Before every game at Madison-Ridgeland Academy, Jason Hubbard sends his son, Josh, a text.

“Josh, go be a pro,” the text always reads.

It’s a mindset as much as anything, something a father worked to instill in his youngest child from a very early age.

“In the third or fourth grade, I explained to him, ‘I see something in you that you don’t see. I’m going to help you perfect it,’” Jason Hubbard said.

So Jason Hubbard bought a Shoot-A-Way, the most advanced shooting machine in the world, one that comes complete with a fully interactive touchscreen with more than 200 programmable locations and a 19-inch front display for instant feedback, drill instruction and more.

He bought a Vertimax, a basketball training system designed to improve an athlete’s vertical jump, on-court performance, first-step quickness and more.

He bought weights and installed an in-ground NBA goal. He had a court installed, complete with the college 3-point line and an NBA 3-point line.

“I did it all,” Jason Hubbard said. “I didn’t hold anything back.”

Then Josh Hubbard did the work, emerging as one of the elite players in the 2023 class, a four-star guard known for his ability to score from anywhere as well as his athleticism.

On Thursday, Hubbard committed to Ole Miss, choosing the Rebels over 107 other offers. Mississippi State, Seton Hall, LSU, Xavier, Houston and USC were considered Ole Miss’ toughest competitors in the battle for Hubbard’s college services, but Jason Hubbard said there were about 15 schools that stood out.

“Is he 100 percent ready?” Jason Hubbard said. “No, but he has another year of high school basketball. By the time (Ole Miss) gets him, he’ll be 90 percent ready.

“I’m happy. We met a lot of high-level coaches. You start to love these guys. I’ve loved on these coaches, their families and their schools. It’s tough. If I could split Josh 15 ways, I would. It’s been an amazing journey. He’s excited. His dreams are coming true.”

What’s even more amazing is Josh wasn’t exactly planned. Jason and Betty Hubbard had the stair-stepper child thing down pat, and they appeared to be finished with building their family after four children. Jay, now 31, is an entrepreneur in Jackson. Jasmine, now 29, is the head nurse at a Brandon school. Jordan, now 27, is a security engineer for Apple in California. Jada, now 25, is a medical laboratory scientist in Indiana.

“Eight years later, Josh shows up,” Jason said, laughing. “I look at how God orchestrated it. I didn’t understand then, but it was God’s plan. We had given away our strollers and our Pampers. We had to start all over.”

The whole family gathered at MRA on Thursday for Josh’s big day.

“They’ve been a great foundation for him,” Jason Hubbard said.

When Josh was just nine years old, after Betty noticed spots on his torso that appeared to be abnormal, he was admitted to The Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson. He would stay there 19 days. For five days, he fought a fever that hovered near 105 degrees. After two weeks of high fevers, tubes and failed treatment plans, Josh was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, which causes swelling and inflammation in children in the walls of small to medium-sized blood vessels that carry blood throughout the body. Kawasaki disease commonly leads to inflammation of the coronary arteries, which supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart.

The fever eventually broke and while Josh had a lot of recovering to do, the three-week stay in the hospital caused no permanent damage.

“He wasn’t supposed to be here,” Jason said. “It’s a miracle he’s here.”

Years later, Hubbard has emerged as a force on the basketball court. He plays for Memphis-based Team Thad and he’s already broken the the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools career scoring record, surpassing former Ole Miss basketball player Ken Coghlan. who scored 3,168 points for East Rankin Academy from 1977-80 and held the record for 42 years This season, Hubbard will try to become Mississippi’s all-time career leading scorer. Robert Woodard has the record with 4,274 points from 1982-86 at Houlka High. Monta Ellis is second with 4,167 from 2001-2005 at Lanier High.

“Hubbard lacks truly elite size, which will limit him from a defensive versatility standpoint in college, but it’s long been impossible to argue with his production,” Rivals national basketball recruiting analyst Rob Cassidy said. “He’s incredibly physical for his size and is able to finish through contact with regularity. He’s taken great strides from a facilitation standpoint and posted some gaudy scoring totals in a handful of EYBL games this summer, proving he can take over a contest even against top-flight competition. A 3,000-point scorer at the high school level, Hubbard boasts impressive body control and a pretty reliable stroke from beyond the arc.”

Hubbard is listed by Rivals as 6-foot, 185 pounds. Other outlets list him as 5-foot-10. Regardless, that lack of ideal height was never used as an excuse. Instead, Jason Hubbard said, Josh identified two weapons that would overcome it.

“He knew he had to be able to play above the rim and shoot deep 3s,” Jason Hubbard said. “That was the challenge he had and he put the work in.”

While Thursday was a big day for the Hubbard family, Josh’s story is just getting started. His goal is to play in the NBA, thus the texts before each game to “be a pro.” The next chapter in that story, of course, will begin in Oxford.

“He’s a great kid,” Jason Hubbard said. “He listened a lot and the results show for themselves. He always did what we asked him to do, even when he didn’t want to. He’s held his ground and stayed the course.”