Most Mississippi State basketball fans are aware of Quinndary Weatherspoon, the phenom from last season. While Malik Newman received most of the attention, Weatherspoon flew under the radar and quietly became the face for Mississippi State due to his excellent play.
Weatherspoon appeared in all 31 games last season as a freshman. He was named to the SEC All-Freshman team last season and had two plays make the ESPN Top 10 plays.
This all happened under first-year coach Ben Howland, who also had one of his best first year performances since he began coaching. Since his arrival to Starkville, Howland has made his presence known with recruiting, and it put the team on national watch.
After compiling the 2016 recruiting class that ranked No. 9 in the nation by 24/7sports ranking, Howland has started the 2017 recruiting class with a bang by landing Nick Weatherspoon, a 4-star recruit on 247sports.com and the No. 28 player in the nation and No. 1 in the state of Mississippi.
Nick Weatherspoon, the younger brother of Quinndary Weatherspoon, plays point guard. He chose Mississippi State over his other top five schools, which included Georgetown, Indiana, Iowa State and Kanas. It is safe to say that because Howland already obtained his brother and took him to another level, Weatherspoon will also have a big chance to make an impact. Coming out of Canton, Weatherspoon is a very strong and physical point guard. On tape, his excellent transition game stands out above anything else. He is wonderful on the draw and kick back method on the court.
Not only being a Dandy Dozen and No. 1 player for his senior season in Mississippi, Weatherspoon is the No. 9 at his position in the nation and the No. 10 regional player. Coming out of high school, he will be ranked higher than his brother was coming out of Velma Jackson High School only a year ago to leave the Bulldogs.
Weatherspoon is the first commit for MSU in the No. 34 ranked class of 2017 by 247sports as they head into the upcoming basketball season. MSU is expected to finish with another top 10 recruiting class after the season.
This basketball season will be highly interesting to see as Ben Howland continues his reign here in Starkville. The basketball team already attracted a couple of eyes when they visited Italy and came away in the tournament undefeated. Howland has faith in his newly developed team and with other schools such as Kentucky and Florida playing at MSU this season, fans will be eager to watch the Bulldogs dominate once again.
Editor’s note: For clarification, some sources referred to Weatherspoon as a 5-star recruit, while others have him as a 4-star recruit. We received our information from 247sports, as stated in the article.
