Perhaps it has gotten lost on the memories of Greenville High School Honeybees basketball fans but there was an era right right at the turn of the century when some exceptional talent took to the court.
Perhaps the best player from that era was Latoyia Cross. More than a decade and a half after she graduated from Greenville High, she often finds herself reminding people that the teams during her time could have laced it up with the best of them.
Cross played during an era immediately after the great Honeybee teams that were led by LaToya Thomas. And, with the recent success of the current Greenville girls basketball program, some may not remember just how good the teams led by Cross were.
“I don’t think that the team got as much publicity when I started playing than it did when Latoya (Thomas) was there,” Cross recalled. “And in the last few years, there has been more of a focus on the team because of how successful they’ve been.”
As a law and public safety instructor at the Greenville Technical Center, Cross gets a pretty good idea each day about this less celebrated era in Honeybees basketball from her students.
“Some of my students just brush me off and say that I probably wasn’t any good,” she laughed. “Others might say that they remember when I played.”
Fortunately, Cross can back her recollections up with facts like the time she poured in 31 points during her junior year against O’Bannon or when head coach Burley Allen threatened to bench players who wouldn’t allow the offense to run through Cross when the Honeybees took possession of the ball. Her corner threes, rebounding, strength in the paint and slashing to the hoop for easy buckets made everyone around her better and kept opposing coaches up at night devising defensive game plans.
And no matter what era any Honeybee basketball player came through the program, perhaps none were as talented as Cross in another sport-softball. From 2000 to 2003, she anchored the softball team’s lineup in the cleanup spot and the defense at shortstop. She put fear in the opposing team’s eyes each time she would step to the plate and display her power and ability to drive in runs. “
I give credit to my dad, Edward Jackson for introducing me to sports and just working with me through everything,” Cross said. “He was the first to put a basketball in my hand. He recently passed away but was still working with me on my fielding when I played in the women’s softball league two to three years ago.”
When Cross graduated from Greenville High in 2003, she received a full scholarship from University of Arkansas Pine Bluff in basketball and a partial scholarship in softball. She also had an offer from Mississippi Valley State University. She eventually landed at Coahoma Community College where she was the league MVP her freshman year in softball.
A quote by Michael Jordan is how Cross describes her attitude to both sports and life.
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”
