‘A good opportunity.’ Pascagoula basketball forward heading to North-South All-Star game
Pascagoula forward Robert Millender will have another opportunity to show off his game when his junior season comes to a close.
Millender was selected to the Mississippi Association of Coaches North-South All-Star Game featuring some of the top hardwood talents from across the state.
“It’s a good opportunity,” Millender told the Sun Herald. “It will be a great experience to go out there and show my skills. I’m going to try and go out there and show my game and get (scholarship) offers.”
Though Millender doesn’t have any offers at the next level yet, a breakthrough junior season and the extra opportunity has his stock trending upward.
With great size at 6-foot-7, Millender has stepped up his game this season. He’s averaging nine points and six rebounds a contest and shows off his length with 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals per game.
“He always plays hard for us every night,” Pascagoula head coach Lorenzo Wright said. “Really has grown a lot since his sophomore year. He’s having a heck of a junior year.”
Millender is one of several talented athletes on the Panthers’ roster but is beginning to mold into his potential as a threat on both sides of the floor.
His athleticism has been on full display this year as a starter on Wright’s squad and has showcased his ability to do a little bit of everything against a tough schedule.
“He’s athletic, he puts it on the floor real well,” Wright said. “He defends pretty decent, he blocks it at the rim. He’s really versatile.”
Millender credits Wright and his staff for the improvements he has made on the floor this season.
“It’s mainly coaching,” Millender said. “They push me to be better.”
The long forward still has plenty of work to do to fill out his game. Wright notes that while Millender is athletic, he’s still pretty raw.
“What he needs to do now from here on out is get a better jump shot,” Wright said. “He’s still got to work on cleaning up his ball handling. I think if he gets him a better jump shot, now you got to come out and guard him on the perimeter.”
Pascagoula has the rest of region play and a battle against Gulfport at Hoopfest at the Coliseum for Millender to continue growing into form.
Millender is one of three players from the Coast representing the South team in the All Star game. He joins Moss Point’s Kedrick Osby and Biloxi’s Duran Parish.
