By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

OCEAN SPRINGS — Ocean Springs senior standout shooting guard Maddox Noblitt picked up a huge honor Monday morning.
Noblitt was named to the prestigious “Dandy Dozen” list as produced each year by the Clarion-Ledger newspaper of Jackson. It is believed that he is the first-ever greyhound selected for the team.
“We’re very proud and happy for Maddox to be recognized as one of the best players in the state,” second year OSHS head coach Collin Goley said, upon being notified about the big honor on Monday morning. “He’s worked very hard for a long time and now he has cemented himself in Mississippi history by being named a Dandy Dozen. We’re very fortunate to have a player like him wearing the Blue and Gray.”

Noblitt has seen limited action so far this season, and is averaging 13 points and five rebounds per game.
Last season, he burst upon the scene in prep basketball circles in South Mississippi as a junior as Noblitt led OSHS with an average of 17 points per game and he also averaged five rebounds and three assists per game while shooting 35% from three-point range.
He helped guide the Greyhounds to a 20-9 record and into the first-ever Class 7A South State Quarterfinal Tournament.
He tallied a game-high 18 points to guide the Greyhounds when OSHS pounded Pearl 61-47 in the opening round of the Class 7A South State playoffs. The win marked the first playoff win for the OSHS boys squad in 20 years, since 2004.
The 6-foot-3 stalwart ended his junior campaign for OSHS by winning Most Valuable Player honors in the annual Mississippi Sports Medicine North/South All-Star Basketball Game as he scored a game-high 15 points to lead the South Squad in an 80-75 win over the North in the Class 5A/6A/7A Boys Game for rising seniors.
Goley was on hand to watch his all-star.

“I thought the game was played at a high level, tough shot making, physical defense and really good players making plays,” Goley said. “There was 24 of the best juniors in the state going at it. It was fun to watch and coach.”
Noblitt also grabbed four rebounds and had a pair of assists in just 14 minutes of action.
” “I thought Maddox played really well. Not only offensively but being one of the leaders of the South group and getting the guys to gel together,” Goley added. “I think he showed everyone why he’s one of if not the best junior in the class of 2025.”
Observers also speak highly of Noblitt’s high “Basketball IQ” while he’s on the court and rightfully so.
Noblitt hails from one of Jackson County’s “First Families” of hoops, as he is part of a long and constant bloodline both on the court and on the bench over the past six decades in this area.
His play reminds many observers in the prep basketball circles across South Mississippi of his father Monty. The elder Noblitt was a standout player for his father and Maddox’s grandfather, head coach Mike Noblitt, at Vancleave back in the late 1980’s.

Monty Noblitt lettered on the hardwood for five years, including leading VHS to its first-ever trip to the state playoffs when he averaged 18 points and 10 boards per game.
He went on to sign with George Southern University, where he lettered for three seasons and also guided the Eagles to the 1992 NCAA Basketball Tournament. He was inducted into the second class of the Vancleave High School Hall of Fame in 2020.
Like his father, when his playing days were done Monty Noblitt also went on to be a head coach at several stops on the Mississippi Gulf Coast including Ocean Springs at one point about a decade ago.
Monty was replaced as the Greyhound head coach in 2014 by his younger brother Matt, who stayed on the job for eight seasons including coaching Maddox last season before stepping down and giving way to Goley.
The oldest Noblitt brother Marty, like his father, was a standout at Pascagoula. Marty graduated in 1984, and was also a longtime head basketball coach in South Mississippi.

The patriarch of that long-branched family basketball tree is Mike, who was a standout at PHS in the early 1960’s. He played guard and helped lead the Panthers to the 1963 Sub-District Title and to the South Big 8 Conference finals. He ended his playing career at Mississippi College, where he led the Choctaws in scoring his senior season. He was inducted into the Pascagoula High Athletics Hall of Fame a few years back.
Mike Noblitt served as head basketball coach at several Mississippi high schools, including Vancleave, where he coached Maddox’s father Monty.
“It’s absolutely helped him coming from that type of family,” Goley continued. “His grandpa was a great coach, and his dad was as well and both of his uncles were great coaches.
Over the Summer, the younger Noblitt played out in Arizona for the Memphis Blazers in the NXTPRO HOOPS league which is sponsored by Puma
During that event, Noblitt poured in a game-high 34 points thanks to nine 3-pointers and also dished out eight assists in a 73-48 win over an Australian All-Star squad.
Adam Erickson, a scout for NXTPRO Hoops, proclaimed on social media after that “Memphis Blazers 2025 G Maddox Noblitt is scorching the nets right now. Knock down shooter with great shot mechanics and a smooth release. Pairs that with plus sized length at 6’5 and athletic ability.”
According to one source, he has offers from Southern Miss, Mississippi Gulf Coast and Jones College at this point.
After a 10-day break for the Thanksgiving Holiday, Goley, Noblitt and the Greyhounds travel to Hancock to face the home-standing Hawks Tuesday night.