Former Andalusia High School basketball star Robert Horry is coming into his own.

 

Horry, who plays for the University of Alabama, is finding himself in the thick of the Southeastern Conference basketball race. And the freshman is not hurting the Tide’s chances. In fact, he may be in for a bright future at Alabama.

 

Horry, who is a 6-foot-9-inch 200-pound, freshman forward at the university, has seen more action so far than many thought he would.

 

He has played in 19 games for the Tide this year and has been a factor in the Tide offense coming off the bench.

 

Through the Mississippi State game, Horry had made 47 of 117 field goal attempts for a percentage of .392.

 

He had made 16-22 free throws and amassed a total of 82 rebounds, which in an average of 3.7 per game.

 

Horry averages 4.7 points per game.

 

The Tide is currently 16-6 overall and 8-5 in the conference.

 

Horry had a big night against Florida recently as he was high-point man for the Tide with 19.

 

During his junior year at Andalusia, Horry averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots per game. Overall, he averaged 25.9 points a game and 10 rebounds for Andalusia as he helped them to a 90-22 record during his career.

 

He was named to three All-American teams and also won Naismith’s Player of the Year for a high school basketball player in Alabama.

 

In his best outing at UA, Horry led the Tide scoring Feb. 1 against Florida, as he scored 19 points. He also scored 10 points in 20 minutes of playing time in the Tides’ road victory against Ole Miss last week,

 

Horry seemed to think the Tide had a real good shot to that the SEC title, at least before the loss to Mississippi State Wednesday night.

 

“The win at Ole Miss was a real confidence builder for us,” said Horry. “I think we needed the win to give us confidence and that was a good step in the right direction.”

 

Horry didn’t find it too hard going from high school to college.

 

“The transition was smooth,” said Horry. “The biggest thing that I had to get used to was that the play in college ball is hard for the entire game.”