Debbie Antonelli doesn’t use the word if when asked about Mississippi State center Teaira McCowan.
The longtime college basketball analyst has watched the 6-foot-7 senior operate for three years, so she knows McCowan is too strong and too big to be stopped on the block. That’s why she believes it is only a matter of time before McCowan is wreaking havoc at the next level.
“I think the greatest way a player can feel confident and validated is if they put in the time,” Antonelli said when asked to evaluate how McCowan has developed in her time at MSU. “What tools do you use to measure and evaluate the improvement of a player? You talk about maturity and accountability and being a leader. Those intangibles have allowed her skill set to grow.”
Antonelli said those same ingredients will enable McCowan to be a force when she is a professional. Three years ago, McCowan, who is from Brenham, Texas, had all of the potential to attract interest from major Division I programs in the state of Texas and throughout the country. However, there still were questions whether McCowan would be academically eligible as a freshman. Some also wondered if McCowan was motivated to realize her potential and if she willing to work as hard as she needed to to be a dominating presence.
Clayton Harris didn’t know anything about McCowan when he took over the job of girls basketball coach at Brenham High School. He quickly discovered in taking over the program from Chante Crutchfield that trust is crucial for McCowan and coaches need to have it if they’re going to reach her. Harris was McCowan’s third coach in four years at Brenham High. He said McCowan had grown to trust Crutchfield, who coached at the school for two years, and had “bought into” what she was doing. He senses McCowan has the same dynamic with MSU coach Vic Schaefer, associate head coach Johnnie Harris, and the rest of the coaching staff.
“I think she trusts Vic,” Harris said. “She has bought in, and he is making her the player she is supposed to be and he is not leaving her. That is important. Trust is a big, big, big issue. I don’t think I got her trust until the second round of the district tournament.”
Harris said he worked on fundamentals with McCowan and helped her to read sets and how to attack defenses. He said he encouraged her to be even better by telling her she had won a lot of games in her career at Brenham but she hadn’t been a part of a team that had reached the regional or state tournament.
Harris said he always believed McCowan could be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft. He credits Schaefer and his coaches for making that connection with McCowan to put her into position where she can realize that with a great senior season.
“If you picture the perfect 6-7 athlete it would be No. 15 for Mississippi State hands down,” Harris said. “She had all of the potential in the world in high school, but right now it is not potential anymore. It is I am that good.”
Antonelli also believed McCowan could become one of the nation’s top college basketball players if she wanted to work, if she invested the time to get better, and if she stayed positive. She said players sometimes want things to happen overnight and aren’t patient, but she said McCowan has learned patience and improved her footwork and her shooting range. Antonelli said those aspects and other parts of McCowan’s game can improve even more, but she said there is no question McCowan is primed to have a dominating senior season.
“All things considered she is incredible at 6-7 with the minutes she plays and how she affects the game,” Antonelli said. “For four years coaches in the SEC have faced the question what do we do with A’ja Wilson. Now they will have to focus on what do we do with Teaira McCowan, and how do we contain her. You can’t keep her from going to the block or to the rim because she is too strong.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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