Ole Miss Recruit Set State Scoring Mark With 231 Goals
When you play to win, good things happen.
That’s a motto Addie Forbus is going to carry with her later this year to the University of Mississippi.
Judging from Forbus’ success in high school, that mentality should serve her well at the next level.
The Amory High School (Miss.) senior, who earlier this season set the state’s single-season record for goals in a season by a boy or girl with 231, signed earlier this month with Ole Miss. The 5-foot-7, 120-pounder had verbally committed to Ole Miss as a sophomore.
Forbus started playing high school soccer as an eighth-grader, and led her team, which plays in Class 4A in the Mississippi High School Activities Association, in goals each of her six seasons.
She had 40 goals and 22 assists as a freshman, 52 goals (a state record for goals in a season) and 18 assists as a sophomore, 41 and nine as a junior, and 50 and 15 this season to break the record held by Greene County’s Kelsey Cochran (226).
“I don’t think it has really hit me yet,” said Forbus, who plays her club soccer with the Collierville (Tenn.) Lobos and the Birmingham (Ala.) United 95 Elite team. She also was a member of the Mississippi 95 Girls Olympic Development Region III championship team.
“I was playing to win and (breaking the record for goals in a season) was not my focal point, but I am not complaining. It wasn’t until the latter half of the season when I realized something was coming up and I would have a great chance.”
Forbus said quickness with the ball at her feet and her ability to see the field are her strengths. She also feels she has a good strike on the ball and a poise on the field that allows her to sort things out when they get crazy. She also admits she can be too unselfish at times.
“I can’t stop because I accomplished this,” Forbus said of the scoring record. “This is when I need to keep going and push myself even more.
Nathan Clayton coached Forbus the past five seasons at Amory High. He said Forbus’ involvement with state and regional ODP teams and her club teams helped polish her game and has her primed for the next step.
“She is an unbelievable player,” Clayton said. “She has just got a lot of great ability and has had outstanding training. She made a great commitment to soccer, and she has a natural instinct and touch on the ball. She does a lot of stuff that it is tough to get kids to do.”
Ole Miss coach Matthew Mott said Forbus has the potential to make an immediate impact. Ole Miss (13-9) lost to the University of Florida 2-1 in the second round of the SEC tournament.
“The great thing about Addie is she has done everything she can to continue to improve her game,” Mott said.
“She committed to us the summer before her sophomore year. A lot of kids say, ‘Well, I got my scholarship offer and I don’t have to work very hard. That’s the exact opposite of Addie. She has taken it and run with it and tried to be the best player she can be when she gets here.”