LSU Basketball: Keith Hornsby signs with Dallas Mavericks
Former LSU basketball guard Keith Hornsby is headed to the National Basketball Association.
Hornsby signed a free agent deal with the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, according to the team’s website.
In two years at LSU, Hornsby (6-foot-4, 210-pounds) averaged 13.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 33.6 minutes per game. Anyone who watched Hornsby play over the last two years in Baton Rouge, understands the guy is worthy of an NBA roster spot.
While his collegiate numbers may not translate as well to the professional game, Hornsby will be a great locker room guy and a valuable leader to the Mavericks as his career progresses.
Mavericks radio play-by-play announcer Chuck Cooperstein, however, insinuated that Keith’s famous father, Grammy-winner Bruce Hornsby, may have had a hand in his son’s NBA signing.
Mavs sign LSU G Keith Hornsby as FA. Son of Grammy Award winning singer Bruce Hornsby who's a very good friend of Mavs coach Rick Carlisle
— Chuck Cooperstein (@coopmavs) July 27, 2016
Even if Bruce helped get Keith’s foot in the door with the Mavericks, the younger Hornsby will ultimately have to earn his chance to stay in the NBA long term. Professional sports are a meritocracy, and if a player doesn’t produce, he’s gone.
The Hornsby signing marks the second former LSU basketball player to ink an NBA deal this week. Earlier this week The Vertical’s Shams Charania reported that undrafted LSU guard Tim Quarterman had signed a partially guaranteed contract with the Portland Trailblazers.
Undrafted LSU guard Tim Quarterman has agreed to a partially guaranteed two-year deal with Portland, sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 25, 2016
Hornsby and Quarterman join Ben Simmons as a trio of former Tigers to join NBA squads this off season. Simmons was selected as the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this summer.