Mississippi State Basketball Picked to Finish 4th in SEC West; Jarvis Varnado Named 2nd Team All-SEC

A panel of SEC and national media members was recently comprised to vote on preseason first and second All-SEC teams, and the predicted order of each division, along with an overall conference champion.

When Mississippi State’s votes were added up, the Bulldogs were predicted to finish fourth in the West Division, after Alabama, LSU, and Ole Miss respectively. With 91 overall poll votes, MSU is essentially picked to be the 7th best team in the conference, having received the most votes among teams which did not receive any first place votes within their division.

Bulldog big man, Jarvis Varnado, was selected to the preseason All-SEC 2nd team. For the full press release, visit secsports.com.

3:45 PM Madness! The Mississippi State Bulldogs Commence Basketball Practice

At 3:45 pm last Friday afternoon, the Mississippi State Bulldogs began a quest for another basketball championship. And so coach Rick Stansbury puts a decade at the helm of the program behind him and begins a new one with his 11th year. For the utmost time, Stansbury is selling his team as young and inexperienced. As the Clarion-Ledger’s Kyle Veazey implies, Stansbury’s media quotes are….manufactured, if you will……and the factory seemingly went out of business awhile ago (damn economy), so Rick is forced to blow the dust of the same ol’ quote handbook year after year.

Can you blame him? There’s a term for the same song and dance, it’s called “coach-speak” and it’s a standard around the country from college to the pros. Coaches aren’t necessarily straight-shooting mavericks, they’re teachers of the game (and let’s be honest, businessmen). But in any case, I’m looking forward to the basketball season and I’m anxious to see just how this young Bulldog team, and the coaching of Rick Stansbury, develops.

Recently, there have been several great articles from media outlets covering the onset of practice, such as from The Commercial Dispatch, the NE Mississippi Daily Journal, College Hoops Net, and Inside Mississippi State Sports (Daily Journal Blog).  Here’s a summation of what I’ve learned from those articles:

• Stansbury essentially claims the team to be an unknown entity to him….however, that doesn’t mean he’s not aware of the individual strengths and weaknesses observed from the NCAA sanctioned individual workouts, which have been going on almost since the start of school.
• Stansbury knew well enough to ride the talent of Jamont Gordon like butter on warm bread…..put the ball in the guy’s hands and get out of his way. Sure, many times this laissez-faire method worked to the detriment of the team, but would the Bulldogs have won an SEC West Championship without Gordon? I doubt it.
• However, Coach is not exactly shedding tears over the early departure of Jamont, and looks forward to working with two new point guards, Dee Bost and Twany Beckham, who are more towards the pure end of the spectrum, yet whose games are different enough to give Stansbury diverse options.
• Speaking of Beckham, he claims himself to be a leader….I like that.
• But Barry Stewart is expected to be the leader of the team…..I’m not sure how vocal Stewart is, but in terms of his on-court presence, hopefully he leads by example.
• Brian Johnson, and his new-found leg strength, could be the pleasant surprise that the rest of the SEC isn’t ready for.
• The man-child who will garner the most attention is obviously Jarvis Varnado….but one of those “unknowns” Stansbury was speaking about would surely be Varnado’s offensive game. Jarvis had a very active summer, from going up against the likes of Chris Paul and LeBron James, to unveiling some offensive skills at the renowned Adidas Nations camp. So, there’s no reason to think that Varnado’s scoring abilty hasn’t improved by leaps and bounds, and thus, Stansbury will be able to feed him the ball with confidence.

UPDATE: Lawrence Roberts balling in land of the Red Star

Since leaving Mississippi State in 2005, Lawrence Roberts played for the Memphis Grizzlies a couple years (with a brief stint in the NBDL), spent time in Greece last year (where he was signed, but didn’t actually suit up), and caught on with the Denver Nuggets this past summer in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.

While the former SEC Player of the Year surely still has NBA hopes, he’s currently taking a tour of duty in the land of the red star…..Serbia my friends. In early September, Roberts signed a 1-year deal with Košarkaški Klub Crvena Zvezda, which translates to Basketball Club Red Star. Located in Belgrade, Red Star participates in the top Serbian basketball league (Sinalco Superleague), in the larger Adriatic League, and competes for the ULEB Eurocup.

To date, Red Star has played three games in the Adriatic League, which also features teams from Bosnia, Croatia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Slovenia. All three games have been wins, and the indication from eurobasket.com is that Roberts is among the starting five. However, he is only averaging 20.7 minutes per game (tied with three others for 5th on the team).

The reality, being a stranger in a strange land, is that Roberts will take a while to get his bearings. So while he is only averaging seven points (4-12 total FG, 33%) and 4.7 rebounds through three games, I expect his numbers to improve. However, I am curious that out of the 12 shots Roberts has attempted, eight of them have been three-pointers (he’s made only two). Is that what his game has become? Who knows.

Maybe Lawrence Roberts will receive some tips from Vlade Divac, the former NBAer was recently named an adviser in Serbia’s government. In any case, good luck to Roberts and his overseas basketball endeavors.

Former Mississippi State basketball player, Lawrence Roberts, is suiting up for Red Star Belgrade these days.

Analyzing The Mississippi State Bulldogs Basketball Schedule

At the very close of business on Friday, September 19th, the Mississippi State Bulldogs finally posted their basketball schedule to mstateathletics.com. The SEC slate has been out for some time now. I analyzed the 16 conference games and predicted a record of 9-7. Now, I’ll take a look at the non-conference schedule. Has Rick Stansbury allowed for an RPI-friendly line-up?

While the schedule is sprinkled with nationally recognized programs (Washington State, Pittsburgh, Texas Tech, and Cincinnati), and some prominent mid-major programs (Charlotte, South Alabama, Houston, San Diego, and Western Kentucky), the reality is that there is only one bona fide top 25 team (Pitt Panthers, ranked #2 in the nation by Andy Katz). The only team among the big programs that Mississippi State is guaranteed to face is Cincinnati in the SEC/Big East Challenge on December 18th.

Washington State, Pitt, and Texas Tech are each taking part in the Legends Classic. There is a chance that the Bulldogs might not see any of these three, and could play two at best. The first two rounds of the Legends Classic will be played on the campus of each host. The Bulldogs will face North Alabama on November 19th, and then Fairleigh Dickinson on the 22nd in Starkville. So, the opportunity to significantly boost the strength of the schedule is contingent on making it to the Legends final four, which will be played at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Working off this assumption, Mississippi State would possibly face Washington State on Nov. 28 and either Pitt or Texas Tech the next day should they advance to the final.

Opponent Conference Breakdown

Atlantic 10: Charlotte, St. Bonaventure
Big East: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh*
Big 12: Texas Tech*
Conference USA: Houston
Northeast: Fairleigh Dickinson
Pac-10: Washington State*
Southland: Nicholls State
Summit League: Centenary
Sun Belt: Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Western Kentucky
SWAC: Alabama State
WCC: San Diego

Division II: North Alabama

*not a guaranteed oppnenent

Overall, I have to say that this is a pretty weak schedule. If the cards happen to fall in the wrong direction, the Bulldogs are left playing only one team from a BCS conference. Let’s hope this is not the case.

Run-down on the Bulldog non-conference opponents:

• Centenary surprised many with an early upset of Texas Tech last season. However, the rest of the year didn’t fare so well as the Gents only won five more games, finishing with a 10-21 record. Centenary has a couple returning seniors, Lance Hill and Nick Stallings, who were ranked second and third respectively in scoring last season.
• Louisiana-Monroe finished 10-20, 4-14 in the Sun Belt last season. The three departed seniors accounted for just over half of the scoring on last year’s squad. However, Tony Hooper, last season’s leading scorer (15.1 ppg), who was also named to the All-Louisiana 2nd team, returns for his senior season. The Warhawks also have four incoming junior college players who will look to make an immediate contribution.
• North Alabama may be a DII school, but they finished 27-9 last year, won the South Region championship, advancing to the DII Elite Eight, before losting to Bentley. The Lions don’t have a ton of size, so I’d look for them to take every shot from the outside, else Jarvis Varnado will net 20 blocks.
• Fairleigh-Dickenson went 8-20, 4-14 in their conference last year. Currently their online roster shows one senior, four juniors, and three sophomores. However, they will also have a handful of newcomers: transfers from St. Joseph’s and Buffalo who are eligible after sitting out last year, a transfer from the Czech Republic, a transfer from Canada, a British high-school player who spent time with the English National Team, and a player from St. Thomas More Prep School. Sean Baptiste is their best returning player (18.5 ppg), but gone is last year’s leading scorer and All-NECer, Manny Ubilla (20.8 ppg).
• Washington State made the Sweet 16 last year where they fell to North Carolina, losing by 21 points. Now, it’s time to rebuild. Gone are stars Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low. Only five lettermen (in addition to two RS seniors and two RS freshman) return from last year’s 26-9 squad. With seven true freshman on the roster, highlighted by Klay Thompson (son of former NBAer, Michael Thompson), the Cougars will be inexperienced, but talented.
• Texas Tech is picked to finished towards the bottom of the Big 12 in Pat Knight’s first full season at the helm. However, aside from losing leading scorer, Martin Zeno, the Red Raiders will have most of their top talent from last year’s team. Sophomore point John Roberson and senior guard Alan Voskuil anchor the backcourt, and accounted for over 36% of Tech’s scoring last season. If the Raiders do make it past their hosted games in the Legends Classic (East Central and Eastern Kentucky), I would not anticipate them being able to beat Pittsburgh.
• Pittsburgh is a team that most expect to contend for a national championship. Leading scorers 1-3 return: senior forward Sam Young (18.1 ppg), senior guard Levance Fields (11.9 ppg), and sophomore forward DeJuan Blair (11.6 ppg). Pitt comfortably took down Cincinnati, and ranked Louisville, Marquette, and Georgetown squads en route to winning the ‘08 Big East Tournament. The Panthers fell to Michigan State in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament, but with key returnees, and mix of young and old, they are primed to have a very strong season. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that Pitt is known for its defensive intensity, also a trademark of Rick Stansbury teams.
• St. Bonaventure finished at the bottom of the A-10 with an 8-22 (2-14) record, and lost four seniors who ranked 1-4 on the team in minutes played. They’ll try to stop the bleeding with three incoming JUCO transfers, the headliner being SG, Jonathan Hall. Look for the Bonnies to be an easy win for the Bulldogs, even if it is a road game in Olean, NY.
• Alabama State will be no pushover. The Hornets won 20 games last year, making it to the NIT, where they lost to Arizona State by nine in the first round. Alabama State will be led by 6-5 guard, Andrew Hayles, the reigning SWAC Player of the Year and an honorable mention AP All-American.
• Charlotte finished 20-13 (9-7) and lost at Nebraska in the first round of the NIT. They lost four seniors, three of which accounted for 57.6% of the 49ers scoring. The leading returning scorer is junior An’Juan Wilderness (8.1 ppg). Also keep an eye on Rashad Coleman, who spent time at an NAIA school in Georgia, Brewton-Parker, before becoming a 49er. Coleman chose Charlotte over Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech.
• South Alabama lost only two seniors, albeit their first and third leading scorers, from a squad that went 26-7 en route to an At-Large NCAA Tournament bid. The Jaguars lost to the #7 seed Butler Bulldogs by 20 points in the first round. South Alabama still returns a veteran squad featuring eight seniors and three juniors. Mississippi State will be looking to avenge a 71-67 loss to the Jags in Mobile last year. Demetric Bennett, who dropped 39 points on the Bulldogs that game, was one of the departing seniors. Look for returning leading scorers, Dominic Tilford and Brandon Davis, along with incoming JUCO transfer, LaShun Watson, to shoulder the load.
• Cincinnati, once a proud program, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas predicts that they will fall in the bottom third of the competitive Big East. The Bearcats finished the season 13-19, ending with a loss to the Bradley Braves in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI, a college basketball post-season tournament in its inaugural run last year). At one point last year, Cincy had a 13-12 record, 8-5 in the conference, but then lost their final five games. Their best returning player is junior guard, Deonta Vaughn, who averaged 17.3 ppg and 4.2 apg (3.2 to) last year. The Bearcats also add Mike Williams, a transfer from Texas.
• Nicholls State is the small school from Southeastern Louisiana that BCS schools schedule as an easy win. The Colonels finished 07-08 with 10-21 record, the highlight probably being a 10 point loss to the #1 ranked North Carolina Tarheels in Chapel Hill. They did only lose one senior, fourth leading scorer Adonis Gray, so perhaps Nicholls State won’t be the complete pushover that most would expect. The Colonels field a team that includes five native Australians.
• San Diego will be one of the better teams the Bulldogs face, and the Bulldogs better be glad it’s a home game. Last year, the Toreros finished 22-14, upset #4 seed Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA tournament, before losing to Western Kentucky in the 2nd round. They upset Gonzaga to win the WCC Conference Tournament. Oh yea, the Toreros return absolutely everyone from last year’s team, including All-WCC 1st teamers, Brandon Johnson and Gyno Pomare. Did I mention they beat Kentucky at Kentucky last year? Ok, so that’s not saying a ton.
• Houston finished 3rd in CUSA, 22-9 (11-5). The Cougars won at Nevada and beat Valparaiso at home to advance to the final four of the CBI before losing to eventual champion, Tulsa. The best returning player for Tom Penders’ team is junior guard Kelvin Lewis (3rd on the team in scoring in 07-08, 10.2 ppg). Outside of Lewis, three JUCO transfers will look to make up for the loss of four starters.
• Western Kentucky had a whopping eight seniors on last year’s team, five of them averaged more than 13 minutes per game. Gone is star Courtney Lee (and his 20.4 ppg), who was taken 22nd overall by the Orlando Magic in the NBA draft. He, along with the other departing seniors accounted for 70.5% of the Hilltoppers scoring, and 63% of their rebounding. Western Kentucky’s top returning player will be junior A.J. Slaughter, who averaged 7.6 ppg last season. The Hilltoppers finished 29-7 last season, advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 as a 12 seed before eventually losing to UCLA by 10 points. With the defections, the Hilltoppers may struggle mightily in 08-09. Last year’s head coach, Darrin Horn, bolted for SEC territory and is now heading the South Carolina Gamecocks.

My gut instinct tells me that the Bulldogs will go 11-4 in their non-conference schedule, making it to the final of the Legends Classic and losing to Pittsburgh. Combine that with my predicted 9-7 SEC record and 20-11 almost seems too optimistic. However, 20 regular season wins is more than attainable, depending on a plethora of factors. If I had to guess, 20-11 does not get the Bulldogs into the NCAA tournament and they would need to help themselves with a strong showing in the SEC tournament. Stay tuned….it will be interesting to see how this young, but very talented, Bulldog team develops.

Jarvis Varnado Ranked 5th Best SEC NBA Prospect By Draft Express

The popular NBA draft website, Draft Express, has been ranking the top NBA prospects from various NCAA conferences. The top five basketball players the Southeastern Conference has to offer was released on September 15th.

Mississippi State center, junior-to-be Jarvis Varnado, was ranked 5th behind Vanderbilt center, Andrew Ogilvy, Kentucky Forward, Patrick Patterson, Tennessee forward, Tyler Smith, and Florida guard, Nick Calathes.

I suggest you go read the well-researched full profile on Varnado, but a couple excerpts which stood out to me are below.

At 6’9” he [Jarvis Varnado] is maybe a tad undersized for a post player, but what really hinders him is his tremendously narrow frame. The reports last season were that Varnado has bulked up to 210 pounds, but from what we were able to see from him at the Adidas Nations event in Dallas last month, he still needs to put on a good 20 pounds before he can consistently hold his ground on the block. His narrow shoulders don’t appear as though they support the type of natural filling out that he needs to go through.

At this point, unless he makes huge strides this season, Varnado is likely going to need to be a four-year prospect. This season will be a good test for him, as he now must become more of a factor in the Bulldog’s offense. While there have been hints of a developing mid-range jumper, he must first become a more effective low post scorer, and adding weight would be a step in the right direction for him. Showing more hustle as a perimeter defender too would only add to his growing reputation as a stopper on the other end of the floor.

Football Is On, But I’m Still Thinking About Mississippi State Basketball

About three weeks back, I had a post covering a couple MSU basketball predictions: collegehoopsnet ranking the Bulldogs #96 and Dick Vitale putting MSU at #36 in his preseason top 40.

Well, I failed to mention that ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still has the Bulldogs predicted to make the Big Dance (his Bracketology was last updated way back on June 18th). MSU is a falling #7 seed and would play #10 seed UNLV in Portland, Oregon (West Regional). Of course, that was before Jamont Gordon went undrafted by the NBA on June 26th, but a couple days after it was pretty much official that Gordon would not be returning to Starkville.

Also, on June 17th, ESPN’s Andy Katz had Mississippi State in his 16 others under consideration outside of his preseason top 25.

We still have a way to go before college basketball talk gets seriously serious…so I’ll reserve any predictions on my part until further down the road, not to mention that the Mississippi State basketball schedule has yet to be released. It seems like MSU is always one of the last in the conference to release.

Other Previews to Check:

• ESPN.com’s early September Shoot Around led by SEC guru, Chris Low. Fran Fraschilla ranks the MSU Bulldogs as the 10th best team in the conference.
• CBS Sportsline Mississippi State Team Preview
• General College Basketball Preview from YardBarker (The SEC is ranked as the 4th best conference, but Jarvis Varnado is spotlighted as a potential star of the SEC.)

Where Does Rick Stansbury Rank?

Seth Stogsdill of UK Wildcat Country has ranked all SEC basketball coaches on two scales: recruiting and actual coaching. Stansbury comes in as the #3 recruiter in the league. Stogsdill gives the same ol’ song and dance, insinuating that Stansbury’s success derives from him being the most habitual rule bender. I certainly have my own thoughts on the subject (see Is Mississippi State Basketball a “No-Win” Situation?).

I can’t bemoan the fact that this point about Stansbury is driven home over and over again, I suppose it will always come with the territory of anyone who produces a winning team out of lil’ ol’ Starkville. But c’mon, most “dirty” connotations about Rick Stansbury seem to act as if the fecal matter of other college coaches fails to emit a stench.

In any case, here’s what Stogsdill had to say:

I’ll be blunt here: Nobody knows how to cheat and not get caught better than Rick Stansbury. I haven’t been to Starkville, MS, but from what I’ve been told, there’s a Kroger, a Pizza Hut, a couple of stoplights and an SEC university. The basketball team has next to no tradition, yet Stansbury has pulled in some unbelevable classes, mainly by using the AAU circuits, which are ruining the game. In the original recruiting ploy to secure a commitment from Scotty Hopson, I’m pretty sure that Stansbury signed several of his AAU teammates. Some call it conquering the recruiting machine, I call it shady, but except for the Hopson situation, it’s worked to perfection for State.

Stogsdill ranks Stansbury #6 in the conference at coaching, which sounds about right.

Rick Stansbury has been at Mississippi State since 2000 and has had a team full of his own recruits since 2002. That was the year of the infamous Mario Austin game. Since that year, I have never felt like Kentucky was going to win convincingly against the Bulldogs. It’s no coincidence that State has made the Big Dance in five of those seven seasons. Last year, they played Memphis tougher than any team besides Tennessee and Kansas. They typically hold onto leads, unless they have to shoot a lot of FTs. They have had guys who create mismatches in every one of Stansbury’s seasons since 2002. Their players develop nicely, and I reference Austin and Jamont Gordon as the best examples. He’s the reason why State has been the most consistent team in the West this decade.

Jarvis Varnado Stands Out at Adidas Nations, Unveils Offensive Game

The summertime basketball evolution of Mississippi State’s Jarvis Varnado recently continued at the Adidas Nations camp, which took place in Dallas, Texas back in mid-August.

If you’ll recall, Varnado has already taken part in two of Nike’s Skills Camps, led by Amare Stoudamire and LeBron James, during the latter of which, Varnado went up against King James and Chris Paul in a pickup game.

At Adidas Nations, Varnado came under the tutelage of current NBA players Antawn Jamison (Washington Wizards), TJ Ford (Indiana Pacers), Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks), Kyle Lowry (Memphis Grizzlies), Desmond Mason (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Raymond Felton (Charlotte Bobcats). Also according to the Adidas Nations press release, Paul Silas, Detlef Schrempf, Terry Stotts, Larry Krystowiak, Lionel Hollins, Frank Johnson, Ed Schilling and Dwane Casey acted as regional head coaches for participating teams.

Jarvis was one of three players from the SEC to participate in the camp, the other two being Scotty Hopson and Tyler Smith from Tennessee.

Aggrey Sam of Slam Magazine highlighted Varnado as one of his 10 standouts in an Adidas Nations Wrap-Up:

Somewhat of a sleeper nationally, the soft-spoken Varnado was arguably the nation’s most intimidating defensive force last season, but his surprisingly skilled offensive game was a welcome revelation, as he showed he could step out to hit jumpers, maneuver for buckets on the block, run the floor for dunks on the break and finish with power.

Of course, Sam also cited Scotty Hopson as being a standout….I have a feeling the loss of Hopson will continue to hurt for a while. But the bright side is that Jarvis Varnado continues to build excitement among Bulldog fans heading into the 08-09 college basketball season.

Jamont Gordon Says Arrivederci America, Ciao to Italy – Charles Rhodes Too?

Jamont Gordon is headed to Basket City, otherwise known as Bologna, Italy, to pursue his hoop dreams. As first reported on the Clarion-Ledger’s MSU blog, via an August 23rd team press release (you might need the Google Translator), Gordon will be suiting up for Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna, also known as UPIM Bologna after its chain department store sponsor.

While Bologna will be vastly different than Starkville, Gordon will still be apart of an intense rivalry à la Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Fortitudo, known for attracting top American talent, has a traditional rivalry with Virtus, also based in Bologna. Both teams consistently compete for the Italian Cup, and the Euroleague title. Hence, the enthusiasm denizens of Bologna are known for gives the city its moniker of Basket City.

Currently Qyntel Woods, of Northeast Mississippi Community College and pit-bull fighting/NBA trouble fame, is on the roster of Fortitudo. Joe Forte, of infamous NBA bust fame, and the poster child for not leaving college early (hey, at least Forte was drafted when he mistakenly left North Carolina after two years), is also on the team.

Notable Fortitudo alumni include Auburn’s Moochie Norris, UCLA’s Tyus Edney, current Chicago Bulls coach, Vinny Del Negro, and Dominique Wilkins, among dozens of other players who are either currently in the NBA or have spent time playing college or professional ball in the United States.

But What About Charles Rhodes?

The latest report from the Clarion-Ledger’s Kyle Veazey is that neither reaching out to Rhodes’ agent, nor text messaging Charles himself, has provided any newsworthy results.

However, another site, tuttobasket.net, which offers a hodgepodge of coverage for European/Italian basketball, cites an August 18th article from La Repubblica, Italy’s largest circulation newspaper, which insinuates that Rhodes is in negotiations to team up with Jamont Gordon on Fortitudo. (Once again, you’ll need the Google Translator.)

The most interesting quote about Jamont Gordon from the translation: “In any case, an element can create from scratch game well, although to date the first for himself and later for others.”

So while it looks like Jamont Gordon has gotten himself an Italian job, Charles Rhodes is in a wait-and-see situation. Stay tuned……

The Awesomeness of the ESPN-SEC Deal

Living on the East Coast, my thirst for SEC sports has been left unquenched for years. Unfortunately, I’ve been surrounded by the ACC, Big East, and other coverage of the Big 10 (11), and even Pac-10. Sure there have been options such as the ESPN Game Plan. However, jumping through hoops and having to pay money for easy access to the best conference in college sports seems a tad unjust.

In steps in the worldwide leader in sports, ESPN. Sure, the WWL has a monopolization on sports media coverage and uses that to push their own biased agenda. But there’s no getting around it, they are the best. ESPN gets the top talent, is a leader in media technology, and provides viewers with the essentials of sports analysis.

You can read the full press release from secsports.com, but here are some highlights:

Basketball

• ESPN and ESPN2 will TRIPLE their coverage. So, not just Super Tuesday, but also Thursday and Saturday games.
• More prominence for the SEC/Big East Challenge. (Remember how lame it was last year with only four games?)
• More coverage on ESPNU, ESPN360.com, ESPN Classic (vintage SEC games and instant classics!), and ABC, among the other ESPN outlets.
• SEC Tournament semifinals and finals nationally televised on ESPN/ABC.

Football

• ESPN will have the rights to every SEC home game.
• ESPN and ESPN2 will televise a minimum of 20 games during the season.
• Supplemental coverage on ESPNU, ESPN Classic, etc.

Other

• All SEC championship games except football will be aired on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN on ABC, ESPNU or ESPN Classic.
• ESPN and the SEC will work together to offer multi-sport packages (including football, men’s and women’s basketball, Olympic sports and conference championships).

Overall, I could not be more excited. The 15-year, $2.25 billion deal will be quite the economic boon for each member organization. Facilities will improve and recruiting against other conferences will get better, which will lead to trickle-down upgrades for academics.

The Sports Business Journal reports that the current $5.3 million doled out to each of the 12 SEC member schools from television rights could increase over 283% to $15 million per year. Just imagine what this would mean for a school such as Mississippi State, which currently operates with a $32 million athletic budget, the lowest in the conference.

So pop the cork on the champagne, it’s time for a celebration….the Southeastern Conference is coming to ESPN.

MSU Bulldog Basketball Ranked #96 in the Country, or #36

Well, the former ranking in the title of this post is according to collegehoopsnet, where they are previewing the top 144 NCAA basketball teams in the nation at the rate of one per day in descending order. More on the latter ranking, later.

Yesterday, the preview for the Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball team came out, ranking them 96th in the nation and 9th in the SEC. The author, Joel Welser, has a well educated breakdown of the Bulldogs. However, as you can tell by his ranking, Welser doesn’t think MSU will do much in the upcoming season. I can’t blame his assessment.

With the departures of Jamont Gordon and Charles Rhodes, leaving the “playing” squad with one senior (a transfer from Louisville who first played for MSU last year), three juniors (one of whom is a Juco transfer), five sophomores (one redshirted his first year), and three freshmen (two attended prep school), Coach Rick Stansbury will spend a lot of time blindly sticking his arm into a mixed bag of tricks during the 08-09 season.

Nothing could better illustrate that Bulldog fans will not know what to expect from their basketball team than the fact that, in contrast to collegehoopsnet, ESPN’s Dick Vitale has ranked Mississippi State #36 in his preseason top 40. Dickie V claims that the Dawgs would be in the top 20 if Gordon had stayed in school.

There’s no doubt that the Bulldogs will be guard/wing heavy and will not be able to survive a significant injury to the nation’s leading shot blocker, Jarvis Varnado, lone senior Brian Johnson, sophomore big Elgin Bailey, or even 6′8″ freshman Romero Osby. Which begs the question, with Charles Rhodes being a senior this past season, and thus, his departure was impending, why is the Bulldog front court set up to be so thin? I suppose the 6′8″, 220 pound Kobi Augustus could play some at the four spot. However, no Bulldog is taller than 6′9″.

There will be plenty of time in the future for preseason analysis and breakdowns, but I just wanted to get down some quick thoughts on how the returning leading scorer for the Bulldogs needs to improve.

Barry Stewart
Personally, I think MSU will be in trouble if Stewart has to play a lot of point, a possibility mentioned in the collegehoopsnet breakdown. But when the other main options are Dee Bost, a freshman, and Riley Bennock, a soph who I’m not sure has the moxie to be an SEC PG (hopefully he proves me wrong), I’m not sure Stansbury will always have much of a choice.

The Bulldogs need Stewart to be a Timmy Bowers type shooter……who did actually backup Derrick Zimmerman at the point at times during his tenure, and started at PG during his 03-04 senior year, when he was supplanted by Gary Ervin off the bench.

Between his freshman and sophomore years, Stewart’s minutes increased by 47.5% to 35.7 per game. He took 12 more 3-pointers, but made six less, dropping his 3P% by 5.8 points to 33.3%. Sure as a frosh, Stewart mostly had to worry about coming off the bench and hovering around the perimeter….evidenced by the fact that 59.6% of his points came from treys in year one versus 47.5% in year two. But why did his sophomore year seem to fall short of expectations? Many theorists would pin blame on the point guard skills of Jamont Gordon. I’ll only say that as great of a player he was, Gordon was not the ideal PG, rather one with whom Stansbury made due.

In terms of Stewart, I’m not as concerned that turnovers per game increased from 0.8 to 2.3, because not only did his minutes go up as mentioned, but he shared a greater responsibility in ball-handling duties as well, resulting from the absence of the Delk twins.

The greatest hope is for Barry to get back the shooting touch which built so many expectations after his All-SEC Freshman 06-07 Bulldog debut. If Stewart can extend defenses, look for opposing zones to become befuddled and those such as Ravern Johnson to have a field day. Hopefully, Barry will be able to improve the consistency of his shooting stroke while rehabilitating the broken ankle which occurred during a pick-up game earlier in the summer.

Bulldog Basketballers, Ravern Johnson and Elgin Bailey, Kick It In The Dominican Republic

Mississippi State Bulldog basketball fans may remember that last summer Jarvis Varnado and Phil Turner took a week long tour playing basketball in Argentina with Score International. Well, this summer, Ravern Johnson and Elgin Bailey made a similar trip with Score to the Dominican Republic.

Hopefully, Johnson and Bailey will follow in the footsteps of Varnado, who led the nation in blocked shots this past season and upped his summer competition to the likes of Chris Paul and LeBron James, but hopefully not in the footsteps of Phil Turner, who was recently arrested for disorderly conduct.

According to the Score International site, the American team faced off against the Dominican national squad, featuring Al Horford (former Florida Gator and current Atlanta Hawk),  Francisco Garcia (former Louisville Cardinal and current Sacramento King), and Larry Turner (former Tennessee State Tiger and current Los Angeles Laker). The game was broadcast on Dominican national television, and even though the Score team lost 77-49, MSU’s Ravern Johnson led his team with 17 points.

In game two, the Score team won in the capital city of San Domingo 67-65. Johnson scored 13 points, while Bailey put in some work in the paint with eight rebounds.

Game three brought another match-up against tough competition as Score faced the Dominican National “B” team. They were once again defeated, but put up a better fight, losing 73-68. You could actually say that the Score team got gypped. Evidently down three points with 12 seconds left, and the ball, a whistle blew from the stands, causing confusion, and thus a turnover. Guess you really can’t play until you hear the whistle.

In the end, great experience on the court and off for these two young Bulldogs which will hopefully carry over into the upcoming season and further down the road in their lives.

Speaking of Varnado…..

Storming the Court recently wondered who would play if the US Men’s Basketball Olympic Committee reverted to sending college players to compete instead of NBA players. Jarvis Varnado was dubbed among those who would be apart of the front court.

In my opinion, this sounds great and all…..but let’s never send college players to the Olympics again. With the days of one-and-done and early entries, how on earth would you be able to truly get the best college age players?  Other countries will continue to send their best, let’s continue to send our best.

Charles Rhodes

Nothing much happening since the interview with Dallas Dedicated. But, I wanted to recap what some outlets (and Mavericks personnel) have said about Rhodes:

Mavs Courtside View

Charles Rhodes isn’t a training camp lock. The rugged forward is mulling over various European offers and hasn’t committed to a tryout with the Mavs yet.

But the Mississippi State product has impressed everyone so far.

“We see Rhodes as an athletic, tenacious 4-5 type that can shoot the mid-range shot and is a very good rebounder,” Rick Carlisle said.

Rhodes (6-8, 245) averaged nearly 10 points and 5 boards during summer league, and shot 62 percent. Rhodes has been compared favorably to Brandon Bass, last year’s summer league find.

Ft. Worth Star-Telegram – “Mavericks have two roster spots available”

Nelson said Charles Rhodes, a bruising 6-8, 245-pound forward from Mississippi State, and JaJuan Smith, a 6-2 guard from Tennessee, will likely be invited to fall training camp.

“Rhodes is real athletic and showed really good promise,” Nelson said. “Smith is a guy we have our eye on. The rest are open for discussion.”

Still Waiting on Mississippi State Basketball Schedule, SEC Slate Out

While the full Bulldog basketball schedule is expected to be released any day and/or minute now, the SEC slate is out and ready to be analyzed.

@ Arkansas – Saturday, Jan. 10

Alabama – Wednesday, Jan. 14

Vanderbilt – Saturday, Jan. 17

@ LSU – Wednesday, Jan. 21

@ Georgia – Saturday, Jan. 24 (ESPN/ESPN2)

Ole Miss – Saturday, Jan. 31 (Raycom)

@ Kentucky – Tuesday, Feb. 3 (Raycom)

Arkansas – Saturday, Feb. 7 (Raycom)

LSU – Wednesday, Feb. 11

@ Auburn – Saturday, Feb. 14

South Carolina – Wednesday, Feb. 18

@ Alabama (Raycom) – Saturday, Feb. 21

@ Tennessee - Wednesday, Feb. 25 (Raycom)

Auburn – Saturday, Feb. 28

Florida – Wednesday, Mar. 4 (Raycom)

@ Ole Miss – Saturday, Mar. 7

At first glance, it’s not too bad. Every game is tough in the SEC, but match-ups with the expected upper echelon teams seem to be evenly dispersed….kinda.

The Run-Down:

• The Bulldogs open and close the season on the road.
• The off week comes in week six, after two games on the road (@ LSU and @ UGA), and before a big game at home versus Ole Miss.
• Senior Night against Florida will be tough (looks like Brian Johnson will be the lone Bulldog honoree).
• Playing at Ole Miss on their Senior Night will be tougher.
• Easiest Stretch: Mid-February (Ark., LSU, @ Aub., USC)
• Roughest Stretch: Last 5 games (@ Bama, @ UT, Aub., UF, @ Ole Miss)
• Best case scenario prediction: 9-7