Posey Chooses A School

Larry Posey, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound bulldog of a power forward from Milby High School in Houston, may not be a big man with traditional size in the paint. But despite his lack of height, Posey did his share of bulldozing the competition with his bulk this summer with the Houston Select AAU program. Posey recently made an official visit to UT-Arlington and made a verbal pledge shortly afterwards.

"I committed to UT-Arlington last weekend," said Posey. "It was a nice place to be and there are good people there to be around. The academics are good too. It was the best fit for me."

Posey chose UTA over offers from South Alabama, Arkansas-Little Rock, Lamar, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Prairie View A&M. He had also caught the attention of schools such as Tulsa, Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas State, and Stephen F. Austin with his strength and presence in the paint.

"He's a really strong player," said Milby head coach Jim Duffer. "He has great feet and great hands. His footwork in the post is really good."

In fact, Posey's offensive ability in the post has improved to the point where he's not just a relentless banger - he is also a legitimate threat to score inside. At Milby, his presence in the paint will compliment Arizona commit Jawaan McClellan's outside shooting.

"In the post one-on-one, no one can stop him. He's got great strength," said Duffer. "But he also has real nice lift in his legs. He plays above the rim."

Because he's undersized for a pivot, there are certain things that Posey must use to his advantage in the lane. His strength is obvious - he currently boasts a 325 pound bench press. But Posey is also surprisingly nimble on his feet and his long arms allow him to compensate somewhat on the defensive end against taller opponents.

On offense, the fact that he's left-handed creates trouble for defenders. And now, he's adding a jump shot to give opponents even more headaches. "He's improved on his mid-range shooting," said Duffer. "He can step out and hit from 12-15 feet."

Obviously, the big questions with Posey are his size, his conditioning, and whether or not he has already peaked at his potential. But Duffer feels that Posey still has his best basketball ahead of him -- and will do just fine in the Southland Conference. "People underestimate him," said Duffer. "He's the kind of player who will get better and better."

Posey, who is already fully qualified academically, plans to major in either Business or Engineering at UTA.