Talk to anyone involved with Mississippi State’s basketball team for a few minutes and Rodney hood’s name is certain to be mentioned.
Hood, a talented forward from Meridian, Miss., enters the 2011-2012 basketball season as perhaps the most highly-touted freshman to ever enroll at MSU during head coach Rick Stansbury’s tenure. With a level head, strong work ethic and polished game, Hood is expected to start and play well in his freshman season at State, and MSU coaches and members of the media alike expect him to be a big reason an extremely talented MSU team makes some noise in the SEC this year.
How good could Hood be? Well, Stansbury, not one to heap large amounts of praise upon his freshman players, has not shied away from speculation that Hood could become a star while at MSU.
“He is an above-average freshman,” Stansbury said. “Most kids don’t understand the mental part of the game, how hard you have to play, what it takes to be a player. The ‘it’ factor. It takes some guys some time to get that. He’s got it.”
Besides being physically gifted, Stansbury said he thinks Hood’s biggest attribute may be his upbringing. In a world in which many high school basketball players are prima donnas, Hood’s low-key personality is a welcome change for a coach and a program that have received copious amounts of criticism due to several well-documented mishaps involving MSU players.
“He’s got it from his upbringing. I keep saying that,” Stansbury said. “You don’t get young men consistently who come from what he has come through – a family of a mom and dad who have played college basketball; his brothers and sisters all played college basketball. He is from a good high school program where he had been coached, so he gets it. And he has a lot of ability to go along with that mindset.”
Hood’s confidence and laid-back mentality are quickly apparent when talking to him, and he isn’t worried about failing to live up to the lofty expectations that have been placed upon him
“When it comes to basketball, I don’t really get nervous,” Hood said. “You know, I love the game. I have veterans (playing with him); the pressure is on them. I just have to play to the best of my ability.”
One of those veterans, MSU senior All-SEC point guard Dee Bost, is quick to point out there is one thing that separates Hood from most freshman players.
“(He can) score,” Bost said. “His basketball IQ is high for a freshman. He is really ready, probably one of the most talented freshmen in a while.”
Although coaches and players expect Hood to play well this year, there are some things he admits he has had to adjust to.
“It has been the physical part, the speed of the game. It goes a lot faster,” Hood said. “In high school, you could take plays off, but now it is more about detail, and you have to pay attention all of the time.”
If everything  said about Hood is true, then MSU fans shouldn’t have to worry too much about Hood not paying attention. For a program that already has stars in Bost and Renardo Sidney, Hood’s versatility and ability to be a “glue” guy could go a long way toward ensuring the Bulldog’s upcoming season turns out far better than the debacle that was last year’s campaign.
Hood does not think last year’s incidents will have any effect on what is expected to be a very good team taking the court at Humphrey Coliseum.
“I knew these guys before all of that went down. I knew what type of guys these people are, so I don’t make any judgment on it,” Hood said. “It was just a bad incident, bad season, you know. We are moving on from it, learning and getting ready for the season, getting ready to make a run.”