Future still bright for Bulldogs
Mississippi State fans got a taste of the future of women’s basketball during the 2019-20 season, but it ended too soon for both fans and the program alike.
The opportunity available in March didn’t come for the Bulldogs or anyone else in the country as the NCAA cancelled basketball in the postseason tournament due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. That meant that MSU’S season ended on a sour note with a bad taste as South Carolina won yet another Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship over the Bulldogs in a 76-62 victory last Sunday in Greenville, S.C.
While MSU didn’t get a chance at redemption in the big tournament, fans saw all they needed to see to know what the future holds for this particular team. The Bulldogs lose just one senior as Jordan Danberry finished out her eligibility and the rest of the team returns minus Promise Taylor, who gave up basketball due to injuries in the middle of the season.
Add in two players rated four star or better and a former Mcdonald’s All-american in Michigan State transfer Sidney Cooks and MSU looks to have strengthened its roster even more.
With the season complete, it’s interesting to see how the roster breaks out next year provided there are no transfers. The Bulldogs will have two freshmen, four sophomores, five juniors and three seniors which means there is also one open scholarship available for coach Vic Schaefer if he chooses to use it in the transfer portal.
There’s been so much experience at the point guard position for so many years, it was odd to see MSU have someone in the game without a wealth of it this year. Still, Schaefer’s point guards didn’t back down from a challenge and they helped the team win some games.
The differences between Myah Taylor and Jamya Mingoyoung are noticeable. Neither of the two are much alike in their overall skill level or how they attack other teams, but both are effective in their own way.
Taylor was one of the best in the SEC at protecting the basketball on offense as the thirdyear sophomore had 151 assists to just 54 turnovers. She also was second on the team with 63 steals and far and away led the team in charges. Offensively, Taylor’s goal was to distribute and get her team in position to score as she only averaged 5.6 points a game and had just five games this year with double digit points. With other scoring options, she won’t be required to change it up much, but the Bulldogs could use a threat to score at the point which she has the ability to do.
Mingo-young brings exactly the kind of mindset that Schaefer wants out of his players. The Louisiana native has been through three knee injuries in high school but it’s often hard to tell. She played 13 minutes as a true freshman in the SEC, but is more of a threat to score as she averaged 4.5 points playing 10 minutes less than Taylor. Her assist-to-turnover ratio is higher as she finished with 48 assists to 34 turnovers, but she’ll iron that out. Look for her minutes to go up as she and Taylor become even more of a 1A/1B next season at the point.
The rest of the positions are going to get muddy as Schaefer tries to find minutes for a talented group of players.
It became apparent very early that Aliyah Matharu was going to be a star for MSU and needed to play more. Schaefer held off long enough on trying to get Matharu to understand the importance of the defensive side of the ball before he just turned her loose in the last part of the schedule.
Only Jayla Hemingway and Yemiyah Morris played less minutes for the Bulldogs than Matharu’s 9.9 during the year from the active roster, yet the star freshman averaged 7.1 points a game playing less than 10 minutes. She was dynamic in every sense of the way and changed MSU’S offense when she entered having won SEC Freshman of the Week twice and double figures 11 times for the year while averaging 15.4 points and 20.2 minute a game the last five games of the year.
Matharu is set for a monster sophomore year but what happens behind her? Andra Espinoza-hunter was a starter for MSU most of her sophomore season but was relegated to the bench most of this season in favor of Danberry and Matharu. She should have more opportunities with Danberry’s minutes gone but will also need to get back in the swing of things with her 3-point shot to stay valuable in the rotation.
Freshman Hemingway had some good moments in ball games and Schaefer likes the way she plays defense which makes her value increase. There’s also the chance that five-star freshman Madison Hayes could play some two guard which would put a kink in things.
There’s no debate on who is going to be playing small forward again next year. Rickea Jackson had one of the best freshman seasons scoring in school history as she finished as the leading scorers among her classification in the league at 15.1.
Jackson also became one of the best rebounders for the Bulldogs by year’s end finishing with 5.1 a game. As good as Jackson was this season, she has a chance to be special as a sophomore. The next three years will be a treat to see how she continues to grow as a player because the ceiling is still high for what she can accomplish with her skill level. The only comparable realm she might be in when it’s said and done is Latoya Thomas though different skill sets.
Behind her there’s going to be some major competition. MSU will have junior Xaria Wiggins returning and she has some similar characteristics to her build to Jackson. This year Wiggins showed some promise with her ability to both get to the rim and shoot the ball from long distance, but her defense is what is most valuable.
If Hayes indeed sticks at the small forward spot, she adds much value off the bench for the Bulldogs as she is the second Mcdonald’s All-american in school history and a two-time Miss Basketball in the state of Tennessee. Hayes can score, rebound, pass and defend and immediately gives the roster a lift.
The competition level here is fierce. We’ll see how it comes out and how Schaefer finds ways to get players minutes.
The power forward position is another tricky spot going into next season for MSU. Chloe Bibby played many of the minutes here this year but the Bulldogs also had Wiggins play some at the four and Jackson could play there as well.
Bibby could also play small forward but was needed this year at the four as MSU didn’t have much size to work with down low. That makes the offseason all the more intriguing as the Bulldogs now have several options to work with at different spots because of the versatility of players.
The starting slot for now belongs to Bibby just because of the uncertainty, but Sidney Cooks is a player that will be contending if not taking over in