By Robert Wilson
Northwest Rankin’s DeShawn Dillon is one of the top multi-sport high school athletes in the country, ranking in the Top 50 in the nation in football and basketball at his position, with offers from multiple SEC teams in each sport.
And last week, the 6-foot-4 junior guard had the best week of any high school basketball player in Metro Jackson.
Dillon averaged 26 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4 assists and led Northwest Rankin to a pair of MHSAA Class 7A, Region 3 victories over Meridian and Petal.
For his outstanding performance, Dillon was named the Tatum and Wade/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Boys Basketball Player of the Week.
Dillon had 26 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in a 60-54 victory over Meridian and 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in a 56-53 victory over Petal last week.
He is averaging 20.3 points, 8 rebounds and 3.1 assists and has led Northwest Rankin to a 13-6 record and a No. 16 ranking in Mississippi and No. 8 in MHSAA Class 7A by Maxpreps going into this week.
“We entered last week’s district play with a 1-1 record and hosting Meridian on Tuesday was a very big for us because they beat us at Meridian by five points,” Northwest Rankin coach Sirdonta Washington said. “De’Shawn took that very personal and approached practice with at the mindset to make everyone better in preparation for the game. He played very well both games, leading us to two vital victories, which put us in first place in our district. He’s heating up at the right time.”
Dillon is rated the No. 1 player in Mississippi, No. 24 rated shooting guard and No. 127 player in the country in the Class of 2027.
He has Division I offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Alcorn State, Jackson State, and New Mexico State.
Dillon averaged 21 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists and helped Northwest Rankin to a 16-15 record and the MHSAA Class 7A first round last season as a sophomore.
Dillon is one of the top football players in Mississippi. He caught 67 passes for 979 yards and six touchdowns for Northwest Rankin past this season. He ranked 19th in Mississippi and first in MHSAA Class 7A in receiving yards according to MaxPreps. Dillon was named to the Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson first team.
Dillon is rated as the No. 13 player in Mississippi and the No. 49 wide receiver in the country by 247 Sports. He has Division I offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Jackson State, Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Nebraska, and Troy, Ala.
Dillon is the son of Demetric and Cermona Dillon. Demetric played basketball at North Pike High and attended Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Cermona played basketball at North Pike and attended Southwest Mississippi CC. Dillon has two siblings, brother, Ja’Quiarious “JQ” played football and baseball at Northwest Rankin and played football at Holmes CC, and sister, Ka’Miya Dillon, played softball and volleyball at Northwest Rankin and played softball at Jackson Prep and is a senior at Acorn State and plays softball. Dillon has two aunts, Betty Robinson and Tashebia Watkins, and one uncle, LC Dillon, who played basketball at North Pike.
Mississippi Scoreboard selects a boys basketball player from Hinds, Madison, or Rankin counties each week. Coaches can nominate a player by sending a text to Robert Wilson at 601.506.2276.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
WEEK ONE: Jeff Flanagan, Madison Central
WEEK TWO: Sam Funches, Germantown
WEEK THREE: Lazabian Banks, Lanier
WEEK FOUR: Braxton Ward, Callaway
WEEK FIVE; Austin Richards, Jackson Academy
