Jackson Free Press

The path to the NBA can be easy if a player is a top pick in the draft. Alternatively, there is a long route that players can take in the hopes that their hoop dreams can come true. Former Vicksburg High School star Mychal Ammons is taking that longer path.

It hasn't been an easy road to basketball greatness for Ammons, as many may have guessed. Ammons led Vicksburg High School to the Class 6A title game as senior during the 2010-2011 season. He scored 21.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in his final year of high school.

The 6'6" and 225-pound power forward was a member of the Jackson Tigers AAU team. Maxpreps.com named him the most valuable player in the Mississippi state high-school basketball tournament and first team All-State, and he also made it into the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star game. Vicksburg won a combined 52 games during Ammons' final two years.

Born in Bethesda, Md., Mississippi State University, the University of Florida, the University of Tennessee and others looked to recruit the former Dandy Dozen star. Both Rivals.com and ESPN.com ranked Ammons before he decided to play college basketball for the University of South Alabama Jaguars.

During his freshman season, Ammons appeared in 29 games and started in 21 games. He averaged 10 points a game for third on the team in scoring and second in rebounds with 6.9 per game. Ammons finished his debut college season first in steals with 31 and third in assists with 31.

Ammons was just as successful in his sophomore campaign with 10.8 points per game and 6.3 rebounds for third on the team in both categories. His solid play also continued with 27 blocks for third on the team and 28 steals for second on the team.

In his junior season, Ammons averaged 9.3 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, with 35 blocks and 44 assists. At the end of that season, he decided to forgo his senior year to pursue a career in the NBA.

In May 2014, Ammons signed on with overseas professional Macedonia Club Feni Indistrija. In a single season with the club, he averaged 9.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.

Ammons decided not to come back for the second season of his contract with Feni Indistrija. He spent the last two summers playing in the River City Summer League in Vicksburg. After a workout, the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League, or D-League, brought him into training camp as one of 17 players to compete for a roster spot this season. Two days before the Nov. 13 start of the league, Ammons and Nick Wiggins were the final two cuts as the Stampede fell down to 12 players.

As one of the final cuts in Idaho, the Stampede or another D-League team could bring Ammons back later this season. His dream is still alive, but the path to the NBA has grown just a bit longer for Ammons.

That painful cut may be another form of motivation in his quest for a spot in the NBA.