John Prince (1990) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

John Prince

Induction:
1990

There have been players in the rich tradition of Southern Miss basketball that had the ability to take control of a game and dominate it all my themselves, but few have had the talent to do it, quite with the flair of John Prince, known as "The Grasshopper" to Golden Eagle fans.
   Prince came to Southern Miss from nearby Lumberton (Mississippi) High School where he had a fantastic prep career. He averaged 23.4 points a game and 11.0 rebounds a game during his senior season on a district championship squad. He was a versatile athlete in high school, earning letters in track and baseball as well. As you would expect he was a high jumper and an all-state hurdler.
   After playing with the junior varsity squad throughout much of his freshman season in 1973-74, he was promoted to the varsity for the final five games of the year. Over that brief period of time, the 6-3, 170-pound guard averaged 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds.
   Inserted into the starting lineup late in that season he was given the job of guarding the nation's No. 2 scorer, Pan American's Sky King, and Prince held him to just 19 points.
   There was little doubt that the cat quick, hard playing Prince would move into the starting lineup during the 1974-75 season and Prince would wind up as the team's fifth leading scorer and rebounder that year with an 8.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
   Prince really began to come into his own as a junior in 1975-76 as he became the team's leading scorer and second leading rebounder with averages of 14.3 points and 6.2 rebounds, respectively. With his driving slashing style and his ability to stop on a dime and pull up to shoot a jump shot, Prince had become one of the most explosive players in the South. Although dunks weren't really kept track of in those days, Prince was without a doubt one of the leaders in that category and one of the most spectacular.
   Prince had played his first three seasons under Coach Jeep Clark, but in 1976-77 M.K. Turk took over the Southern Miss program. He would captain that squad and turned in one of the truly remarkable seasons ever recorded by a Golden Eagle. He averaged 20.0 points and 6.6 rebounds that year, while shooting 51.4-percent from the floor and leading the team in assists with 73. Down the stretch that year Prince was nearly unstoppable, leading the team to some key victories.
   Prince would earn a berth on the all-South Independent team after the 1976-77 season and also be named an honorable mention pick on the All-America team. He would finish his career as the 23rd all-time leading scorer in school history with 1,134 points and shoot 47.4 -percent during his career.
   He was one of the most exciting players to ever play at Southern Miss and in the mid-1970s when the school was beginning to establish itself as a top level Division I program, it was Prince who helped to lay the foundation. His skills and abilities and the fact that he was one of the most popular players in school history, gives him a unique place in the Southern Miss Hall of Fame.