Catholic High shooting guard Quinn Lemieux must have really wanted to go to Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. - he took enough visits to the place before signing with the school Wednesday.

“Yeah, I visited it about six, seven times,” said Lemieux. “I just really like the whole atmosphere about the place.”

The CHS senior, who averaged 16.5 points per game and averaged 7 rebounds per game, had offers from several other major and minor colleges and universities but chose Millsaps because of its academics and athletics.

Catholic High guard Quinn Lemieux (21) signed a scholarship this week to attend Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. - Lee Ball / The Daily Iberian Advertisement

“It’s a very laid back place but at the same time it’s very challenging,” said Lemieux.

“I get a chance to play right away and it’s very challenging for academics.”

Lemieux, who plans to study either to become a doctor or some other profession in the health sciences, was attracted to Millsaps because of its closeness.

“I really liked the fact that it was a smaller place to study than a big university,” said Lemieux, who finished his senior year as a first-team large school selection for The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche Basketball Team. “Also when I saw the interaction between the coaches and the players I knew that it was the place for me.

“I like their philosophy in what they want to do on the basketball court.

“I hope that I can start next year as a freshman but a lot of that depends on me and how hard I work this summer in getting ready for basketball.”

CHS coach Billy Dreher thinks that Lemieux made the right decision.

“I think that he has a chance to play right away,” said Dreher, who related how Millsaps became interested in Lemieux.

“One of the assistant coaches at Lafayette High (Jack Leblanc) has a brother whose a coach at Millsaps and he kind of keeps an eye on the area and lets his brother know who is available.

“They knew about Quinn and they were very interested in him.”

Dreher also knew that the strong academics at the school would be a strong selling point for Lemieux.

“Quinn is very strong in academics,” said Dreher. “I knew that he wanted to go to a good academic school and that he wanted to go to a place that had quality academics and athletics.

“This will be a good fit for him because as good as he is now, I still think that his best basketball is still ahead of him.”

The Majors are a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and play in NCAA Division III.