Southern Miss lands star Lanier point guard Horton|[04/24/07]
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, April 24, 2007
From staff reports
Mississippi’s Mr. Basketball is heading to Hattiesburg.
Standout Lanier High point guard R.L. Horton signed with the Golden Eagles on Monday.
Horton, a 6-foot, 175-pound guard led Lanier to its third consecutive Class 4A state title, as well as the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s newly revived Grand Slam title en route to the state’s No. 1 ranking. In three seasons as a starter at Lanier, Horton led the team to a 108-8 record.
“We are excited about signing the best player from Mississippi,” Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy said. “He has a tremendous mental makeup, which helped propel his team to 108 wins, while losing just eight over the last three years.
“R.L. is a quality basketball player that is a solid play-making point guard who we are looking forward to joining our program.”
He averaged 27.7 points, including 31 in the Class 4A championship game, 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals a game as the Bulldogs finished 39-3, including 35 wins in their final 36 games. Horton also garnered honorable-mention All-America honors by MaxPrep Sports.
He scored 18 points, including two key baskets late, to lead Mississippi to a 118-113 victory over Alabama in the all-star game between the two states earlier this spring.
Horton joins 6-foot-8 Brandon Cooks from Thibodaux, La. (Thibodaux HS/Genesis One Christian School), who signed during the spring signing period. In the fall, the Golden Eagles signed 6-foot-8 Maurice Bolden from Wingfield, as well as adding 7-foot Gustavo Lino from Sao Paulo, Brazil (Universidade Anhmebi Morumbi), who enrolled during the spring semester for the 2007-08 season.
The Golden Eagles were 20-11 last season and finished tied for fourth in Conference USA with a 9-7 record.