Larry Smith set to represent Alcorn in MS Sports Hall of Fame

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Larry Smith wasn’t gifted with natural-born scoring ability, so he knew there were other things he had to do in order to stay on the basketball court.

“It was a situation where if I wanted to get playing time, I needed to find a way to acquire playing time,” Smith said. “I felt if I pound the glass, rebound the ball and play great defense and did those little things, the playing time will come.”

Those little things added up to a stellar career, which stretched from Simmons High School to Alcorn State and a 13-year career in the NBA for the Rolling Fork native.

The next stop for Smith is the BancorpSouth Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame where he’ll be inducted Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Jackson Convention Center.

“I think he’s one of Mississippi’s all-time basketball greats,” Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame historian Rick Cleveland said. “By any definition he should be in there. He was a great basketball player in college, and was a really solid player in the pros.”

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