Ben Howland met with the media on Monday to discuss the upcoming Mississippi State men’s basketball season. The Bulldogs’ upcoming schedule was recently released, which Howland described as “very aggressive.”
“By starting on November 25th, we start out of the gate at very difficult games on a neutral court against Clemson and either Purdue or Liberty. All three of those teams are very good, and all three are extremely well-coached. Our non-conference also includes games against Dayton and Utah State, both tournament teams from a year ago, the last few years actually, at neutral sites, as well as Iowa State here at home for the Big 12 Challenge. North Texas is picked to win their league, so we have a number of tough games. Texas State will be a very well-coached and good team that has a veteran group. So, we’ve got our hands full in terms of our nine-game non-conference schedule.”
Howland also listed some names who have been performing particularly well in practice.
“Our leading rebounder by far is Tolu Smith. Second is Abdul Ado, and third is Javian Davis. Those guys all have to play. We got to play the guys that rebound the basketball. Our best shooters have been D.J. Stewart, Iverson Molinar, Jalen Johnson, and probably Deivon Smith in that order from three. Those guys are all doing a very good job. One of our best defenders has ended up being Cameron Matthews. By far, he has the most steals on the team. I think he’s fourth on the team in rebounding and has proven to be one of our best defenders.”
Howland was also asked about two players who are NBA Draft hopefuls, Robert Woodard and Reggie Perry.
On Woodard: “Robert really fits in that modern-day NBA because he’s one of those guys that stretches the floor with his ability to shoot the three. You saw the stats on the moving three’s, he was like fourth or fifth of all the players tested in their virtual combines in terms of percentage, 65- percent. He also was in the top-five in one of the other shooting drills. So, he really tested off the charts in the combine.
Robert also measured out seven-foot-two across, which is a great analytic in basketball. They love that. He was interviewed by every single team in the NBA in terms of a Zoom Conference Call, every team. Multiple teams, I’m talking about a number of teams, explained to me that this was the best interview of the year that they had with anybody. He’s so mature. He handles himself so well, suit and tie, incredibly prepared for each team. He’s in a great position to be taken in the latter part of the first round. Definitely among the first few picks in the second if it’s not in the first.”
On Perry: “I think Reggie is in a similar situation where he’s got a number of teams interested in him in the late first round, early second as well. So, both of our guys that are going to get drafted are in very good situations.”
