Rick Ray’s tenure as Mississippi State University’s men’s basketball coach has come to an end. On Saturday, MSU Athletic Director Scott Stricklin announced he decided to take the basketball program in a different direction with the decision to let Ray go.
“After much thought and deliberation, I have made the decision to replace Rick Ray as Mississippi State’s men’s basketball coach,” Stricklin said in a press release. “This has been a difficult decision, as I have the utmost respect for Rick, and am highly appreciative in the effort he put forth in leading our basketball program.”
But which way will the program go from here?
A common practice of Stricklin in hiring new head coaches has been to take the assistant coaching route. This can be beneficial in two ways. One, it is much cheaper than getting the big-name coaches many fight over, and two, it offers a chance to see the potential in an up-and-coming coach.
This is where Stricklin found Rick Ray. Ray was an assistant at Clemson before taking the head coaching job at MSU three years ago. Although it wasn’t the most glamorous hire, it gave Ray a chance to prove what he could do. Unfortunately, the world of sports is a cruel place at times.
The most interesting aspect of Ray’s firing is the timing. It did not come directly after the season ended, but it still came before the 2014-15 season has completely ended. This is intriguing on many levels. Does Scott Stricklin have a proven coach up his sleeve already?
Speculation began circling around who the new hire would be almost immediately after the decision to let Ray go. Will Stricklin’s trend continue along the assistant coaching route? Or are we in for a change?
If you don’t know the name Ben Howland, you might want to get familiar with it. Howland was the head coach at UCLA for nine years and collected a record of 233-107 and made three consecutive Final Fours with the Bruins from 2006-08. In 2002 he was named the Naismith National Coach of the Year at Pittsburgh and won the Big East tournament in 2003 with the Panthers. He also led UCLA to two Pac-10 tournament championships in 2006 and 2008.
NBCsports.com and others reported  Howland was the front-runner on the Bulldogs’ new head coach list, and since being let go by UCLA, Howland has been searching for head coaching jobs. Howland was officially hired Monday evening.
So what does Stricklin landing Howland mean for Bulldog basketball in the future? The answer is simple: MSU, would become an SEC contender again.
If MSU wants to stay competitive in the SEC, it needs Howland. You cannot expect to run with the big boys like John Calipari (Kentucky), Billy Donovan (Florida) and new threat Bruce Pearl (Auburn) without a big name of your own.