Bulldogs adjusting to Novak’s style
Shockwaves were sent throughout women’s college basketball when Nikki Mccray-penson announced that she was stepping down as the head coach at Mississippi State.
Just two years removed from MSU being one of the nation’s best programs under Vic Schaefer, the Bulldogs missed out on the NCAA Tournament and postseason altogether last season and Mccray-penson resigned a year later. She said that the decision was health related and as a breast cancer survivor already in her life, the coach takes her health seriously.
In just over a year, MSU has basically had two different assistant coaching staffs and that includes the addition of Doug Novak. He was hired by Mccray-penson as the associate head coach two months ago and suddenly he’s now been promoted to the interim head coach.
“I came here to add value as an assistant coach and to help Nikki and that’s what I thought I signed up for,” Novak said. “However, things changed pretty quickly. My goal is still the same to add value – now it’s from a different position and a different seat. Anytime there’s change in your life, it takes some time, but I think every day we’re building a foundation and getting to know each other a little better, understanding what’s important.”
Novak has been coaching basketball for nearly 30 years on different levels including being a Division III head coach, but this is a different animal as he takes over at MSU. Entering his first games on the job, Novak did get a chance to see his team in action in exhibition play as the Bulldogs routed Mississippi College 94-47.
It was a game where returning starter Rickea Jackson scored 22 points and point guard Myah Taylor had nine assists and zero turnovers while transfer Anastasia and Aislynn Hayes scored in double figures as well as Jerkaila Jordan.
“Every day gets a little bit better in terms of how we’re practicing and how we’re communicating,” Novak said. “We keep things pretty simple, so it was definitely more about us than our opponent. I thought we won the games within the game. We’ve struggled defensively the last couple of weeks, but in the last few days, we’ve had some gains.”
The team certainly isn’t using the unfortunate circumstances as an excuse. All of the players came out in that game with energy and confidence and they showed it after the game as well.
“I had fun,” Aislynn Hayes said. “Being in the Hump was amazing. We’ve all been working hard and playing good basketball together. It has made us a lot closer and we’ve been working hard for each other playing for each other and playing for Nikki.”