QHS’s Talton de-commits from University of New Orleans, seeks ‘place that really, really fits me’

QUINCY — The lure of an NCAA Division I basketball scholarship led Jeremiah Talton to make a hasty decision.

He vows not to make the same mistake twice.

The Quincy High School all-state swingman and Muddy River Sports Player of the Year received a release from his national letter of intent with the University of New Orleans early last week and announced Monday via Twitter he had de-committed from the Privateers.

He plans to announce sometime this week what his college plans will be, but he’s not rushing into a decision or a public affirmation of it.

“I feel like that’s what I did the first time. I kind of rushed the process,” Talton said. “I picked the school because it was Division I and that was my goal. Instead of seeing if it was the right fit for me and realizing how far away it was, I rushed it.

“Eventually, I realized, ‘Nah, this isn’t for me and this isn’t where I’m supposed to go.’ So that’s why I made the decision.”

The 6-foot-6 Talton graduated from QHS last Friday night and has qualified academically to participate as a freshman at any NCAA institution.

It just happened to turn out that New Orleans wasn’t the right place for that.

“To be honest, that’s 100 percent it,” said Talton, who was named the Western Big 6 Conference MVP after leading the Blue Devils to a league title and a Class 4A sectional championship last winter. “Everything that happened is based on me. My No. 1 priority is being somewhere comfortable.”

Still, that didn’t make this an easy decision.

“It was very tough,” Talton said. “Even bringing it up to my parents was hard. They were planning on taking me down there and all this stuff, and I had to tell them, ‘Mom and Dad, I don’t want to do this. This is not what I’m supposed to do.’”

Talton consulted with QHS coach Andy Douglas and others before making his final call.

“They told me you have to do what’s going to make you happy,” said Talton, who averaged 18.5 points and set career and single-season 3-point shooting records. “If you’re not happy going down there, that’s not going to be a fun process.”

Some long conversations with his parents, Jermaine and Maria, allowed Talton to be comfortable with this choice.

“They told me they had my back and whatever decision I made they supported me on it,” Talton said. “So I was thankful for that.”

Talton began speaking with prospective college coaches, but kept the news close to the vest for the most part.

“I didn’t want to make it a big scene,” Talton said.

This time, Talton knows what he wants and intends to find it.

“Honestly, a place that really, really fits me with an offense in which I can thrive,” said Talton, . “Obviously, I’m a shooter. So I need to find what fits. Also, I’m looking for a coach that I’m really comfortable with that I know. I want it to be someone I know on a deeper level than just basketball.”