In 11 years at Mississippi State, Rick Stansbury is arguably the school’s most successful head coach in any sport. His resume includes: six NCAA tournament appearances, a SEC Championship, four Western Division crowns and eight 20-win seasons.
At a school ranked 12th in the Southeastern Conference concerning athletic budgets, Stansbury has kept the Bulldogs nationally relevant this century through perceptive recruiting and, until recently, by placing emphasis on defensive intensity and rebounding.
Although a legacy in the making, Stansbury’s most noticeable shortcoming seems puzzling amid so much success: None of his teams have tasted the Sweet Sixteen.
However, with preseason expectations as high as they have ever been in Starkville, this 2009-10 squad appears poised to topple a Big Dance curse in the making.
MSU returns all five starters – including Jarvis Varnado, a preseason first-team All-SEC player who is 18 blocks shy of Shaquille O’Neal’s SEC block record – from a team that shocked the SEC by winning its conference tournament and earning the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“It’s probably the most experienced team I’ve had back in a long time, and I’ve only got two seniors still,” Stansbury said.
Even with the completeness of the squad, the biggest offseason story for MSU, naturally, has been the controversial signing of Renardo Sidney, a McDonald’s All-American rejected from USC who has been bogged down by investigations into his amateur status.
Once ranked as Scout.com’s No. 9 overall prospect, Sidney’s eligibility hangs in the balance, pending the outcome of an NCAA investigation into his family’s bank records.
The 6’10”, 250-pound forward tallied 19 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in a Saturday scrimmage open to the public. It remains unknown whether or not these numbers will be his only official statistics as a Bulldog.
“If they tell us he’s cleared, and he can play, then we’ll fit him into what we’re doing,” Stansbury said. “Sidney’s ability speaks for itself. He’s a versatile big guy. He can play on the block. He can play on the perimeter. His biggest challenge will be getting him in shape and the speed of the game … He’s fit in because of his skill level. He’ll be one of our best passers.”
However, as of now, Stansbury’s game plan does not include the mega prospect.
“As much as you’d like to think about having him, you can’t waste time and energy thinking about things you don’t have,” he said. “You gotta plan on what you do have. These games are going to come, and you got to be prepared for what you’re facing.”
Even with national media taking Sidney’s possible absence into account, the Bulldog’s preseason rankings have not been this impressive since prior to the 2004-05 campaign, coming a year after MSU won the SEC while compiling a 26-4 overall record (Yea, after the Road Warrior year, 8-0 at opposing venues.)
With reader’s interest in mind, here is a comprehensive list of the Bulldogs’ preseason rankings according to mainstream sports publications and media outlets: SportingNews magazine (No. 10), ESPN.com (No. 12) Athlon magazine (No. 15), Lindy’s magazine (No. 21), SI.com (No. 21), CBSsports.com (No. 26) and Rivals.com (No. 26).
The Bulldogs are ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the coaches’ poll, which were both released Thursday.
“I fully expected [a top-25 ranking]. The Bulldogs should be one of the elite teams in the SEC,” ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz told MSU media relations. “The key will be how much help Jarvis Varnado gets inside, whether the perimeter shooting is consistent and if the Bulldogs can step up and win key non-conference games.”
MSU has virtually been chosen to win the West in all preseason publications, including the official SEC Preseason Media Poll, which tabbed Varnado as a first-team All-SEC forward – MSU’s only player to be chosen for the first or second team.
“No matter where [the media] picks us it’s all the same,” Stansbury said. “There’s nothing else we do different. Naturally, kids read the papers, they understand, but there’s nothing we prepare or do anything different, whether we’re picked to win it or we’re not picked to win it.”
With the SEC regaining credibility this preseason after earning only three NCAA Tournament bids last year, expect MSU – and Kentucky with its all-world recruiting class – to lead the way.
In the past eight seasons, MSU is second only to the Wildcats in SEC titles with two tournament, four divisional and one overall conference title.
With or without Sidney, MSU should have the depth to challenge Kentucky in a race to the conference crown.
“I like this team, it’s just different than what we’ve had,” Stansbury said. “This team has a chance. God willing we stay healthy at key positions, we have a chance. A chance, like always, to compete for championships.”
In response to weak non-conference schedules hampering the Bulldogs’ RPI in recent years, MSU will play perennial power UCLA and likely play Missouri in the South Padre Island Invitational.
“There’s no question we have a tough schedule – I mean very tough schedule. There’s just no breathers there,” Stansbury said. “It will make us better come SEC play. We just gotta survive it and survive it early, not knowing parts and pieces, what’s in place, it’ll be a challenge for us.”
Joining a tougher schedule will be eight games televised by ESPN, ESPN2 or CBS, with MSU’s showdown with the Wildcats at the Hump on ESPN Feb. 16.
“Anytime you have that, have that kind of exposure, it only helps you nationally and helps you in recruiting because what everybody wants to do is be on national TV,” Stansbury said. “Again, at Mississippi state we have that opportunity to do that as much as anywhere in the country right now.”
Although the Bulldogs went 9-7 in a down league last year (finishing third in the West behind Auburn) with many of the same players, expect the pieces to mesh far better this season. This squad comes packaged with experience and chemistry.
In a book released Oct. 6, ESPN’s College Basketball Encyclopedia has MSU ranked as the 90th best program of all time. However, the 2009-10 campaign could be remembered as a pivotal season, earning State an unofficial induction into the league of top-tier programs, barring the possibility of a round-of-32 collapse. The Bulldogs have, in a certain perspective, been building a resume since 1995 after reaching its first Sweet Sixteen.
If Varnado can lead this program to its second Final Four, his jersey will likely be placed in the vicinity of Bailey Howell’s, hanging from the rafters.
“He’s going to do something that no other college player has ever done,” Stansbury said. “That in turn, I think his number and jersey will be hanging up there beside Bailey’s and Erik Dampier’s – then Jarvis Varnado’s”