there with him.”
The pandemic and the extra years of eligibility for student-athletes made it difficult for Lacy to find a spot on any roster, though, and he eventually got on at TTU.
Though Rhodes has since left to coach at Nicholls, Lacy was still hoping to find a spot on a roster closer to home after graduating at TTU.
“When Southern Miss called, I was like ‘heck, yeah. Sign me up,’” Lacy said. “I entered the transfer portal about two days after our conference tournament... it took about a week on (USM’s) end because they still had some things on their end and obviously still had a few more ball games to play than we did. I was able to get the call from them and my heart dropped to my freaking toes. It happened and it was awesome.”
Lacy, a versatile infielder, arrives at an opportune time and will immediately challenge for the starting job at second base left vacant by the outgoing captain Will McGillis.
He’s got plenty of experience on the left side of the diamond, but had only played sparingly at second base until this summer.
Lacy will be in direct competition with young players Brady Faust and Creek Robertson, but he already has a leg up with the D-1 production he’s produced.
He blossomed this past season in the Ohio Valley Conference, slashing .329/.401/.540 with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs. Lacy struck out just 27 times in 273 plate appearances while drawing 31 total walks and hit-by-pitches.
“I just want to contribute in any way, I don’t care if I’m the first guy in the lineup or the last guy in the lineup,” Lacy said. “This past year, I just wanted to be the consistent guy who showed up every day, was able to put the bat on the ball and do whatever the team needed. Whether it was a bunt to get the guy over, little things nobody really sees but it goes a long way for the team.”
Lacy’s signing was officially announced by USM this week, as well as the signings of Eastern Connecticut State pitcher Billy Oldham and Alabama catcher Graham Crawford.
