Meet the All-South Mississippi Boys Basketball Team for the 2020-21 season
The 2020-21 high school basketball season in South Mississippi showed that there are several young players ready to take the next step and make the Coast once again a hotbed for college recruiters.
Sam Murray II is the biggest recruiting target on the Coast at the moment after receiving a scholarship offer recently from the national champion Baylor Bears, and that’s the main reason he is the Sun Herald Player of the Year.
Murray averaged a double-double this season and helped lead the Red Rebels to the Class 6A Final Four.
Pascagoula’s Lorenzo Wright is this year’s Sun Herald Coach of the Year after putting a young squad in position to hang with the best teams on the Coast. After spending three seasons at D’Iberville, Wright has kept up the winning tradition in Pascagoula over the last five years.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Lorenzo Wright, Pascagoula
In what was a challenging 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wright led a young group of Panthers to a record of 17-4. Pascagoula won the Region 8-5A title with a perfect mark of 6-0. In his fifth season at ‘Goula, Wright may have done his best coaching job yet.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sam Murray II, Harrison Central
The 6-foot-7 Murray began to fulfill the potential many saw in him during his junior season, putting up 12.1 points, 12 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He played a key role in helping lead the Red Rebels to a spot in the Class 6A state semifinals. The 6-foot-7 Murray holds scholarship offers from Baylor, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss. Many more major offers should be coming his way.
FANS’ CHOICE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dominic Simpkins, D’Iberville
The 6-foot-3 junior averaged 16 points and nine rebounds for a resurgent D’Iberville program. The Warriors won the Gulfport Holiday Classic Championship for the first time in school history in Robin Sikes Jr.’s second season as head coach. The Warriors finished 17-8 this season.
ALL-SOUTH MISSISSIPPI TEAM
▪ Brayden Barrett, St. Martin — Averaged 9.0 points and 2.9 rebounds a game as a senior.
▪ Jsaiah Brown, Stone High — Junior guard averaged 17.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
▪ Demarius Coleman, Harrison Central — Junior guard averaged 10.9 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds.
▪ John Davis III, Pascagoula — Junior guard averaged 17.7 pts, 3.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.8 steals, named Region 8-5A MVP.
▪ Cortez Dennis, Stone High — Senior forward averaged 21.6 points and 12.4 rebounds, committed to Meridian CC.
▪ Blake Hart, Biloxi — Junior guard averaged 11 points a game.
▪ Tana Kopa, Grace Baptist Academy - 6-6 senior guard from Perth, Australia, averaged 22 points, hitting 48 percent of his 3-point shots. He is committed to Div. II Spring Hill.
▪ Nick Krass, St. Patrick — Ole Miss junior commit averaged 18 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3 steals per game as a guard.
▪ Darion Lee, Pass Christian — 6-4 junior forward who averaged 12.5 rebounds and 10 points a game.
▪ Corey Lombard, Gulfport — 6-7 junior forward who played in the MAC North/South Junior All-Star Game., averaging 9 points and 6 rebounds.
▪ Dorian McMillian, Pascagoula — Freshman guard averaged 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.7 seals, Region 8-5A Offensive Player of the Year.
▪ Constantine Morant, Hancock — Senior guard committed to Copiah-Lincoln CC, averaged 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists a game.
▪ Kedrick Osby, Moss Point — The 6-7 sophomore guard averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.
▪ Duran Parrish, Biloxi — 6-2 sophomore guard who led Biloxi to an 11-3 record and a region title, averaging 16 points a game.
▪ Drew Roth, St. Patrick — Senior forward averaged 21.3 points and 10.1 rebounds.
▪ Carlous Williams, Harrison Central — Six-foot-6 senior South Carolina commit averaged 11.3 points, 12.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists.
