| 1996 | Oct | Nov | Dec | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Jan | Feb | Mar | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sep |
10/31/97 - There is a rumor going around that, since Miss State received the commitment from Robert Jackson, Tyrus Boswell will now sign with UMass. Nope! Tyrus has very recently committed to Miss State (not in the newspapers yet, but it is a fact) and wants to be a Bulldog. If you want to know how much he wants to be a Bulldog, when you see him ask to see his "Top Dog" tatoo. Maybe then you'll know.
10/30/97 - Coach Richard Williams had his preseason press conference Tuesday. Here is a great article by Danny P. Smith of The Commercial Dispatch (Columbub, MS.). BTW, if you guys can buy The Commercial Dispatch in your city, please do. They have added two additional sports writers which has allowed both Danny and Henry Matuszak (Sports Editor) more time to cover a broader spectrum of sports, including high school (teams and player profiles) and college.
10/29/97 - MSU basketball facts from coach Richard Williams from his Rotary Club (Columbus, MS) comments.
Now that's what I call doing it the right way.
10/29/97 - Got this info from a very reliable source. MSU basketball commitments, Robert Jackson and Tyrus Boswell will have no problem qualifying. Ontario Harper is questionable. These are facts, not rumors.
10/26/97 - Don't be surprised if Tyrus Boswell (our signee from last year who did not meet NCAA academic requirements) commits to the Bulldogs very soon. He was on campus yesterday.
10/26/97 - Glen Gray has written a very good column about yesterday's MSU basketball scrimmage. Click here to read it.
Here are several things I would like to mention:
01) Points Scored (Only played all of one half and a few minutes of the other before calling it quits because of a very wet floor.)
White Team
Tyrone Washington - 2 pts
Horatio Webster - 12 pts
Bart Hyche - 1 pt
Trey Moore - 8 pts
T.J. Billups - 4 pts (1-3 pointer)
Maroon Team
Todd Myles - 6 pts (1-3 pointer)
Detrick White - 1 pt
Tang Hamilton - 6 pts
Derrick Jones - 9 pts (1 - 3 pointer)
Quentin Smith - 9 pts
Oral Roberts - 2 pts
David Redding - 2 pts
02) After talking to Todd Myles a couple of times, I have come away with the impression he is a very nice young man and will become a crown favorite because of his leadership (very animated) and love of the game.
03) Quentin Smith showed a lot of improvement since last year, especially in regard to his aggresiveness. He really impressed Mary Ann and me with his offensive improvement.
04) Derrick Jones also showed a lot of improvement based on yesterday's scrimmage. He also seemed more confident.
05) This team will be a very good passing team.
06) Look for this team to draw a lot of fouls from opposing teams because of its overall quickness.
07) The team really appears to go to the boards very well. Should be a good rebounding team.
08) Because of the wet floor and ball, the shooting (free throws and field goals) was not very good. A couple of players told me the ball was very wet and because of that it was hard to hold on to.
09) This team really seems to like each other and should have good chemistry.
10) Tang Hamilton has tremendous potential, very looooong arms and great leaping ability. This kid is going to be fun to watch the next 3 or 4 years.
11) Detrick White is very fast when dribbling the ball.
12) It wouldn't surprise me if 10 or 11 players play quality minutes each game. The depth looks to be very good.
13) If yesterday was any indication, expect more fast breaks this year.
10/23/97 - Here's what Recruiter's Handbook says about Robert Jackson (6-8, 245):
National top-35 calibre senior is a 245-pound horse who plays intelligently and with considerable strength. Averaged 18 ppg (58% FG; 66% FT), 15 rpg and five bpg last season. Despite a brace on his right knee, he runs the floor impressively, finishes well in thick traffic, and plays good post defense. Has well-developed post moves, though he occasionally gets rejected by quick leapers. Works the baseline well, and blocks some shots via timing and pretty good leap. His jumpshot is a bit flat (range is a max of 17 feet), but he uses the board well near the basket. Big-time prospect.
Here's how the recruiting analysts rate him:
10/22/97 - I know you shouldn't look too far ahead, but please indulge me this one time. Next year's roster will be unreal, folks. Extremely talented at all positions with a great deal of senior leadership. It makes me giddy just thinking about it:
10/22/97 - Now, back to the real world. Don't forget the basketball scrimmage game is Saturday at 10:00 in Humphrey Coliseum. Come see why so many recruiting publications said MSU's recruiting class is one of the 10 best in the country. Tell the coaches congrats on a job well done.
10/22/97 - Mississippi's best, Ontario Harper, committed to Miss State as expected. This is the fourth straight year Miss State will have signed the top player in Mississipppi. According to Ontario, he chose Miss State because "it's a chance to be close to home. I've got a lot of friends there, and my parents can see me play. It's the best league around, and Mississippi State has proven they can win as much as anyone in the country. They have proven that they can win by going to the Final Four. I feel I can go there and win as if I went somewhere out of state. I feel I can get the same exposure there as anywhere else." Ontario was selected to the first-team All-State team last year as a junior. He averaged 21.2 ppg, 9 rpg, 4 assists and 3 steals per game. Here's what his coach Joel Boone said about him: "He's a complete player. He's got great speed, great passing ability, he's unselfish and he runs the floor well. He's not a great shooter, but he can be with time. It's not that he's a bad shooter. That's probably the only weak spot he has if you can consider that a weak spot." According to Mark Mayemura of Recruiting USA, "Harper is a very good athlete with good skills. He has the ability to continue being a scorer at the next level. Mark rates Ontario as the 61st-best senior in his publication's most recent rankings. Ontario, who has not qualified, will be taking the ACT test this coming Saturday. Sources: The Clarion-Ledger and The Commercial Dispatch (Columbus, MS)
10/22/97 - According to VandyMania's message board, Van Hoose is expected to announce this week. Vanderbilt is expected to be the school he chooses. He would have been a nice addition, but it would have been hard for him to get any playing time. Now Robert Jackson is a different story. He will get early playing time if he chooses MSU. Hopefully, he will announce soon and MSU will be his selection.
10/19/97 - It appears the Villanova info is incorrect. Robert Jackson is not unimpressed with Colorado as was stated on the Villanova website. One of my sources told me his visit went OK. He still has not announced who he will commit to.
10/18/97 - Robert Jackson Info - According to the Villanova internet site, Robert did not have a good visit to Colorado. He is visiting Villanova this weekend.
J.R. Van Hoose - is visiting Vanderbilt this weekend.
10/16/97 - Found this info in The Sporting News College Basketall Preview Magazine (Great publication. A must buy if you see it on the magazine rack.):
Ascending: Mississippi State - A losing record and a tie for third in the SEC West last season apparently was an aberration for a program that went to the Final Four in 1996. The Bulldogs have restocked with JC transfers (keep an eye on guard Detric White) and a few nice freshmen and should challenge for the division title. Depth is outstanding.
10/16/97 - The October 25th Miss State intrasquad basketball game begins at 10:00 a.m. with the players on the court at 9:30 a.m.
10/16/97 - Richard Williams said the following on the Bill Wahlberg radio show Wednesday afternoon:
10/16/97 - Dinno Daniels, a player who was interested in Miss State but from what I have been told was not highly recruited by them, committed to Memphis recently.
10/15/97 - Mary Ann heard on WCBI-TV that Miss State will be playing an intrasquad game Saturday, October 25th (Homecoming Saturday). If anyone knows gametime, let me know.
10/14/97 - Former Bulldog great Cameron Burns is playing basketball in Australia and is averaging over 30 point per game.
10/14/97 - Here's what Street & Smith's College Basketball Preview (great magazine. buy it if you see it) says about this year's MSU basketball team:
After a surprising trip to the 1996 Final Four, Mississippi State lost five starters and lost 18 games and stayed at home last season. But Richard Williams, the school's all-time winningest coach, should rebound quickly. He returns all five starters---including SEC Player of the Year candidate Horatio "The Big Train" Webster---and signed perhaps the SEC's top recruiting class.
Webster (16.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg), a 6-7 forward, was the SEC's Newcomer of the Year. Junior center Tyrone Washington (9.0 ppg) was the SEC runner-up in rebounds and the co-leader in blocks. Fifth-year senior forward Whit Hughes started all 30 games. The backcourt of Bart Hyche and Trey Moore averaged 24 points, with Hyche ranking second in the SEC in three-pointers per game and Moore tying for fourth in assists (4.5).
Detrick White, a JC All-American from Conners State, is reunited with Webster. The two grew up together in Durant, Mississippi. White, perhaps the nation's top juco point guard, averaged 13.2 points and 11.3 assists. The Bulldogs signed two other JC All-Americans: Brooklyn native Todd Myles and forward Oral Roberts, who could knock Hughes out of the lineup. For the third year in a row, State signed the Player of the Year in Mississippi, getting 6-7 Tang Hamilton of Jackson. Forward Quentin Smith and swingmen Derrick Jones and T.J. Billups give the Bulldogs a strong bench.
With one of the SEC's most talented teams, State could earn a third NCAA berth in four years.
10/11/97 - Dick Vitale's Pre-Season Top 40 has Miss State listed as the 26th best team in the country. They are the highest ranked team from the SEC West. Go here to see the entire list.
10/10/97 - As most of you know by now, the new Assistant Basketball Coach for Miss State is John Sherman. I talked to a few people about him and this is what I found out. John is excellent at running summer camps. He is a Miss State grad, 42 years old, married and has two daughters. I was also told he is an outstanding recruiter. Although he will not be able to go out and recruit, he will be able to call coaches and recruits from the basketball office. The recruiting vice Miss State has on Mississippi has just gotten much tighter and it was already extremely tight because of Rick Stansbury and Greg Carter.
I noticed some of you think John will bring junior Jon Gunn, the very good Oxford HS big man, along with him next year. All indications are Jon is a lock for Ole Miss. I believe both of his parents are Ole Miss grads. Without naming names, Miss State is holding their own (an understatement, to say the least) with the junior class in Mississippi.
Welcome to one of the elite basketball program in the nation, John.
10/10/97 - Mr. "Johnny Dees", dee jay for Kickin' 103 FM in Columbus, has been named to do the "PA" announcing for Lady Bulldogs Basketball.
10/09/97 - The new assistant basketball coach will be a Mississippi high school head coach. Expect it to be a surprise name. I have been told he will be a tremendous addition to our staff. He is well thought of in Mississippi high school circles.
10/09/97 - The Swede MSU is looking at is Fredrick Jonzen, a 6-9 power forward from Uppsala, Sweden. Recruiting guru Bob Gibbons rates him as one of the top 125 prospects in the USA (he plays high school ball in the USA).
10/09/97 - Player Profile: Tang Hamilton is a 6-7 wing forward. Potentially very, very good, point guard ball-handling skills, very good shooter, tremendous passer, loves the game, needs to be better shooter off the dribble.
10/08/97 - I went to the Meet the Players Night last night. The impression I formed is these players really seem to like each other. They were smiling and laughing a lot, cutting up with each other. There appeared to be a lot of chemistry. After talking to a few of them, I came away with the impression they feel they have a very good chance for a very good season this year.
Got to talk to newcomer Todd Myles. Really nice kid. Very articulate and smart. Todd is a very likeable young man who I believe will become a crowd favorite.
I'm really looking forward to watching this team play. I believe they are going to be fun to watch. They just seem to be such a likeable and fun bunch to be around. Plus, there is SO MUCH talent. Talented and likeable, what a great combination.
10/07/97 - The MSU Alumni Association Oktibbeha County Chapter has Meet the MSU Men's and Women's 1997-98 Basketball Teams Night, tonight at 6:30 at the Seal M Club Center. This will be a great chance to meet all the new basketball players at MSU. There is no admission charge. Hope to see you guys there.
10/04/97 - Consensus Top 30 player BF Robert Jackson (Milwaukee, WI) has narrowed his choice to two; MSU and Colorado. According to my source, Colorado may have the lead since Robert's best friend recently committed to Colorado. This is shaping up as a battle between two recruiting giants, Rick Stansbury of MSU and Ricardo Patton of Colorado. Stay tuned........
10/04/97 - 6-10 center J.R. Van Hoose is supposedly leaning to Miss State. Although his stock dropped in the eyes of a lot of recruiting analysts this past summer, he is still considered one of the Top 50 players in the country according to Recruiters Handbook. They also have him listed as the 7th best center in the country.
10/04/97 - Here's some basketball recruiting info from an Arkansas Razorback fan. Two of the players he mentions were been recruited by MSU at one time. Here's his quote: "Justin Hankins verbally committed to the Hawgs a little over a week ago and Dinno Daniels has dropped the Hawgs from his list of schools because of the verbal commitment of Jason Gilbert, a 5-11 PG from Mountain Home, AR, who Nolan Richardson says is a scoring machine who can shoot with range and handle the ball exceptionally well. Gilberts, who was virtually unknown until the AAU summer season, was an AAU teammate of Hankins and Darrion Brown of West Memphis, AR, came on strong during the AAU season and had many schools contacting him once they saw him play."