STARKVILLE — Depth equals competition.
Sherise Williams knows Vic Schaefer and his coaching staff have been working hard to make that mantra a reality for the Mississippi State women’s basketball team.
Reality has arrived in a big way in Starkville as the Bulldogs continue preparations for the 2015-16 season, which is why Williams can contain her enthusiasm about her chances to see playing time at a new position.
“I am so excited. I feel like it will be good because we have so much height on the floor (if I play the four position) because Bre(anna Richardson) is moving out to the perimeter, and she is a 6-foot guard,” said Williams, a 6-foot-1 forward who is the team’s only senior. “We still have other 6-foot guards, and we still have other 6-foot guards. I think it is going to be a fun, exciting, athletic year.”
Williams’ comments cover nearly all of the bases for the competition she could be a part of at power forward, which is known as the four position. A year ago, Williams logged most of her 8.4 minutes per game (in 24 games) playing behind centers Martha Alwal and Chinwe Okorie. With the addition of 6-7 Teaira McCowan and 6-3 Zion Campbell at the five position, Williams could shift to another spot in the frontcourt and compete for playing time with junior Ketara Chapel, junior college transfer Jazmine Spears, and sophomore LaKaris Salter.
Richardson, who logged the most minutes (771) of any four MSU player last season, also could be in that mix, but Schaefer has said several times in the offseason he is “committed” to getting her some minutes on the perimeter this season. If that is the case — and Schaefer said Richardson has improved her ballhandling to make that transition more likely — competition for playing time at either forward position should be intense when MSU officially opens practice next month.
“I feel really good about that position,” Schaefer said of the four. “We have got four really good players there. I am committed to getting Bre some minutes on the perimeter this year and to continuing to develop her game, but I feel really good about the four young ladies we have at that position.
“Between Bre, Ketara, Jaz Spears, and LaKaris Salter, those kids need to compete with one another and get better. I think they are doing that right now. That is all I can ask of them.”
Schaefer didn’t mention Williams in that group, but she could be the best athlete on the team. Last season, she averaged 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game and shot 47.5 percent from the field. Originally recruited to MSU by former MSU coach Sharon Fanning-Otis and her coaching staff, Williams worked hard to become academically eligible as a freshman. She earned her most starts (six) and played her most minutes per game (19.1) that season and recorded her highest scoring (5.1 ppg.) and rebounding (2.7 rpg.) in her MSU career.
Williams’ biggest challenge at MSU has been learning how to harness her strength, quickness, leaping ability, and speed. In practice, she showcases her sprinter’s speed by routinely beating her teammates up and down the floor in conditioning drills. In games, she has flashes glimpses of her potential with monster blocked shots and putbacks following multiple rebounds thanks to her ability to get off her feet quickly.
Williams said she hasn’t talked with Schaefer about moving to the four position. In fact, Williams said she started offseason individual workouts with the other centers until she said she had a good showing with the fives and was moved to work with the fours. Williams said associate head coach Johnnie Harris told her she looked “good” at the four and encouraged her to keep working at that position.
Williams discovered the move meant a lot more than making herself big patrolling the blocks.
“They do so much,” Williams said. “I went through a four player practice and I was like, ‘I really didn’t believe you did all of this.’ ”
Williams said Chapel and the other four players have helped her understand the amount of movement and the responsibility Schaefer places on his power forwards. The past two seasons, Richardson often has been counted on to be a facilitator of the offense at the top of the key, or someone who plays the high-low game with the center.
Williams said she wasn’t used to all of the movement and the ballhandling the four players have to do. She said she has worked individually and with the other forwards in four player drills since the end of August to get those skills down. She feels her athleticism and her ability to run the floor will be assets as she competes against her teammates.
“It is like our four players don’t get tired, or they can’t get tired, because they do so much,” Williams said. “I didn’t realize how much they did because I am so used to being on the low block. They’re just constantly moving, constantly doing something.
“I love to move. I don’t like to be stuck in one place, and I feel like this will really help my game because of my athleticism. My athleticism is the key component of my game.”
Williams’ athleticism could be a perfect complement to the other players at the four position. With Chapel, who also is 6-1, the Bulldogs have a tough rebounder and defender who averaged 4.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game last season. In Salter, MSU has a talented offensive player who showed in limited minutes last season an ability to score and to create things on the offensive end.
MSU hopes Spears, a first-team junior college All-American at Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College, can provide some of all of those things. Last season, she averaged 14.6 ppg. and 9.4 rpg.
“I’d love for all of them to do a little bit of everything, unfortunately, they all do something maybe a little bit different, which is good, too,” Schaefer said. “That is what we have worked on all summer, trying to complement our game, develop our game, become a more well-rounded player, a better shooter, a better passer, a better defender, a better rebounder. I think each of them does one of those things better than the other. I can’t play all four of them at the same time.”
Schaefer said the issue the Bulldogs’ four players face is the same one junior guard Dominique Dillingham faces. He said he has encouraged Dillingham to lift her shooting percent from 31.1 percent to 40 percent so she can provide an even more effective option on the wing opposite sophomore forward Victoria Vivians.
“I have told her I am going to run more sets for you than I have in the first two years combined,” Schaefer said. “I am going to need you to work on your offensive game and become a threat because that is going to free up Victoria a whole lot more so people can’t focus on her as much.
“We have asked that of all our players. I think that is the evolution of a program is players continue to develop. My staff and I have a pretty good track record of developing players.”
Last season, Vivians led MSU in scoring at 14.9 ppg. The 6-1 standout from Scott Central High School shot 36.8 percent from the field and attempted 465 shots, more than double everyone on the team except Richardson (247).
One of MSU’s challenges this season will be to find a way to spread the wealth and to capitalize on the versatility and the skills of all of the players on the roster. From point guard to center, MSU has the most depth it has had in recent memory — and the most by far in Schaefer’s tenure in Starkville.
Williams admits she is still getting adjusted to moving to the four position. She also acknowledges each player “brings something new to the table” and she is still trying to see where she fits in.
“We’re all so athletic, and their offensive games are so much better than mine, so I have to be good defensively,” Williams said. “I want to be able to use my defense and be able to run the floor and outrun most players. I have to constantly work hard on defense and guarding on the perimeter because some four players can get out and stretch and shoot, so you have to be ready to help at all times.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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