By KEVIN FOOTE

Written for the LSWA

ST. MARTINVILLE - Darrel Mitchell Jr. can finally afford to spend a few moments pondering his future.

He's made sure his past is worth looking back on. The St. Martinville Senior High shooting star's resume begins with being a four-year starter. It got even sweeter his junior and senior seasons when he emerged as the top performer on a team ranked No. 1 in the state for the majority of that two-year stretch.

His senior campaign ended with a flourish when his Tigers capped Mitchell's career with a Class 4A state basketball championship at the Cajundome.

As if that experience didn't provide enough pleasant memories, Mitchell got more good news when the Louisiana Sportswriters Assocication selected him the 2002 Farm Bureau Mr. Basketball Award, honoring him as the state boys Player of the Year.

"It's a great honor," Mitchell said. "It's not something I've thought a lot about. My main goal was to win the state championship. I had confidence that I'd become a pretty good player, but I never thought all of this would happen."

After Mitchell and his Tiger teammate lost at the buzzer to Woodlawn of Baton Rouge in the state quarterfinals in March 2001, the team was determined to claim the big prize this season.

The intensity of that desire rang clear with the many tears of joy produced by the state 2002 finals victory.

"It was even more emotional being in the bench in the final minutes," said Mitchell, who fouled out with more than two minutes to play. "When we missed a few free throws, I thought that Carver might make a run. But I had confidence in my teammates. A lot of us have been playing together for six or seven years."

He eclipsed the 2,000-point plateau for his career in early December, and finished his senior season with averages of 24.6 points, 3.3 assists, 2.9 steals and 3.1 rebounds per game as a 5-foot-11 shooting guard.

Mitchell shot 81.1 percent at the free throw line, 41 percent from 3-point land and 59.5 percent from 2-point territory.

"It (Mr. Basketball) is a great accomplishment," said his father and coach Darrel Mitchell Sr. "Having one of your players win a prestigous award like that is great, and then having it be your own son. It doesn't get any better than that. "I'm very proud of what he's done, because heis worked so hard to do what he's done. When he was a freshman, he was a puny little kid, and heis worked hard to get stronger."

Mitchell's been a high-profile athlete in Acadiana for several years. His name, however, surfaced nationally in a December tournament in Lake Charles when Mitchell exploded for 41 points in a 2-point loss on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to Lincoln High (40-0) of Dallas, USA Today's No. 1 team.

Consequently, Mitchell peeked the interest of schools like Oklahoma, Virginia, LSU, North Carolina State and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

"He still needs to improve a little bit on the defensive side," coach Mitchell said. "I've been getting on him for years above not keeping guys in front of him and just reaching. If you get beat, you can't get lazy and just reach around. He'll work on that, though."

As special as the last four years have been for father and son, there's another possible star on the horizon in seventh-grade brother Jelani Mitchell. "He's got a chance to be just as good or better than me," said Mitchell, who made an 18 on his ACT and has a 3.1 grade-point average.

"He's just got to keep his head straight, work hard and listen to Dad and Mom."It's a blueprint that worked wonders for his big brother.