Catching up with former Red Rebel Michael Gilbert

In terms of former high school baseball players hailing from the Gulf Coast, Michael Gilbert is about as local as it gets. The Harrison Central alum went on to play at Mississippi Gulf Coast before spending the rest of his collegiate career at Southern Miss.
This week, his time on the diamond is all coming full circle with the Conference USA Baseball Tournament being played at MGM Park. A native of Saucier, Gilbert has been rooting on his old teammates from the stands, just one year removed from taking part in USM’s regional dog pile as a senior.
These days Gilly is preparing to attend medical school in Jackson next month. So right now, he’s soaking up all the USM baseball he can while he can. “Being from around here, it’s just really cool to come down here and watch us play. I know last year I was fortunate enough to play here twice and I’ve been playing down here my whole life in junior college and high school and then Southern Miss. It’s always good to come home and be able to come watch Southern Miss play where I spent three years where I had a lot of great times and to be able to see them in the conference tournament is really cool.”
Gilbert incurred a severe head injury prior to his senior season at USM followed by a torn ACL and yet still managed to make it back for opening day the following year.