When the Mississippi State Bulldogs take the floor for the first basketball game in about a month, they are wanting senior small forward Michael Gholar to live up to his potential as one of the most athletic players on the team. Plagued by injuries a year ago, many Bulldog fans want him to succeed, not only because it is in the team’s best interest, but also just because of the type of person that Michael Gholar is, someone who knows his priorities and goes about his business trying to achieve what he sets out to do.

“Michael Gholar is one of my favorite players on the team,” said basketball coach Rick Stansbury. “Mike has had a problem with consistently putting it together. Last year we started him in a couple of games. I believed he could shoot the ball when even he didn’t believe that he could shoot the basketball. That is the area of his game that he really worked hard to improve. He understands how to handle the basketball and how to pass it. He takes shots everyday in practice extremely well. In a game a missed shot or bad play causes him to doubt his confidence. We are working with him on that. The best medicine for his confidence though is to put the ball in the hole.”

“I can play both offensive and defensive roles this year,” Gholar said. “I’ve also worked real hard on rebounding. I want my role to be a positive role, rather than a negative role. I worked a lot harder this summer than in the past. I concentrated on my conditioning, dribbling and shooting. I know that I’ve been holding back on shooting. I want that to change that this year.”

State finished the 2000-2001 campaign just one win short of receiving a bid for the NCAA Tournament. For Gholar, last year was a particularly disheartening one that saw him average a career-low 2.9 points per game as a junior, but rank as the team’s No. 3 rebounder (3.7 rpg) at season’s end. Part of the reason for his low scoring average was early season injuries. However as the season wore on and Gholar recovered, his productivity improved. He had season-high totals of nine points and eight rebounds at Tennessee and eight points, including a pair of clutch three-pointers, and three assists in second-round NIT road win over Pittsburgh.

“I’ve seen the same thing happen to young men,” Stansbury said. “Then when they become seniors they overcome those problems, forget about the missed shots and still have a great game. Mike is the type of player that you want to see him succeed.”

“Personally, I want to show everyone that I am a good shooter,” Gholar replied. “I’ve been working on that phase of the game really hard. I’ve shot it well this spring and summer. My personal goal is to play hard and show people that I can shoot the ball.”

Stansbury knows that Gholar has the potential. The Prentiss, Mississippi native averaged 5.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest as a second-year player, while seeing an average of 22.5 minutes played an outing and played in all 30 contests, earning the team’s starting assignment at the small forward position over the final 16 games of the season. He was voted the team’s best defensive player for the 1999-2000 campaign. He averaged 3.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game as a collegiate rookie, while seeing an average of 11.7 minutes of playing time in 27 appearances. Gholar came to State after earning All-state football and basketball honors.

“Mike is a great athlete,” Stansbury said. “I look for everything to come together this season. There is no question that he can defend and rebound. Sometimes he doubts his own ability to make shots. I think that everything will fall into place for him this year.”

The 6’ 5” 205 lb. senior feels that his teammates are positioned to make a run this winter. “At the first of the year, we always have a hard time adjusting to playing in the SEC,” Gholar said. “That is a difficult league. We are coming along better than in the past. We have a good attitude and are working hard. There are a lot of things to do. The team attitude is so much better than last year’s team, at this point. It is really amazing. Some people are looking down on us because of what happened to Ty (Boswell) and Rob (Jackson). We are a team this year. That is all we want to be, is a team. We finally came together as a team very late last season. We are willing to do whatever it takes to win a game. If it takes playing offensive up-tempo basketball, we’ll do that. If it takes playing a slow down defensive style tempo to win, we can do that too. We’re committed to doing whatever it takes to win games this year.”

Regardless of what the Bulldogs do or do not do on the basketball floor this year, there will be a long sought after prize await Gholar at the end of this semester. “Academically Mike may not be the strongest student in the world, but he will graduate in December,” Stansbury said. “In the last four years, Mike has supported his high school girl friend and their child. At the same time he worked hard enough to get his degree. That tells you a lot about his character. You cannot be around a finer person.”

Earning a college degree is a tremendous achievement for someone who did not initially qualify to play intercollegiate athletics. “I came to State because Coach Stansbury recruited me and believed in me,” Gholar said. “I wanted to play close to home. I also heard so much about State especially from guys like Todd Myles. I also knew that if State could get to the Final Four, then I wanted to be in that type of program.”

Gholar also wanted to tell all his Bulldog fans to be sure to come to the games this year because, as he said; “It’s going to be exciting.”