STARKVILLE — Thanksgiving will be an extended home-and-away affair for the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
The front end of the holiday week will kick off at 6 tonight when MSU (4-0) plays host to Savannah State (3-2) at Humphrey Coliseum. The game is Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day, with MSU faculty and staff receiving free admission with a valid staff ID. WKBB-FM 100.9 in the Golden Triangle and WXWX-FM 96.3 in Tupelo will broadcast the game. HailStateTV subscribers can access the live video and audio streams at www.hailstate.com/hstvlive.
The back end of the week will begin at 5 p.m. Friday, when MSU plays Grand Canyon in its first of three games at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Naples, Fla. The trip, the team’s first extended travel of the season, will give coach Vic Schaefer, his coaches, and his players another chance to strengthen the bonds on a team that has features five newcomers. Schaefer said last week that chemistry is something he and his coaches have tried to build in the year and a half they have been together in Starkville.
“There is a trust factor, and it is real important to us that those kids know we are here for them 24-7 on and off the court, anything they possibly need,” Schaefer said. “In my situation, I spend more time with them, a lot of time, than I do with my family. At the same time, in the year and a half I have been here, I have tried to introduce to them some of my former players who can share a little bit about me and they can see this person is super successful and they can share some of their story. But I think it starts with trust.
“I think those kids know we have their back on everything and they will go to bat and go to the hill for them,” Schaefer said. “That is important, I think, more than anything in building a family and a foundation of trust. They have to know, but they also have to know they can’t cross the line and not be truthful with us because ultimately, just like parents, we’re going to find out.”
That trust also has been a factor in MSU’s ability to land a Class of 2013 that was ranked 35th nationally and a Class of 2014 recruiting class that ranks 20th nationally, according to Dan Olson’s Collegiate Girls Reports and espnW HoopGurlz.
“I attribute it to the family that is our staff,” Schaefer said. “We are family. (Associate head coach) Johnnie (Harris) is like my sister. Everybody knows (assistant coach) Aqua (Franklin) was the first recruit I signed at Texas A&M. (Assistant coach) Brittany (Hudson) has come in and fit in well with us. (Director of Basketball Operations) Maryann (Baker) played for us (at Texas A&M) and is part of our extended family, and it is the same deal with (video coordinator) Skylar (Collins). I think people, parents, recruits, recruits’ parents see what we are about. What you see is what you get. They see that and know that Johnnie and I are not only coaches, but we also are parents. They see that side to us.”
Schaefer said he ha received numerous emails from boosters and MSU fans who accompanied the team on its season-opening trip to play at Houston. He said the correspondences included remarks about how well the MSU coaches get along, how close they are as a staff, and how they treat each other like brothers and sisters.
“I think all of that plays a big part in what we’re able to do here,” Schaefer said. “I think that carries over to why we have set a record for season tickets and we have had the crowds we have had during the week. I think other people also see that and, for the lack of a better word, it is a breath of fresh air. I think it is a breath of fresh air for anyone associated with athletics because there is so much perception about athletics and you can’t approach people or you can’t talk to the players. After the game, I don’t even talk to my kids. I send them up to the stands to visit with people. When we go on trips, my kids area accessible to anyone and everybody.
“For us, that is not who we are. We want to be accessible. We want people to get to know us personally. If you don’t know my team or know them, come to the game to support us and you will get to know my team and that will be why you are there.”
Schaefer said he wants his players to be good Christian women with good values and morals. Like he and his wife, Holly, have done with their children, Blair and Logan, he wants to help teach them to develop a good work ethic. He will get the opportunity to continue to do that with Blair, a senior at Starkville High School, who signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at MSU.
“I want them to develop an understanding of what it takes to be successful and don’t be like today’s society, this instant gratification without sowing anything,” Schaefer said. Like I said the other night, you reap what you sow. Today’s world is such an instant gratification world, whereas my staff, you can call us old school or whatever, but we have an understanding that all we know how to do is work. That is who we are, that is what has won for us. That could be construed as tough love, but that is what has been successful for us and that is all we know.”
That “tough love” has helped MSU get off to a 4-0 start to the season for the first time since 2009-10. Junior Kendra Grant leads MSU in scoring at 17 points per game. Junior center Martha Alwal is averaging 15.3 ppg. and is shooting a Southeastern Conference-best 64.9 percent from the field. Junior college transfer Savannah Carter is averaging 13.3 ppg. She is second in the SEC with 3.3 steals per game.
Grant said the tough love Schaefer and his coaches have used has helped attract two of the program’s best recruiting classes. She said the coaches get on them, but everything is left in the gym once practice or games are over. She feels the coaches are working hard to help all of the players realize their potential.
“It is actually a push for me because if he wasn’t saying all of this stuff I would think something is wrong,” Grant said. “Him being on me about putting up shots, taking more shots, making more shots, is motivation. … My freshman and sophomore year, I was kind of just going through it. I was thrown into the fire and trying to see my way through. Now, since I know, for the most part, what everything is like, having him in my corner and in my ear is probably what is best for me.”
Senior Candace Foster agrees and feels the family atmosphere makes players and parents believe in the vision Schaefer has for the program.
“The family atmosphere isn’t anything cliche with the women’s basketball program,” Foster said. “It is genuine. From the door, you come in and say, ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ We give hugs to the parents and hugs to the recruits because that is how we interact and how we show our love toward them, not just because we want them to sign the papers, but that is just how each and every girl has been raised. It is that Southern Hospitality.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor.
NOTE: Bully’s Kidz Kourt begins at 5 p.m., with inflatables and other games available on the Mize Pavilion practice court. Tennis shoes are required for Bully’s Kidz Kourt.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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