Rick Stansbury stands just beyond mid-court in the dimly-lit Humphrey Coliseum on a Monday afternoon. He stands overlooking his players going through their warm-up stretches before the Bulldogs take to the court for practice. Stansbury begins to move, weaving his way through the bodies, stopping periodically along the way, having brief conversations with some players while coaching and instructing others.
This season will mark Stansbury’s 10th year at the helm of the Mississippi State men’s basketball program, and he said in the early goings of practice, the team’s routine remains the same.
“We have finished up one week of practice and naturally, like all practices, we are trying to establish the energy we want and expect these guys to play with,” Stansbury said. “We have made a lot of progress, and I do like the progress we have made with these young men defensively and rebounding the basketball.”
The Bulldogs enter the season coming off a 21-14 campaign a year ago, earning a bid in the National Invitation Tournament and ascending into the semi-finals.
This season, however, the expectations are set higher, with visions of making it back to the NCAA tournament in March. Mississippi State is picked to finish second in the SEC West this season behind the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC preseason media poll.
In order to achieve that mark and more, Stansbury and staff will have to continue developing players and getting contributions from a few new faces.
Last year, Stansbury’s major concern was the overall youth of his team, and while he admits this year’s team may be equally as young with 10 freshmen and sophomores, he says there is one glaring difference: experience.
The Bulldogs return five players with considerable experience, starting with senior Charles Rhodes, junior Jamont Gordon and sophomores Ben Hansbrough, Barry Stewart and Jarvis Varnado.
However, Stansbury said that the growth of his freshmen is key.
“This year we are young again but actually more experienced. The biggest thing we must establish is we have five guys that have experience even though three are sophomores,” Stansbury said. “The main challenge will be producing depth off the bench from our freshmen.”
That freshman class includes Ravern Johnson, Riley Benock, Kodi Augustus and Elgin Bailey, and Stansbury said they all have the ability to contribute offensively. Redshirt freshman Phil Turner and junior transfer Brian Johnson will also be in the mix for playing time.
However, if the Bulldogs are going to achieve success this season, the team will lean heavily on its returning players.
Gordon, who was voted a preseason first team All-SEC player, will continue to be in charge of the Bulldogs’ offensive attack.
Gordon doesn’t shy away from the fact that he wasn’t always comfortable at point guard, admitting it was not until about mid-season before he got acclimated, but now he says he embraces the role and its creative freedom.
“I like the freedom,” Gordon said. “I know that I can go and make plays. Coach told me this off-season that he wanted me to go out and make plays for the team.”
Stansbury said he is looking for more energetic consistency from Rhodes in his senior season. Rhodes, who withdrew from the NBA draft this summer, said he is ready to step up on the court this season.
“It feels great to have another shot at doing something that hasn’t really be done in my family,” Rhodes said. “Coming back, competing with these guys and getting my degree is real nice. It’s all about family right now, and that’s what I see these guys as.”
Rhodes said his main goal for the season is to improve his leadership skills.
“A leader does things on and off the court to lead their team to victory, and I feel like I didn’t lead my team to a lot of victories last year,” he said.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs held an open scrimmage, giving anxious basketball fans the chance to see what this season could possess.
Gordon led the team in scoring with 51 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds. He also went 18-of-21 from the free throw line.
Turner was second on the team in scoring, with 37 points, including going 7-of-9 from three-point range while Rhodes added 22 points and 15 rebounds.
Mississippi State will host two exhibition games, starting Saturday, before the regular season begins on Nov. 10 against Louisiana Tech.