10/30/96 - Here's some items that came out of Richard Williams' press conference Tuesday. Richard Williams' Comments - "As coaches, we expect to win every game, want to win every game and we prepare to win every game. It should be easier on the players because I don't think anyone expects us to contend for the national championship. If we make postseason play or the NCAA Tournament, it will be quite an accomplishment for this team, but it is a legitimate goal. It won't be easy, but it is a legitimate goal if injuries don't play a big part. A key will be to stay away from injuries. Derrick Jones is probably ahead of any of the freshman. Horatio Webster and Trey Moore should be in the starting lineup at the start of the season unless something crazy happens."
Other things of interest Williams mentioned: If the Bulldogs played today the starters would be: Center - Tyrone Washington, Forward - Horatio Webster, Forward - Whit Hughes, Off Guard - Bart Hyche, Point Guard - Trey Moore. Freshman Quentin Smith is working at Power Forward and Center. Derrick Jones is pushing Bart Hyche at off guard. Williams also said Quentin Smith is a little behind some of the other freshmen because he has missed several practices for personal reasons. His mother, Ida Smith, died last week after a long battle with cancer. Source: The Commercial Dispatch
10/30/96 - The Clarion-Ledger's Rusty Hampton had a great article about Horatio Webster in today's edition. Here it is, with nothing left out.
He says he's not the next Dontae' Jones, and at least one teammate agrees.
Horatio Webster of Durant might even be better than Jones, says Whit Hughes, a junior forward at Mississippi State.
Jones, who helped lead State to the NCAA Final Four last season, was a first-round NBA draft pick this summer after playing one year at State.
Webster, a 6-7, 235 pound transfer from Conners (Okla) State, is expected to take Jones' place.
With no starters returning, Webster could quickly become the Bulldogs' go-to player when the season opens next month. He averaged 24.4 points and 10.1 rebounds last year for Conners and was named Junior College Player of the Year by Basketball Times magazine.
"He won't make the spectacular plays that have everybody in the stands amazed," said Hughes. "But they're going to be impressed with his ability to play. He's not going to run and jump over you and dunk the ball. But in some ways he's better than Dontae' because he's so hard to stop inside."
Since he signed with State last spring, Webster said he has been constantly reminded by fans and friends of the vacancy created by Jones' departure.
At Durant, he picked up the nickname Big Train--'because I was always leading the way,' he said. But he didn't come to State to make people forget about Dontae' Jones.
"I'm not here to take Dontae's place, that's No. 1," Webster said following practice Tuesday at Humphrey Coliseum. "I'm here to be Horatio Webster and do what I can do. Dontae' had his own game, and I have mine.
"Dontae' is more of a finesse player, a high flyer. I'm more of a power forward. We probably shoot it the same, but I'm more powerful."
"Horatio Webster is just a great basketball player," said State coach Richard Williams. "He plays inside. He plays outside. He plays hard. He's pleasant to be around, and he has a smile on his face all the time."
A guard has led State in scoring each of the last five seasons. Asked if Webster might break that streak, Williams smiled and said: "I could see that."
Williams said he expects Webster to become a "very good" 3-point shooter. "Right now," said Williams, "he's very effective from about 17 feet in. I think one of the things that's going to make him very difficult to defend is an ability to put the ball on the floor, to create a shot, to catch it in the open court and make a play for himself or a teammate. Plus, he is a great post player. He's our best post-up player right now. What we'll try to do is take advantage of his ability to play inside or out."
"It's not that he's so quick, it's that he's so strong," said Hughes, who is 6-5, 218. "I consider myself a pretty good defensive player, but there's been some times I've guarded him and he scored and there was nothing I could do about it."
Webster led Durant to Class 1A State titles in 1993 and '94, but didn't have the necessary ACT score to meet NCAA eligibility requirements.
"I had to take the junior college route, but I'm glad I did," he said. "It helped me mature a lot as a player, because I really didn't know the game. In high school, we were so much better than everybody else. We'd just go out there and beat everybody. You really didn't even have plays in high schools."
Webster said more than 100 schools recruited him out of Conners. He narrowed his choices to State, Alabama and Memphis before choosing State, partly because of the Dogs' run to the Final Four and partly because his mother, Eula Mae, will have a 74-mile drive to watch him play.
The Sporting News magazine picked Webster as the preseason Newcomer of the Year in the SEC. TSN also ranks him as the 17th best small forward in the country, regardless of class or experience.
That ranking was news to Webster -- and he didn't like it. For the only time during the 20-minute interview, he stopped smiling.
"Seventeenth?" he asked, then paused. "I think I'm better than that. I wonder what games they've been watching?"
10/24/96 - The Clarion-Ledger came out with their Dandy Dozen today.
| NAME | HIGH SCHOOL | HEIGHT | CLASS | SCHOOLS CONSIDERING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Bradley | Murrah | 6-3 1/2 | Senior | Jackson State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Louisiana Tech, Samford, Southwest Missouri State. |
| Jonathan Brown | Gulfport | 6-3 | Senior | Miss State, USM, Alabama, Tulane |
| Nick Coln | Alcorn Central | 6-3 | Senior | Miss State, Ole Miss, USM, North Texas, Samford |
| Markus Cox | Moss Point | 6-6 | Senior | McNeese State, South Alabama |
| Charles Fountain | Pascagoula | 6-2 1/2 | Senior | Juco? |
| Titus Goree | Shannon | 6-4 | Senior | Miss State, Ole Miss, USM, Minnesota, Tennessee |
| Tang Hamilton | Lanier | 6-7 | Senior | Miss State, LSU, Tennessee |
| Ontario Harper | Clinton | 6-5 | Junior | No schools listed. He is a junior this year. |
| Rahim Lockhart | Piney Woods | 6-7 | Senior | Ole Miss, USM, Texas Christian |
| Corey Mangum | Lanier | 6-1 | Senior | Arkansas-Little Rock, Northeast Louisiana, Northwestern (La.) State, Samford |
| Eliot Smith | South Panola | 6-0 | Senior | Ole Miss, Arkansas-Little Rock, East Tennessee State |
| Rouldra Thomas | Natchez | 6-7 | Senior | Alcorn State, Jackson State, Miss State, Alabama, North Carolina State, Southwestern Louisiana |
10/23/96 - Here's something I found in The Clarion-Ledger. Thomas Billups, Tang Hamilton's coach, said the following about Tang - "Tang can play point guard, shooting guard or small forward, and the colleges like that. He can shoot the ball well for a 6-7 player. And the colleges like him as a person, also."
10/23/96 - Shannon Long, the Jackson Lanier HS forward who signed with Miss State last year but didn't meet NCAA freshman eligibility requirements, is now attending Connors State College in Oklahoma. That's the same school Horatio Webster played for.
10/23/96 - According to The Clarion-Ledger, two of Mississippi's best players, 6-7 Forward Roulandra Thomas and 6-6 Forward Marcus Cox, won't sign during the early signing period.
10/22/96 - Here's a list of top basketball recruits from Memphis, Tn., and the schools they are considering. I am listing them because I have received quite a few questions about whether several of these players are considering Miss State. Source: The Commercial Appeal.
10/20/96 - This Todd Myles info was received via Dawgnews (thank you Tony). Todd was the career leader in points and assists at Paul Robeson HS, Brooklyn, N.Y. His last two years at PRHS he averaged over 22 points and 9 assists per game. Look at this! He was a Street and Smith's All-America, nation's Top 20 by Hoop Scoop, ABCD Camp's and The Sporting News Top 50, and Adidas High School Report's Top 30 Guards. Received the highest rating possible from HSBI and Metro Index. Here's what West Virginia's head coach said about him, "Todd Myles is a true point guard -- by that I mean he is constantly looking for the play to help his teammates. He's an excellent ballhandler in every facet of that skill." In the same article, he is said to be a quick penetrator and passer with excellent vision and does everything well.
10/20/96 - According to college hoops insider, two SEC players will probably declare early for the NBA Draft. They are Ron Mercer of Kentucky and Horatio Webster of Miss State.
10/20/96 - The rumor is, in the early signing period, Miss State will sign Todd Myles, a 6-4 Point Guard from New York by way of West Virginia, the school he signed with out of high school. He will have three years of eligibility left. He was a Top 50 player coming out of high school. Anybody else heard this rumor?
10/19/96 - Detric White, the JUCO point guard Miss State is heavily recuriting, was selected by the Lindy's SEC Basketball Annual as the second best point guard in the JUCO ranks.
10/14/96 - According to The Commercial Appeal, Robert O'Kelly, a 2-Guard from White Station HS in Memphis, Tn, that Miss State is recruiting, was selected by The Sporting News as the 44th ranked senior prospect in the nation.
10/10/96 - According to Mike DeCourcy of The Commerical Appeal, Charles Hayward, the 6-8 Forward from Alexandria, La, that Miss State has been recruiting, has narrowed his list to Memphis, Arkansas, UNC-Charlotte and Houston.
10/10/96 - Ben Perkins, the 6-7 Forward from Vinton, La, has narrowed his list to four, including Miss State. Source: Student Sports
9/25/96 - Kevin Henderson of MISSISSIPPI HOOPS, confirmed what one of my other sources told me a bout Marcus Fizer. He is no longer on our list. Kevin told me Miss State quit recuiting him. Marcus is a great player, but he isn't an Miss State type player. We'll leave it at that.
9/25/96 - MISSISSIPPI HOOPS Kevin Henderson does it again. Look for Ben Perkins, the outstanding 6-7 Forward from Vinton, La, to make an official visit to Miss State.
9/23/96 - A player we have been rumored to be after, Lamar Wright, a 6-10 Center from Dallas, Tx, has committed to Texas, according to Dan Wetzel of Future Stars.
9/23/96 - According to Dan Wetzel of Future Stars, Long Island's best player, 6-5 Tavorris Bell, of Hempsted, NY, will allow home visits to St. John's, UCLA, Dayton, Kansas, Miss State, Fresno State, Michigan State and Southern California.