King’s Gibson picks Southern Miss

Posted Jan 24, 2010 by Adam Adkins

Updated Jan 24, 2010 at 06:27 PM

King senior girls golf standout Kelsey Gibson has verbally committed to Southern Miss.

Gibson, one of the area’s top golfers throughout her high school career, also had garnered interest from several other programs, including UCF, Mercer, Miami and Nova Southeastern, but decided that Southern Miss was the best fit and gave her commitment Sunday afternoon.

“I was talking with my dad, and he basically asked me if any other school in the nation came through and said here you go, a full-ride, would you take it? And I wouldn’t,” said Gibson, who made an official visit to the campus in Hattiesburg, Miss., in November. “Honestly, Southern Miss had everything I wanted.”

Gibson began playing high school golf as a seventh grader at Tampa Prep and has excelled ever since. She has been a Tribune All-Hillsborough County first team pick each of the last five years, the last three while playing for King. On Friday she was the recipient of the Casey Most Valuable Golfer Award, given annually to the county’s top senior girls golfer.