STARKVILLE — Sometimes you never know what you’re going to get in recruiting.
But all of his years as a coach led Vic Schaefer to believe he had found two important pieces. They weren’t just any pieces, either. Schaefer had a feeling Ketara Chapel and Breanna Richardson were corner pieces he could use to frame the picture he envisioned building at Mississippi State.
More than four years later, flanked by two of the recruits turned seniors who have helped transform MSU women’s basketball into a national power, Schaefer couldn’t help but smile when asked about his forwards.
“I am not sure I have had a ham and egg like these two do,” Schaefer said. “They ham and egg it pretty good. They are both hams. If one is off, the other one is on.”
Richardson and Chapel shared some friendly banter after Schaefer was asked who was the ham and who was the egg. As they chatted, Richardson and Chapel smiled, almost as if on cue. Their timing was impeccable, as it usually has been in their four years in Starkville. In addition to sharing wonderful, expressive smiles, Richardson and Chapel play the same position, are roommates, and have picked each other up countless times in their careers. Their ability to work together and to forge a friendship that is one of the closest on the team has been part of the foundation upon which MSU has set record after record in the past five seasons.
At 6 tonight, Richardson, Chapel, and their teammates will try to set another first when No. 3 MSU (27-1, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) takes on No. 22 Kentucky (19-8, 10-4) at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky. A win would help MSU, which is No. 2 in USA Today Coaches Poll, clinch at least a share of the SEC regular-season title for the first time in program history. A win tonight and a win against Tennessee at 4 p.m. Sunday would help MSU clinch the regular-season title outright and set a new single-season record for wins.
Those accomplishments would be the latest in a long list that has seen MSU go from 13 to 22 to 27 to 28 victories in the last four seasons. The last three have featured Richardson, a 6-foot-1 forward from Conyers, Georgia, and Chapel, a 6-1 forward from Temple, Texas, as integral parts of the machine.
Schaefer said he felt both would fit in well at MSU because of their backgrounds and that they came from solid families that were involved in their lives. Still, he admitted he couldn’t be sure because you never know how student-athletes are going to react when they are forced to compete for things.
Richardson and Chapel didn’t allow the competition to drive them apart. Instead, they faced it together, much like they have been used throughout their careers. Both have started their fair share of games — Chapel 58 and Richardson 46 in the first three seasons — and have had plenty of success. The key has been the other has been there every time to pick the other one up when she is having an off night.
“They will do whatever it takes,” Schaefer said. “Ketara will step in front of a freight train and take a charge. Bre is going to get that rebound if she has to go get it. I think they all do a lot of things very well. They are very similar, but on a night when maybe one doesn’t have it, the other one’s usually got it.”
This season, Richardson has started all 28 games. She is averaging 7.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 55.3 percent from the field. Chapel has appeared in 27 games and is averaging 2.7 ppg. and 2.4 rpg. in 16.9 minutes. She had one of the biggest moments in her career Sunday when she hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to help send MSU to a 72-67 victory against then-No. 23 Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. The 3-pointer was Chapel’s second of the season.
“I feel like my teammates have confidence in me,” Chapel said. “They have more confidence in me than I have in myself right now. They are always telling me to shoot the ball. For me to knock down that shot at a crucial time, it gave me more confidence. It did take me back to my high school days when I used to shoot it like that.”
Chapel was a scoring sensation in high school. In fact, Schaefer has said numerous times he thought Chapel had the potential to be a two guard at MSU. Schaefer also had thoughts about moving Richardson to small forward, or the three, but those plans never materialized. It turned out to be a good thing because the switches would have broken up what has proven to be a deadly combination.
“I think we kind of clicked on our visit,” Richardson said. “I think it just started our friendship from there, and (it grew) from playing with each other day in and day out, and then we were roommates, too. I guess living with each other for so long it builds a bond. We don’t get too mad at each other too much. If we do, we always talk it out or we fight it out and it is over with. It is a special bond. I love her little punk self.”
Richardson said she is Chapel’s biggest cheerleader and Chapel is her biggest cheerleader. She said it doesn’t matter which one is scoring as long as the team is winning. It also doesn’t make a difference if one is logging more minutes than the other. That’s because the other one will be on the bench smiling and encouraging the other one to do her best to help the Bulldogs.
Chapel said that shared mind-set has helped strengthen her friendship with Richardson.
“In practice, we are still competitive,” Chapel said. “We will still go after each other, but, at the end of the day, regardless of whether we get into in practice, we will walk into the locker room like nothing happened.”
Richardson and Chapel used the same word — “crazy” — to describe the journey they have shared at MSU. Schaefer has praised all of his seniors for believing he and his staff would transform MSU into a contender in the SEC and make it relevant on the national scene.
But Schaefer dug deeper Tuesday when talking about Richardson and Chapel. He said both players are special because they are unselfish and they care deeply about the other. He admitted he probably hasn’t had two players at the same position coexist as well as Richardson and Chapel in his 30-plus years as a coach.
“Their relationship is very unique to be as close as they are, to be the friends that they are, and be competing at the same time,” Schaefer said. “But Bre and Ketara said it exactly how it is. They are each other’s biggest fan. If I have heard them get on each other and I thought it sounds like they are mad at each other — it may have happened once. It is very, very unusual, but that is how unselfish they are, so that is why we’re as successful as we are. The chemistry piece that they provide our team is so valuable, and they’re selfless. They’re givers. They are great Bulldogs, and they are going to be great ambassadors for our program, for our university.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.