When the Liberty County Panthers boys basketball team went 28-1 and won the AAAA state championship last season, everyone knew that there were some special players on the team.

One of them is senior Davion Mitchell and his hard work has earned a full scholarship at a premier school, Auburn.
Last week, Mitchell officially signed his full ride with the Tigers during the NCAA college basketball early signing period. He will don the orange and blue starting with the 2017-18 season. Family, friends, coaches and teammates gathered Sunday to celebrate with him.

“It’s a blessing, really,” Mitchell’s mother, LaKisha Mitchell, said at the party. “He has a full scholarship and is going to a school that he loves with coaches that he loves.”

Mitchell joins the Tigers 2017 recruiting class that is ranked No. 1 in the country by Rivals and No. 7 by 247Sports. It also includes five-star center Austin Wiley and four-star power forward Chuma Okeke, who both signed with Bruce Pearl’s team last week.
Mitchell said he is joining the Tigers in hopes of continuing his basketball career into the NBA. He said the decision came from Auburn feeling like home.

“Going there, it felt like home,” Mitchell said. “I feel so comfortable there with the coaches telling me what I need to do and how to treat and get to know my teammates better.”
Being on a state championship team will also be beneficial to his college career and he hopes that experience will help the Tigers succeed in the SEC.

“Just having that confidence is going to help,” he said. “I am trying to win a national championship at Auburn. So having confidence after the state championship is number one.”

Mitchell led the Panthers with 24.2 points and 7.1 assists per game during the 2015-16 season and in their state title run. That experience should help him when he makes his way to The Plains next year.