MSU July 1997 Basketball Skuttle-Butt

07/29/97 - MSU point guard Bart Hyche was arrested at 12:30 a.m. Friday for DUI, according to reports from the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department. This is Hyche's first DUI offense, said Mike Mordecai of the Lowndes County Sheriff's Department. Hyche was released on bond Friday after spending the night in the Lowndes County jail. Source: The Commercial Dispatch (Columbus, MS.)

What little I know about Bart, I'm sure he is very ashamed of this and is truly sorry for any embarrassment this has caused his family and Miss State.

07/26/97 - Contrary to earlier reports, Cedric Wallace, a juco player who played at Northeast Miss CC the last two years, was granted a redshirt year and returned to NEMCC instead of signing with a Division-I school (can't remember the name of the school). My source, who talked with Cedric, said Cedric is hoping to be recruited by MSU once again because he feels they may be building a National Championship team and he wants to be a part of it. He seemed very excited about going to State. He also said his knee is 100%. He mentioned that his NEMCC teammate Tim Cole is being recruited heavily by Kentucky.

07/23/97 - Miss State is in the running for the top high school player in Alabama once again. Like Tyrus Boswell, this guy is also a big man. He is Sam Haginas, a 6-8 forward from UMS-Wright (Mobile). He is also considering Indiana, Alabama, Auburn and LSU. My source said this guy is really tough. According to recruiting guru Bob Gibbons, Sam is the 90th best player in the nation.

07/23/97 - Here some information that was emailed to me about three of our basketball signees . I will quote my source who, by the way, has seen all three of these signees in pickup games the past several weeks: "I have to tell you that no one can guard Tang (Hamilton). He can do everything so well---his ball handling is great, he passes really well, and he is a solid shooter. To sum it up, he is just awesome. He is going to do great things here. Detric (White) is a great shooter. He is a tremendously smooth player. He and Horatio (Webster) are always on the same page (an obvious Durant bond). Marckell (Patterson) shows some promise. He’s fairly small, but he gives great effort in these pick-up games. He has a bright future if he continues to work hard. MSU’s hoops future seems very bright because of these guys."

Sure makes the anticipation for the upcoming season even greater, doesn’t it?

07/22/97 - Miss State athletic officials, City of Tupelo and Coliseum officials will be making a major announcement today at 2:30 pm at the Tupelo Coliseum. From all indications, they will be announcing that one of MSU's home games will be played at the Tupelo Coliseum this coming year.

07/21/97 - If you read the Miss State message board you have read this, but if not, enjoy. It is a post by NashDawg:

I (NashDawg) visited Mississippi this weekend and ran into my cousin who works in Starkville. A few basketball players frequent his place of buisness and they usually talk basketball with him.

1) (Marcus) Bullard will be back for sure, under terms similar to what we have discussed on this board. The players are 100% behind the decision.
2) Detric White was heavily recruited by a pasta loving coach who left Lexington, KY. The last several weeks before signing day Pitino really stepped up the phone calls to Warner, Ok.
3) The players he talked to say that Detric is very good but Todd Myles is even better. I don't know what they based their speculation on, perhaps Todd played ball with them during a visit. Anyhow, we're set at guard.
4) Tyrone is looking to turn pro after this his junior year. This is something I have thought possible for some time. He's a good center ( not ready by any means ), the drafts are getting thinner every year, and being on a very good team will give him the exposure he needs.

These players workout and play pickup games nearly every day. They are very excited about the new season and their potential for a deep tournament run.

07/20/97 - The latest news on Quentin Smith's ankle injury is he is now out of his cast and doing much better.

07/16/97 - Here's some information I received from one of you about potential MSU recruit Paris London, who is from Memphis. "Paris originally listed about twelve schools and Mississippi State was among them; but that was a while ago. Lately he has mentioned Memphis, Arkansas, Michigan, and Kentucky the most. It looks like UK is fading fast, especially if they sign Vincent Yarbrough. Right now the favorites seem to be Memphis and Arkansas but who really knows. I haven't heard him mention MSU lately, so I wouldn't get my hopes up."

07/15/97 - A correction is in order. I mentioned that MSU basketball signee Oral Roberts played in a recent pickup basketball game againt Tyrone Washington. The only problem with that statement is it wasn't a recent game, since Oral is back home and not even in the USA. Sorry for the mixup. I misunderstood what my source told me. It was brought to my attention that Oral was out of the country, so I checked with my source and he corrected me. All the other facts are correct.

07/12/97 - How good is Oral Roberts you ask? I was given this bit of info yesterday. During a recent pickup game, he and MSU center Tyrone Washington were playing against each other. When Oral went up for a shot, Tyrone jumped up with him to attempt to block his shot. Well, did Oral let that intimidate him? Not in the least. Instead of going ahead and putting up his shot and having it blocked, he, in midair, transferred the ball over to his other hand and laid it up for a basket. From what I was told, this was an NBA move. All I can say is when is Midnight Madness? We are going to have a midnight madness aren't we? I sure hope the answer is yes.

07/12/97 - I just received the latest on Mississippi's best senior basketball player Ontario Harper. Ontario, at this point in the recruiting season, is leaning to Miss State. He told a source he is leaning to State for two reasons: 1) He wants his family to be able to see him play, and 2) He feels that at State he can help build a tradition.

Since it is very early in the recruiting season, take this with a grain of salt. Teams are still evaluating players and deciding who they will or won't recruit. Remember, Ontario is an 18 year old kid who will start receiving a lot of attention due to his athletic ability, and will have his ego stroked by the best. Stay tuned....

07/11/97 - It really doesn't mean a whole lot right now, but 6-7 Paris London of Memphis has Miss State on his list of schools he is interested in, according to Future Stars. He probably has a list of a hundred schools he is interested in as of now. He is considered one of the top 10 players in the country (6th by Bob Gibbons).

07/10/97 - I have a couple of minor injuries to report. Bart Hyche recently had surgery on one of his fingers on his right hand. He will be OK by the middle of August. Also, Quentin Smith is wearing a cast due to turning an ankle. He will also be fine in a few weeks. Both of them continue to work out with the team in the weight room.

07/10/97 - It appears MSU is interested in a 6-1 point guard by the name of Josh Komnick, who is from Lincoln, Illinois. He is considered one of the top 250 players in the country, with a shot at moving into the top 100, according to recruiting guru Bob Gibbons. At this time, I'm not sure how serious we are about him or he about us. I'll keep you updated as I hear additional details.

07/09/97 - Here are some interesting quotes that were emailed to me. The Indianapolis Pacers are currently holding rookie camp, where Eric Dampier decided to participate - he is not required to, only rookies and free agents are. These quotes were published in The Indianapolis Star.

Says Coach Larry Bird:
"He's (Eric Dampier) very talented. Everything we asked, he did. He's got a lot of skills you can't teach. He worked very hard today and looked good." "We don't want to give up on Eric Dampier. He's our future. He's going to play a lot of minutes and a lot of games for us." (this was to a response about trading him)

Dampier was quoted as saying:
"At one point in the season I was frustrated. I didn't know what (coach) Larry Brown's philosophy or thinking was, but I didn't question it. I guess everyone goes through a learning process. But not playing, I was frustrated. I was determined I was going to go back home and do whatever it takes this summer to get in shape, because I want to play and I want to win."

Quite impressive. He was one of only three veterans to participate. Obviously, he made a great impression on Bird. He still has a long way to go, but at least he is trying.

Here are Eric’s stats from last season. 5.1 points on 39 percent shooting and 4.1 rebounds per game. However, Bird saw great potential in the films and also noted, "That's why the teams that brought up his name when the Pacers explored a pre-draft trade two weeks ago were quickly and firmly refused."

07/08/97 - Here's a little information from All Star Sports Publications' recruiting guru supreme Bob Gibbons: He ranked MSU's class 15th nationally, 1st in the SEC. Nationally, the players were ranked as follows: High Schoolers - Tyrus Boswell (46th), Tang Hamilton (71st), Marckell Patterson (234th), Michael Gholar (**); Junior College Players - Detrick White (2nd), Oral Roberts (32nd), Todd Myles (54th). Richard Williams can "po mouth" no more. His class was No. 1 in the SEC.

07/02/97 - According to a source of mine, MSU head basketball coach Richard Williams recently helped out at a basketball clinic in Italy. Hmmmm....makes me wonder if we will be recruiting in Italy sometime soon. Hey, just kidding about recruiting Italy, folks. I'm sure this was a working vacation for Coach Williams and his wife. To the source who provided this info. to me, I tried to email you with a thank you but it wouldn't go through. Thanks.

07/02/97 - This was emailed to me yesterday. A newspaper in Indianapolis is reporting that former MSU great Eric Dampier may be traded to the Bulls. My source, who saw Eric play this past year, also told me Eric appeared to be out-manned almost every night during his first year of NBA basketball. He said he understood rookies have to make the adjustment, but, according to my source, one more year in college would have been of great value to him.

07/01/97 - Bet you didn't know this: Today is the first day coaches from all sports, except for football (August 15th), can call high school seniors on the telephone. They are allowed one call per student per week.

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