Salmen senior shooting guard R.J. Scott will be playing college basketball in his hometown of Orlando, Fla.

Scott has verbally committed to attend the University of Central Florida and play basketball for the Knights.

“It’s my hometown,” Scott said. “I’ve got family down there.”

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Scott, who has been living in Slidell since he was 12 years old, said he chose Central Florida because of the academics and athletics.

“I decided on Central Florida for both education and basketball. I like the offense. They run a motion. They’ve got great facilities and great coaches,” he said.

Scott, 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, said he was also considering Tulane, the University of Louisiana at Monroe and the University of New Orleans.

Scott started for the first time last season and made the most of his opportunity. He led the Spartans by scoring 15 points a game during district play. He added six rebounds and dished out two assists. His performance earned him District 9-4A first-team all-district honors and helping his squad go 10-0 to get the district title.

Salmen coach Jay Carlin, who will be entering his 29th season at Salmen and recorded his 600th career victory last year, said he is happy Scott has this chance.

“It’s a great opportunity,” Carlin said. “The kid has gotten better every year. He’ll have a great chance to play in Conference USA, a great league.”

Scott said coach Carlin has been the key to his success. He said when the two met up, all he could really do was shoot, but Carlin worked with him to be a better player.

Scott said he was eager to make a decision early on so he could focus on the high school season.

“I really wanted to (verbally commit) early so I could get this weight off my shoulders and worry about getting a (state championship) ring this year,” Scott said.

Last season, Salmen nearly got an opportunity to play for a state title and made it to the state semifinals. The Spartans’ season ended when they lost to O. Perry Walker, 58-45, in the Lafayette Cajundome at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Scott recorded eight points. Salmen finished the season with a 31-4 record. Scott said the key for his team to make a return trip to the Cajundome will be playing good defense. Scott added that last year’s experience should help this season.

“Going to the semifinals at UL-L, people were kind of nervous. It was a big stage, and we weren’t used to it,” Scott said.

One of the highlights last season was knocking off top seeded Peabody Magnet, 50-49, in the quarterfinals. Going into the game, Peabody was 38-0 and had not lost since 2006.

R.J. is the son of Rob and Denise Troullier of Slidell.