Starkville - Mississippi State's men's basketball team lost a key piece for the entirety of non-conference play with an injury to All-SEC center Tolu Smith.
Head coach Chris Jans announced Thursday that the 6-foot-11 graduate suffered a foot injury during practice. He is expected to return during SEC play.
"Tolu Smith injured his foot at a recent practice and is expected to return during SEC action," Jans said via press release. "We're going to support and care for Tolu's mental and physical well-being during every step of the recovery process. We will continue to move forward with our preparations for the upcoming season as Tolu and his family would expect us to. He will continue to serve as a team leader from the sidelines until we welcome him back on the floor. We will pray for a healthy and speedy recovery for Tolu and his family."
Mississippi State will also be without forward KeShawn Murphy until around Christmas time, Jans stated in his press conference on Tuesday.
Mississippi State scheduled a more difficult non-conference schedule this season with the rising expectations for the program. They're slated for neutral site matchups with Arizona State, Washington State, Rhode Island or Northwestern, Tulane, and Rutgers. They'll also travel to Georgia Tech for the SEC/ACC Challenge, but they'll have to do so without Smith.
Smith, a Bay St. Louis, Miss. native, initially entered the 2023 NBA Draft but opted to come back for his final season of eligibility. The 2022-23 All-SEC First Team performer was named a Preseason All-American by multiple outlets after averaging 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds last season.
Mississippi State returns all five starters from last season's NCAA Tournament team, but they'll now be down their leading scorer and rebounder for the foreseeable future .
Marshall transfer Andrew Taylor, four-star freshman Josh Hubbard and junior college transfer Trey Fort are expected to be significant additions to the backcourt while juco transfer Jaquan Scott will be a key piece at forward. Behind Smith at center, the Bulldogs added West Virginia transfer Jimmy Bell, and three-star freshman Gai Chol.
Bell will likely slot into the starting center spot in Smith's absence. The 6-foot-10 graduate started 34 games for the Mountaineers last season and averaged 4.8 points and 5.2 rebounds. Chol, a native of Juba, South Sudan, played his high school ball at Greenforest Christian in Atlanta and will now likely have a bigger role than originally expected.
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