STARKVILLE — The 100th year of basketball at Mississippi State University didn’t end in celebration. It ended in front of an announced crowd of 2,507 at Humphrey Coliseum that was inflated and frustrated.
Ten minutes before opening tip, the public address announcer reached out to those who were in the upper level and invited them to come down to the lower bowl. Few of the fans accepted the offering. Even after the announcement, the re-assembled crowd still didn’t come close to filling out the arena’s lower level.
The MSU fans who didn’t move to the lower bowl did what many of the Bulldogs had done for the final two months of the season: They didn’t listen and failed to show up.
“I’m still proud of these guys,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. “They won 21 games in this league. We all want to win more. We just weren’t able to do it.”
In MSU’s deflating 101-96 double-overtime loss to the University of Massachusetts on Tuesday, ESPN2 cameras caught MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin staring blankly toward the action while sitting in a corner with his wife, Anne, the daughter of MSU Hall of Famer Bailey Howell, and surrounded by a bunch of empty seats.
With questions surrounding the future of the MSU men’s basketball program, Stricklin was less than pleased with the circumstances that forced the Bulldogs into Tuesday night’s situation.
Adding to the embarrassment of the 2011-12 season finale was the fact that junior center Renardo Sidney didn’t play in the final 35 minutes of the game and had just three points, three rebounds, three fouls and one field goal in 16 minutes. Sidney, who has been criticized about his work ethic and maturity since arriving in Starkville, had negative body language as he sat on the bench next to MSU assistant coaches.
“Those guys that were on that floor kept competing,” Stansbury said. “We got down, and we’re scrambling with what we’re having to do. Those guys were really playing hard, and that’s kind of what it was. We were having to defend (and) having to stop that ball screen, and those guys competed.”
Sidney used his Twitter account minutes after the loss to post “I’m out!!”, but he left Humphrey Coliseum before reporters were granted access to MSU’s open locker room in accordance to NCAA postseason policy.
“I’m not go respond so have a ball,” Sidney tweeted an hour after the game. “I’ve heard it all.”
Since Sidney declined to speak on his behalf, his MSU teammates spoke about team members who had discipline issues throughout the season without referring to a specific player.
“It was the little things,” MSU freshman guard Rodney Hood said. “The little things off the court. Being disciplined in classroom, on the court, just doing things the right way. … I saw some stuff. This kind of stuff can’t happen next year.”
Bryant, a senior who scored 12 points in his final collegiate game, said talks in the huddle and before coaches would enter the locker room before games or at halftime would focus on what players weren’t doing on a daily basis to help the program.
“If one person wasn’t working hard enough, then the whole team isn’t working hard enough,” Bryant said.
When asked again about his job security for the second time in less than a week, Stansbury said the idea of him not returning for the 2012-13 season hasn’t been a topic of conversation, even though an increasing number of fans apparently want to see the 14-year coaching veteran dismissed with two years left on his contract.
Stricklin is expected to meet with Stansbury for an end-of-season wrapup meeting. The discussion is similar to what Stricklin does with every MSU coach after a season. It is unclear when the meeting will happen.
After the game, Stricklin declined to speak with reporters. He also declined to speak to the media about Stansbury earlier in the day when he announced the hiring of a new women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer at the Bryan Building.
When asked what’s next for him, Stansbury joked media members should wait for the call from him.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” Stansbury said. “I’m going to call you and let you know what I’m going to do, OK? Hold that phone to your ear, and I’m going to call you.”
Stansbury, the school’s all-time winningest coach with 293 victories, defended his record in the response to the inquires about his job security.
“What we’ve done through 14 years speaks for itself,” Stansbury said. “That’s all I can say about it. Naturally, we didn’t win as much as I want to win. Even with that, we found a way to do what we did. Anything short of winning a championship here, that’s a disappointing year for me, too.”
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