A new era of Mississippi State basketball will usher in this fall. Ben Howland, who was announced as head coach in March will take over men’s basketball. Howland coached ten seasons with UCLA, taking them to the Final Four for three straight years at one point.

Howland is known for two things: sending players to the NBA and recruiting. 

“At UCLA, I had a great run of ten years at a special place, a place I consider the best program in the history of basketball based on championships won,” coach Howland said in his opening press conference back in March. When asked about what it takes to build a program Howland said, “It is all about recruiting. Recruitment is what every sport counts on. This is a huge recruiting year for us.”

In less than a month after being announced as MSU’s new basketball head coach, Howland acted quickly and pulled arguably the biggest recruit in the state of Mississippi history, Malik Newman. Newman was the number one ranked recruit at the point guard position by 24/7 Sports last season. He played at Callaway High School in Jackson, Mississippi. He was a McDonald’s High School All-American and the best player to come out of Mississippi since NBA shooting guard Monta Ellis.

“Newman is going to be an outstanding player for us,” coach Howland said. “He shoots the ball well and has even bettered his skills in the offseason.”

MSU will open the regular season on November 13th against Eastern Washington.