Khyl Horton: From Erie's Lower East Side To The Hall Of Fame

Before Khyl Horton became an Erie basketball legend, he was a kid from the lower East Side of Erie, Pennsylvania, developing a game that would eventually make him one of the most decorated players the city has produced.On this episode of Etcetera with the Woodards, Khyl sits down to tell the story behind the highlights—and those highlights are serious.At Mercyhurst Prep, Horton became the school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He finished his high school career with 1,886 points, currently listed by the Erie Sports Hall of Fame as the third-highest total in Erie history. He was a three-time All-Metro League selection, two-time All-State selection, a McDonald’s All-American selection, Dapper Dan All-Star Game MVP, and a Keystone State Games gold medalist.But perhaps the defining moment came in 1991, when Horton helped lead Mercyhurst Prep to the PIAA state championship, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a 58–55 championship-game victory over a Wilkes-Barre GAR team featuring future NBA player Bob Sura.His game then took him to the Division I level at George Mason University, where he played 48 games and averaged 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds, including 12.8 points and 8 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He eventually returned home to play for Gannon University, scoring 784 points in two seasons and averaging 16.7 points per game, including a season in which he led Gannon at 19.6 points per game. Altogether, Horton scored more than 1,500 collegiate points.His accomplishments ultimately earned him induction into the Erie Metro Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.But the numbers only tell part of it.Khyl talks with the Woodards about where he came from, what pushed him, becoming one of Pennsylvania’s premier high-school players, winning a state championship, making the jump to major college basketball, coming home to Gannon, and the experiences that shaped the man beyond the player. This is more than an Erie basketball story. It’s the story of what can happen when talent, opportunity, toughness and belief meet.Etcetera with the Woodards — The Khyl Horton Story