(This is the third of a three day series highlighting some of the new inductees in the 2025 Pascagoula Athletic Hall of Fame Class that will be honored Saturday night.)

By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PASCAGOULA — A trio of players from one of the best Pascagoula High teams in any sport not to win a state championship will be honored Saturday night.

Dale Brown, Elbert Rodgers and Antonio Harvey, all members of the unforgettable 1987-1998 Panther basketball squad, will all be inducted into the Pascagoula Athletic Hall of Fame in an induction ceremony hosted by the Pascagoula Athletic Foundation at The Hilton Garden Inn at 6 pm.

Tickets are still available.

The trio, along with fellow starters Fred Williams and Issac Brown, comprised then head coach David Lipscomb’s starting five that season, one in which PHS went an impressive 27-7 overall and won the Class 5A South State championship 71-64 over Jackson Murrah at Jackson State University.

The Mustangs snapped Gulfport’s 33 game win streak against Mississippi competition the night before with a 80-77 behind 41 points from James Robinson to move into the South State finals.

However, Gulfport, which featured prep All-American Chris Jackson, eliminated the Panthers 10 days later 66-64 in the overall Final Four on a last second tip in at The Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson.

Out of the seven losses for PHS that season, four came at the hands of the Admirals.

Brown, Williams and Harvey were all named to Class 5A All-Tournament Team for their play at “The Big House”. Brown had 28 points in the season-ending loss to GHS, and he poured in 35 points in the win over Murrah. Both were game-high totals.

Jackson and GHS went on to thump Jackson Murrah 96-76 to win their second straight state title.

Here are the bios provided for the trio of Panthers by The PAHOF Selection Committee (Some info has been corrected above):

1980-1989

Dale Brown (PHS 1988) — A two-year letterman in basketball at PHS; in 1988 helped lead PHS to a 30-7 record, the district title and to the South State Championship; was selected All-District and All-State as he averaged 19.5 ppg, 5 rebounds and 4 assists; received a scholarship to Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College (MGCJC) where he played from 1988-1990 and was selected Mississippi Junior College All-State All-Region 23; received a scholarship to the University of Kentucky (UK); helped lead UK to the 1992 and 1993 SEC championships and to the 1993 Final Four; in 1992 played in what is considered the greatest college basketball game ever, UK vs. Duke in the East Region Elite Eight Final; was selected as 1992 SEC Newcomer of the Year and twice was selected as SEC Defensive Player of the Year; played in 1993 for the Sacramento Kings of the NBA and for four years in European Professional Basketball; has coached at both the high school and college levels.

Antonio Harvey (PHS 1988} — A three-year letterman in basketball at PHS; helped lead PHS to a 30-7 record, the district title and to the South State Championship as he averaged over 13.0 ppg; received a scholarship to Southern Illinois University where he played one season then transferred to Conners State College and to the University of Georgia for one season each; transferred to Pfeiffer University where he played from 1991-1993 and averaged 16.0 ppg, had 155 blocked shots in 1992-1993 and totaled 295 career blocked shots; was chosen to the CIAC All-Tournament Team in both 1992 and 1993; in 1993 was selected CIAC All-American, CIAC Player of the Year and District Player of the Year; signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA in 1993 and became the first undrafted rookie to start a game in Laker history; played a total of nine seasons in the NBA with the Lakers, Vancouver Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, Seattle Supersonics, Portland Trailblazers and Atlanta Hawks; competed in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and finished fourth; later played in Greece, Spain, Poland and Italy; in 2004 was named general manager and head coach of the American Basketball Association’s Portland Reign; later became a member of Portland Trailblazer’s radio broadcast team; his brother Richard Harvey was inducted into the 2016 PAF Hall of Fame Class.

Elbert Rogers (PHS 1988) — A three-year letterman in basketball at PHS; helped lead PHS to a 30-7 record and the district title and to the South State Championship as he averaged 16 ppg; was selected All-District, All-State, McDonald’s All-American, Street & Smith Honorable Mention All-American and NHS/ACA All-American; chosen to play in the Mississippi North-South All-Star Game; received a scholarship to the University of Alabama-Birmingham {UAB) where he was a four-year letterman; averaged 12.0 ppg and 4.7 rebounds his sophomore year and was honored as the 6th Man of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference; in his junior season he averaged 17.0 ppg and 6.5 rebounds, earning him 2nd Team All-Sun Belt Conference honors; in his senior year was the leading scorer and rebounder in the Great Midwest Conference with 20.9 ppg and 6.8 rebounds and was selected to the pt Team All-Conference squad; his career totals at UAB were third on the all-time scoring list, third in all-time rebounds and holding the record for consecutive double-figure scoring games; was recognized as #9 on the UAB All-Time Legends list for his contributions to the UAB program; later enjoyed a successful professional career that spanned 10 years, playing overseas in Spain, China, Argentina and the Puerto Rican Summer League and retiring in 2002 with an impressive professional average of 18.4 ppg and 9.2 rebounds per game.