I've seen it from z7b in NC to z9a in FL and GA. It should be fine.

When I lived in Gulfport, it grew wild everywhere close to the beach. Hopefully, the hurricane didn't kill it all! You can definitely plant it on the MS coast.
Sherry

My experience with the cherry laurel tree is that it puts out THOUSANDS of seeds and they all seem to germinate! Very fast growers and they have all survived hurricanes in my area of Pensacola.....I have taken all mine down and planted live oaks instead! I am sure that southern MS have their share of these trees too!

I have a couple. They're beautiful. Most of the seedlings I see are choke cherry. They drop their leaves in the fall.