BULLDOG BITS
Baseball
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has announced its preseason rankings and preseason All-america teams for the upcoming season, with the Mississippi State baseball program earning its fourth preseason top-15 ranking and senior Jake Mangum earning his fourth national preseason accolade.
Mangum brought home his fourth preseason Allamerican honor and his second appointment to a publication's first team. The Pearl native has also earned recognition from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (first team), D1baseball (second team) and Perfect Game (third team). Teammate JT Ginn was selected a second-team All-american by Baseball America, as well.
In his career, Mangum owns a hit in 146 of 176 games started (82.9 percent) and has reached base in 159 of 176 games started (90.3 percent). The active career leader in hits among NCAA baseball student-athletes, Mangum enters the season with 275 career hits. With 154 career runs scored, Mangum sits No. 4 among returning student-athletes for the 2019 season, while his .356 batting average is No. 4 among returners in Division I with at least 400 at-bats in their career.
As a team, Mississippi State earned the No. 13 spot in NCBWA preseason, with the publication releasing its top 40 teams for the upcoming season. Along with State, six other Southeastern Conference teams found their way into the top 15 and Auburn (No. 19) gave the conference eight total teams in the top 20 of the poll. The Bulldogs will see a preseason ranked opponent on seven of 10 weekends in SEC play.
Along with the Bulldogs garnering the No. 13 spot, the SEC also saw Vanderbilt and LSU claiming the top two spots in the poll, Florida checking in at No. 6, Ole Miss and Georgia grabbing the No. 11 and 12 spots, respectively, and Arkansas getting the No. 15 preseason ranking. Auburn rounded out the SEC representation in the poll at No. 19.
On the second weekend of the season, State will host No. 26 Southern Miss in a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field. The Bulldogs will also face No. 3 Texas Tech on March 2 at the Frisco Classic and three days later take on No. 14 East Carolina in a midweek home contest.
Mississippi State enters the season ranked in each of the six preseason polls, entering the year No. 9 in the Baseball America poll, No. 13 in the NCBWA poll, No. 14 according to D1baseball, in the No. 15 spot from USA Today Sports, No. 17 in the Perfect Game poll and No. 27 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
The Bulldogs open the 2019 season with a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field against Youngstown State on Feb. 1517. The season opener is slated for 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15 against the Penguins. Single game and general admission season tickets are on sale now by contacting the ticket office at 1-888-GO-DAWGS.
Men's Basketball
Mississippi State's Quinndary Weatherspoon was recognized by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Tuesday when the organization announced its top 10 finalists for the 2019 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
Weatherspoon is joined by Jarron Cumberland (Cincinnati), RJ Barrett (Duke), Justin Wrightforeman (Hofstra), Tyus Battle (Syracuse), Jarrett Culver (Texas Tech), Phil Booth (Villanova), Kyle Guy (Virginia), Nickeil Alexander-walker (Virginia Tech) and Jaylen Nowell (Washington).
Weatherspoon has pumped in 17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The 17.6 points are third, while his 49.2 field goal percentage and 85.2 free-throw percentage also are third in the SEC rankings.
Weatherspoon has racked up 20 or more points on eight occasions, and Mississippi State has won 14 straight games over the last two seasons when he accomplishes the feat. His 1,753 career points and 175 career steals rank fifth on the program's all-time list. Weatherspoon has climbed 13 spots on the scoring list during his senior campaign.
The West Award is one of five honors presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The list includes the Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Julius Erving, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-jabbar awards. In March, five finalists will be presented to Mr. West and the Hall of Fame's selection committee.
The winner of the 2019 Jerry West Shooting Guard Award will be presented at The College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy's in Los Angeles on Friday, April 12, 2019, along with the other four members of the Naismith Starting 5. Broadcast information will be released at a later date.
Previous winners of the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award include Carsen Edwards (Purdue – 2018), Malik Monk (Kentucky – 2017), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma – 2016) and D'angelo Russell (Ohio State – 2015).
Super Bulldog Weekend
The 34th annual Super Bulldog Weekend, a Mississippi State spring homecoming tradition, will be held April 12-14 on the MSU campus.
Fans will get a glimpse of Joe Moorhead's 2019 football team as the squad closes spring practice with the Maroon and White Game on Saturday, April 13 in Davis Wade Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and admission is free. MSU'S clear bag and metal detector policies will be in place at Davis Wade Stadium.
Coach Chris Lemonis' nationally-ranked Diamond Dawgs welcome Alabama to the new Dudy Noble Field for a threegame Southeastern Confernece series with game times at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.
There will be two chances to view Daryl Greenan's women's tennis team in SEC action during Super Bulldog Weekend. The squad hosts Texas A&M at 3 p.m. Friday and LSU at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Saturday's slate begins with the MSU soccer team, fresh off its first NCAA Tournament appearance, taking on Auburn in an 11 a.m. spring exhibition at the MSU Soccer Field. The Bulldogs are under the direction of first-year head coach James Armstrong, who served as the associate head coach at Auburn the past six seasons.
Additional details on Super Bulldog Weekend will be announced at a later date.
Women's Basketball
Anriel Howard was one of six student-athletes added to the midseason watchlist for the Wade Trophy, the Women's Basketball Coaches Associate announced on Tuesday. Howard's group joins the 35 preseason selections that included Teaira Mccowan.
Howard is averaging 15.5 points and 7.9 rebounds as a graduate student at Mississippi State. She holds Texas A&M'S career rebounding record and is sixth among active players with 1,175 boards and second only to Mccowan (1,316) in the Southeastern Conference.
The Atlanta, Georgia, native is eight among active SEC players with 1,271 career points and 13th among active players nationally with 37 career double-doubles
The Wade Trophy — now in its 42nd year — is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women's basketball. It is named in honor of the late, legendary Delta State University head coach Lily Margaret Wade, who won three consecutive national championships with the Lady Statesmen. First awarded in 1978 by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), now known as SHAPE America, the Wade Trophy has been presented to the WBCA NCAA Division I National Player of the Year since 2001.
The WBCA will announce the four finalists for the honor in mid-march. The winner of the 2019 Wade Trophy will be announced April 4 in Tampa Bay, Florida — site of the 2019 WBCA Convention and NCAA Women's Final Four.
MSU also held steady at No. 6 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches' polls. State has now been ranked in the AP poll for 88 straight weeks and has been a top 10 team in the poll for 52 consecutive weeks, the fourthlongest streak in the nation.
The Bulldogs will host Tennessee in Humphrey Coliseum at 1 p.m. on Sunday.