Moss Point features Kentucky recruit Booker

Making the odyssey north, the Moss Point (Miss.) Tigers find themselves in the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational field this year for the first time in school history. Led by head coach Micoe Cotton, the Tigers are a high-profile team in the state of Mississippi thanks to talented shooting guard Devin Booker.

According to ESPN.com, Booker is a five-star recruit, the third-ranked shooting guard in the Class of 2014 and the best player in the state of Mississippi. The 6-foot-6 guard averaged just less than 30 points per contest during last year’s junior campaign with the Tigers.

Booker is praised by scouts on a national level for his size, basketball IQ and deep shooting range. He has signed to play college basketball with Kentucky after receiving scholarship offers from many schools, including Michigan, Michigan State, Florida and Missouri.

“He brings a lot of confidence to the team,” Cotton said. “Some of our other players don’t have the experience he does, but he brings out confidence and elevates their level of play and that means a lot.”

Cotton’s young Moss Point roster features just four seniors. In addition to Booker, Cotton utilizes 6-foot-2 senior guard Lateriss Brown and a pair of 6-foot-3 senior forwards in Derrick McMillan and Juan Parker. The Tigers have five juniors and four sophomores on their young roster.

“I’m still getting them into the swing of things,” Cotton said of his young sophomore players. “They don’t have much varsity experience right now, but I plan to get them going and playing at a high level.”

Another notable value on Moss Point’s roster is 6-foot junior point guard Marcus Watson. Working in the backcourt with Booker, Cotton said Watson is a threat to record a double-double on any given night thanks to his elite shooting and passing abilities.

With a talented roster led by a superstar recruit and backed by senior leadership with a cast of young, up-and-coming role players, Cotton says he believes his Tigers have the ability to compete in a loaded Holiday Invitational field because of their versatility.

The Tigers are different from any team Cotton has coached in the past.

“It’s not every day you get an opportunity to coach a Devin Booker,” Cotton said. “With the addition of Watson and other players who are so crafty with the ball, it’s really a unique situation.”