Kemper County’s Devonta Pollard will play for the South squad at the Mississippi Association of Coaches All-Star game Saturday.

    With college recruiters scouting him since before the age of 13, Kemper County basketball star Devonta Pollard is just a summer away from entering his senior season.

    Pollard — diverse on offense and a shot-blocking machine defensively — has started to draw some serious attention with his performance over the past few months. His showcasing of skills has paid off and catapulted the 6-foot-7, 190-pound Porterville native all the way to the No. 6 overall player in the class of 2012 according to Rivals.com.

    “That is just due to his (Pollard) hard work and his humbleness,” said Kemper County basketball coach Kelvin Young. “I hope he continues to do those same things.

    “He had a good spring AAU up in Indianapolis and in Little Rock, Ark. He really impressed a lot of the scouts who had never really seen him in person before up at the Lebron James camp in Akron, Ohio.  All of the sudden the basketball experts started taking notice.”

    Said Pollard of his climb in the rankings: “It makes me feel good. First of all it shows me that I’m not just working hard to be working hard. The work is paying off and I’m improving and I can see that.”

    To say that Pollard has aroused interest would be an understatement. The small forward already has offers from Kentucky, Alabama, Georgetown, LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

    “The more college coaches I see showing more interest in me, it just makes me want to work that much harder,” added Pollard.

    Pollard averaged 24.2 points per game in his junior campaign, while blocking 5.2 shots per outing. He also pulled down a healthy 13.8 rebounds a game and shot 52 percent from the field and 33 percent from beyond the arc.

    The junior phenom has also attended the NBA Top 100 Camp as well as the Kevin Durant Nike Skills Camp.

    “These kind of camps aren’t really new to me because I’ve been going to these things since I was very young,” added Pollard. “They help show my weaknesses and that helps a lot because it shows me what I need to work on.

    “They help me from getting frustrated and they show me how to not get down on myself. They help a lot to see other players going through the same stuff I am.”

    While Pollard has improved from year-to-year, Young knows that his standout will have to keep improving key parts of his game in order to make it at the next level.

    “He’s going to have to focus on his mid-range jumper,” added Young. “He has to keep getting better with his ball control and learn to slow it down. He’s going to have to work on his physical strength. That was a key thing that a lot of the scouts mentioned.”

    Added Pollard: “I just stay in the gym working on my jumper and working on my ball-handling skills. I’ve been in the weight room trying to get stronger and get more size.”

    Pollard helped Kemper to a 22-7 record in the 2010-11 season and led them to a state-runner up finish in both his freshman and sophomore years. He plans to be in the gym when not traveling with his AAU team over the summer.