STARKVILLE — Ben Howland’s biggest concern is experience entering his second season as the Mississippi State men’s basketball coach.
In addition to losing five seniors, standout freshman Malik Newman transferred to Kansas. The departures leave Howland with three players — point guard I.J. Ready, guard/forward Quinndary Weatherspoon, and forward Aric Holman — who played on last season’s team.
Ready, a senior, has lettered all three seasons on campus. Weatherspoon was a surprise and became the focal point as a freshman. Holman was injured before the season started and played sparingly down the stretch.
Louisiana Tech transfer Xavian Stapleton has one year of Division I experience, but he sat out last season due to NCAA rules.
Howland and his staff brought in a talented freshmen class to combat the turnover. In an effort to ease the transition for the younger players, Howland scheduled a trip to Italy, which gave the team a chance to play four games last week.
“It was really good for them,” Howland said. “It puts us in a much better position going into the season. It was a wonderful experience basketball wise, and it was an incredible experience culturally to be able to take in the history and traditions of Italy.”
MSU defeated Lithuania’s National Team (88-83, overtime), Lithuania (93-85), the Adriatic Sea Tritons (96-66), and the Kosovo National Team (91-87 in overtime) to help it prepare for its season opener against Norfolk State on Nov. 11 in Starkville.
Freshman guard and former Starkville High School standout Tyson Carter needed little time to adjust, scoring 87 points in the four games, including a trip-high 31 against the Sea Tritons.
“I just expected it would be harder than that, but we had some good practices before we went over there,” Carter said. “The practices prepared us for when we got there. I think it’ll help. I probably won’t be as nervous the first game of the season because I have a little experience.”
Carter, the son of former MSU men’s basketball great Greg Carter, helped his father, who is his high school coach, and Starkville High win the 2015 Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A State championship. The Yellow Jackets were the Class 6A runner-up in 2016.
Howland wasn’t surprised at Tyson’s shooting success, but he was surprised by his rebounding ability. He said the 6-foot-5, 155-pound guard led the team with 20 defensive rebounds.
“He has a nose for the ball,” Howland said. “He is pound for pound one of the strongest guys on the team. He’s all muscle. There is no fat on that body. He has 1 percent body fat. He’s really strong. He’s got great strength, great feel for the game, and great presence. He never gets rattled.”
Howland also praised guards Lamar Peters and Eli Wright. Wright scored 57 points, including a team-high 22 in the last game.
Ready began throwing up in the first game and didn’t play the rest of the trip. Howland said they discovered Ready had mononucleosis when they arrived home. Ready’s absence gave Peters more time at point guard.
Peters scored 43 points in three games. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds against the Sea Tritons.
“He had a shaky first game, but then after that he settled down and played a lot better,” Howland said. “He led us in assists and had a better assist-to-turnover ratio than he had been doing in practice. He was aggressive defensively and really caused some problems for the other team’s point guard.”
Howland said none of the teams MSU played was Southeastern Conference caliber. He compared Kosovo to a very good mid-major team. Howland said the two Lithuania teams were average mid-major teams.
Weatherspoon, who averaged 12 points as a freshman, was impressed with the offense. He praised Carter’s ability to shoot and feels the Bulldogs will have more shooters than last season.
Weatherspoon scored 90 points. He had a team-high 29 in the first game and a team-high 34 in the second game. He didn’t play in the second half of the third game because of stomach pains.
“I feel like this team is so much more comfortable with each other off the court,” Weatherspoon said. “Last year’s team, we really didn’t do much as a team. After we got here in the summer, we were together all summer long. I feel like that’s going to be a big part of us.”
With a limited number of upperclassmen, Weatherspoon has become a leader. Carter said it’s a unique situation viewing Weatherspoon as an upperclassman. However, they leaned on him during the trip.
“I think he handles it real good,” Tyson said. “He’s a good leader, he leads by example, and he’s a vocal leader. He played in the SEC last year, so he knows what to expect. He lets us know what to do in practice.”
Howland took his 2012-13 UCLA team to China. That team had six freshmen. The Bruins went on to finish 25-10. The season came to an end with a loss to Minnesota in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Bruins overcame the inexperience and won the Pacific-12 Conference regular-season championship with a 13-5 record.
Howland feels like the trip has brought his team closer together and will give it an edge.
“That’s what you want out of a trip like that, the bonding experience of being together. It’s made our team closer together already before we even start this year,” Howland said.
n In related news, Howland said Stapleton should be ready to play by late December. Stapleton tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his left knee last August. He was already sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules, but he could have practiced.
As a freshman at Louisiana Tech, he averaged 6.7 points and 2.1 rebounds.
Howland also hopes to have a decision about freshman Abdul Ado very soon.
The 6-11, 235-pound forward hasn’t enrolled in school. Howland said he is waiting to be cleared by the NCAA so he can enroll. School started Tuesday.
Earlier in the week, the NCAA cleared freshman guard Mario Kegler, which means he will be able to compete this season. Kegler didn’t travel with the team to Italy.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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