Bulldogs land pledge from one of nation’s top juniors
Filed Under Mississippi State Sports | Posted on October 24, 2006
Bulldogs land pledge from one of nation’s top juniors
STARKVILLE — He is a high school basketball star in Hopkinsville, Ky., so Louisville and Kentucky are naturally high on Scotty Hopson’s list of potential colleges.
But Mississippi State is where he wants to be.
Hopson, the Rivals.com No. 10-rated high school basketball prospect for the class of 2008, said Monday night that he’ll sign with the Bulldogs.
“They recruited me harder and it seems they wanted me more,” Hopson said. “They really showed their commitment to me.”
Hopson (6-foot-6, 195 pounds) is Rivals’ top-rated small forward in the class of 2008. But Hopson, who averaged 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists as a sophomore at University Heights Academy, said he’ll play shooting guard when he gets to college.
“His height and athleticism on the perimeter, it’s hard to defend,” Mike Artis, his AAU coach last year, said.
Hopson said he chose the Bulldogs over Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Ohio State and Tennessee.
Commitments are non-binding and Hopson, a high school junior, can’t sign scholarship papers with Mississippi State until November of 2007.
But he says his commitment is firm.
“It’s a lot of pressure off of me, man, for real,” Hopson said. “I feel like a heavy burden’s off my back.”
