By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

GULFPORT — Quite a few prep basketball standouts displayed their wares on the hardwood floors of the Mississippi Coast over the years before heading into the NBA some time later.

After all, the likes of Jonathan Bender, Chris Jackson, Devin Booker, Litterial Green, , Erik Dampier and Al Jefferson among others all logged minutes along U.S. Highway 90 and surrounding areas over the past three decades.

But what about prep basketball players who went on to all-star careers in the NFL?

Well, that’s exactly what happened some 27 years ago when Eli Manning brought his talents to South Beach in Mississippi.

During his senior season at Newman High School in New Orleans, Manning and his Greenies traveled to B. Frank Brown in Gulfport to play in the prestigious “Admiral Hardwood Club Holiday Classic” hosted annually by Gulfport High School.

In late December of 1998, Manning and Newman finished sixth in the annual affair out of eight teams. The Greenies beat Pascagoula 50-48 in the consolation round on the second day of play, after falling to the host Admirals 67-55 in opening round action.

“I opened the gym a couple mornings during the tournament so Newman could hold practice,” Bryan Caldwell, who at that time was the Gulfport head coach said. Caldwell, who spent 10 seasons at the helm of the Admirals, then also served a decade as Athletics Director at his alma mater GHS as well.

“I distinctly remember that Eli’s teammates called him ‘Easy.’” Caldwell continued. “He was a laid-back kid who was a good player with a famous last name. I also recall Archie and Olivia (his parents) being there each night to see him play. It was a fun tournament.”

Caldwell came up with the idea of inviting Newman to play in the “Admiral Hardwood Club Holiday Classic” after his team played in Newman’s own holiday tournament the year before and his Admirals brought the championship hardware back to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

“In 1997 we were invited by Coach Billy Fitzgerald to play in the prestigious Newman Invitational Tournament in New Orleans,” Caldwell added. “The next year, Newman reciprocated and came to Gulfport to play in the Holiday Classic. Eli was their best player, but we didn’t get to play against him the year before because he accompanied his family to New York to attend the Heisman Trophy ceremony with Peyton.”

But Manning was in the Newman line-up the following season when the the Greenies invaded Gulfport.

“This was in the middle of Eli’s college football recruitment, so it was a pretty big deal among Ole Miss fans that he was in Gulfport for three days.” Caldwell said.

Manning led Newman with 18 points in the opening round game against Caldwell’s crew, but he was out-dueled by Admiral senior guard Jamie Morgan who tallied 18 of his game-high and career-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.

Manning, who of course went on to become an All-SEC quarterback at Ole Miss and a two-time Super Bowl winning MVP in the NFL with the New York Giants, then scored 11 points in Newman’s close win over Pascagoula before closing out tourney play with a team-high 17 points in a 64-53 loss to Harrison Central in the fifth place game.

“Since we didn’t get to see him the year before, I wanted to make sure we matched up with Newman at some point in the tournament, so we played them in the opening round.” Caldwell concluded. “Eli was Newman’s leading scorer and rebounder, so we needed to keep him under control to win. I gave our best defender, Rod Davis, the job of guarding him. Rod shut him down and we won.”

And, as luck would have it, Davis and Manning ended up in the same room competing again a few years later.

Manning won the Conerly Trophy, awarded each year to the most outstanding college football player in the state of Mississippi, as both a sophomore and a senior at Ole Miss. In his junior year, of 2002, he finished second in the voting to Davis, who went on to enjoy a stellar career as a linebacker at Southern Miss.

Davis was the first-ever Conerly Trophy Award recipient at USM.