For the past two years, Vicksburg boys’ basketball coach Dellie C. Robinson has been on Team Mississippi’s bench in their annual all-star classic game against Alabama.

Tonight, Robinson will actually get to enjoy the game as a fan and he’ll be there to root for one of his own in Gator senior guard Kelsey Howard.

“Kelsey Howard is an all-star player and one of the best in this state,” said Robinson, who was the Mississippi head coach last year and an assistant in 2008. Because he’s been through the game twice, Robinson says the classic will lay out well for Howard, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, who led the Gators to a 25-4 record and averaged 19.8 points per game.

“The thing I’ve learned about the Alabama-Mississippi game is that it is a wingman’s game. Kelsey is a wing and because of that, he’ll have an opportunity to score some points,” Robinson said.

This will be Howard’s second all-star game. He was selected and played in the Mississippi All-Star game back in July at Mississippi College. Howard scored 11 points for the North. Many of the players he played against and for in that contest will be joining in him at the Pelham Civic Center near Birmingham tonight.

“I know  a lot of the guys like Jalen Courtney from Provine and Andre Stringer from Forest Hill,” Howard said. Both the Jackson area players have signed with LSU.

Howard played with Starkville’s Rashad Perkins in the junior all-star game and then faced him in his last game as a Gator in an 81-64 loss at the North State 6A Tournament. Starkville went on to claim both the 6A and Grand Slam championships.

“I know Perkins can do a lot of different things well. But I was able to get my shots. A lot of times these guys just tend to look out for themselves,” Howard said.

Perkins and Wingfield’s Trency Jackson are two Southern Miss signees. The Golden Eagles are one of three in-state schools that have expressed an interest in Howard. The others being Jackson State and Mississippi State.

In the girls’ game, former Missy Gator coach Mike Coleman, now at Quitman, will be an assistant for Team Mississippi. Felicia Lofton of Clinton is the head coach for the team that features Valencia McFarland of Raymond.

Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com