By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

JACKSON – Former Pascagoula High standout Dorian McMillian is continuing his superb play on the collegiate level as well.

On Monday, after just wrapping up his first year as part of the Jackson State basketball program last week, McMillian was named “Freshman of the Year” in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in a vote by league coaches.

McMillian is averaging 10.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game for the big blue Tigers. The former “Class 6A Mr. basketball” his senior season at Pascagoula High scored in double figures 16 times, including three 20-point games with a career-high 23 points against Alabama State on Jan. 11. McMillian twice was named SWAC Newcomer of the Week.

He recorded five or more rebounds 12 times and entered the week of the regular season ranked 17th in the conference in scoring at 10.72 points per game and 10th in defensive rebounds from his guard position. McMillian was 12th in the conference in three-point field goals made (1.62), and hit seven three-pointers against Alabama State which is tied for the second-highest total in a single game this season in the SWAC. The Pascagoula native was named SWAC Newcomer of the Week two times.

Jackson State opens play in the 2025 Starry SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournaments presented by Buick on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. (ET) as the No. 2 seed and will face the winner of Tuesday night’s game between No. 7 Florida A&M and No. 10 Prairie View A&M.

As a senior at Pascagoula last season, the sensational six-foot-4 sharpshooter was a mainstay for the Panthers from his guard spot in what has turned into an historical and record-breaking season as the Panthers won a school-record 29 consecutive games and finished at 29-2 overall with a spot in the Class 6A overall Final Four.

Named to the prestigious “Dandy Dozen” list selected by The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson before the season started, he continually was at the forefront of a balanced Panther offensive attack. He was named as the Most Valuable Player in Region 4-6A, after averaging right at 20 points per game. He poured in a season-high 33 points in January of 2024 in a home win over Williamson High of Mobile, Ala., in his last appearance in the annual Panthers Rasing Canes Classic.