STARKVILLE — Starkville High School boys basketball coach Greg Carter remembers Jesse Little, Darrious Agnew, and Markedric Bell as freshmen.
The veteran coach didn’t rule out the possibility, but he didn’t guarantee they were going to play college basketball, either. After all, Little had plenty of room to grow into his body and Agnew and Bell had plenty to learn to make up for their lack of experience.
On Wednesday, all of them officially took that next step, as Little signed with American University in Washington, D.C., while Agnew and Bell stuck with their commitments to East Mississippi Community College.
The signing ceremony in the Starkville High gymnasium concluded the careers of players who helped lead the Yellow Jackets to the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A State championship game as juniors and win 21 games as seniors.
Little’s maturation helped him realize his goal to play basketball in college. Carter said Little arrived at Starkville High as a 6-foot-4 freshman and has since grown six inches while maintaining his perimeter skills. He’ll need those skills to flourish in American’s “five out” system that enticed Little. The five-out system spreads the floor and prioritizes spacing so all players can make plays on the perimeter.
“That would be more beneficial for him that playing on the block at the college level. That’s where they can best use his skill set,” Carter said.
Little said American’s academic also were a “major factor” in his decision to go to the Division I school, which is a member of the Patriot League.
Little, who was named to the Mississippi Association of Coaches Mississippi/Alabama Senior All-Star game, is considering majoring in sports medicine and minoring in business, but he hasn’t committed to it.
Carter thinks EMCC coach Billy Begley is getting a pair of raw talents in Agnew and Bell to mold.
“Their skills have improved so much over the last few years, but they didn’t have eighth- and ninth-grade basketball,” Carter said. “Darrious didn’t start until ninth grade and Markedric didn’t really start until 10th grade. They didn’t have a lot of foundation to build on.”
What they lack in foundation, they make up for in help from other local products. Last year, EMCC had former Starkville High players Keith Harris and Josh Skinner on the roster with Columbus’ Quan Hines. Skinner played his sophomore season last year, but Harris and Hines could return for Agnew and Bell’s debut season.
Carter is confident the familiar surroundings, both in personnel and proximity, is a positive thing for the development of their respective games.
“I think coach Begley does a pretty good job down there, and they’re close enough where if they need to come home, they can come home,” he said. “They won’t be homesick. I think they’ll do well.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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