A new era of basketball has officially begun at Mississippi State. Most of the notable players from last year’s team are no longer here, and former head coach Rick Stansbury resigned after the season.
To replace Stansbury, State hired Rick Ray, who served as an assistant coach at Clemson. Ray will be bringing the motion offense, which focuses on playing without the ball and involves a lot of cutting and moving of the basketball. The team lacked these aspects in the Stansbury era. So, if Ray’s offense gets going the way he wants, it should be a welcome change. 
Ray said being the new head coach at MSU is a great opportunity.
“Mississippi State has a long-standing tradition of being good at basketball,” Ray said. “Anytime you got a fan base like the fan base Mississippi State has, it’s always going to peak interest.”
Ray said the main thing he wanted to bring to this program in terms of philosophy was a new sense of accountability.
“The biggest thing I want to bring is I want to make sure our guys are being held accountable,” Ray said. “Not just on the court in the way they play basketball, but off the court, as well.”
It’s no secret a lot of MSU fans felt Stansbury didn’t always hold his players accountable. Renardo Sidney was the most recent example under Stansbury’s regime.
Last season, State had the talent of a top-25 team yet did not make the NCAA tournament. The Dogs did not even make the NIT tournament. The lack of discipline was a huge reason why the team underachieved so much last season. So, for Ray to be so focused this early on accountability, is a great concept and bodes well for the future of our basketball program.
Senior center and team leader Wendell Lewis raved about his new coach.
“He’s a great guy. He’s a guy that makes us work hard and compete every day in practice and makes sure we get better,” Lewis said. “When we are at practice, he wants everything executed and done correctly. He’s a fiery guy and always comes to practice with great energy, and he just wants everyone to get better. He’s definitely the right guy for the job.”
The main attribute we as fans and spectators must have as it relates to Ray and this new era of basketball at MSU is patience. With five freshmen on the team and only one senior really playing a key role on this year’s team, it will not be an easy process.
It will take time for the players to learn the system and get acclimated with the way Ray wants them to play. But this year’s recruiting class was really strong, and Ray is only going to continue to bring in more quality talent. He strikes me as a great fit for our school, and given time, he can get the MSU basketball program back in the NCAA tournament and among the best in the SEC.