February 1999 MSU Basketball Skuttle-Butt

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02/28/99 - MSU down by 12 at halftime against the number 2 ranked Auburn Tigers came back in the second half and took the Tigers down to the wire before losing 76 to 73. The Tigers outrebounded our Bulldogs 41 to 34. 21 offensive rebounds were pulled down by the Tigers. MSU was led in scoring by senior Detrick White with 14 points (6 assists also). Other players in double figures were senior Tyrone Washington with 11 points (4 blocks) and sophomore Tang Hamilton with 13 points. Freshman Marckell Patterson hit two crucial 3-pointers late in the game while sophomore Joe Marshall also hit a couple of 3-pointers.

Just a little word on the tremendous crowd noise or should I say the last 7 minutes of the game crowd noise. I talked to one of our players after the game and he told me the crowd so effected one of the Auburn players that he missed his free throws because of the crowd noise. And this Auburn player is normally a good free throw shooter. I also noticed that Auburn lost count of the shot clock one time and failed to get the shot off when the crowd noise got so loud. Our player also told me he wished our crowd would be that loud and enthusiastic all the time because it really does effect the players whether they are MSU players or the opposing team players. Unless you have come to the game, you just don't realize how loud the Hump is now when you have 9,000 to 10,000+ fans yelling at the top of their lungs. We really can make the Hump a tremendous home field advantage for our team with some effort on our part.

MSU now heads to the SEC Tournament where they need, in my opinion, two or three victories to have a chance for the NCAA Tournament.

02/28/99 - Guess who has made a qualifying ACT score (18)? Yep, MSU signee Jonathan Bender that's who. Jonathan sure is going to look good in a Bulldog uniform next year. Count on it.

For some very interesting info about Jonathan, check out this link.

02/27/99 - The Lady Bulldogs were defeated by the Georgia Lady Dawgs 72 to 66 in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Now they'll wait to hear where they will be going in the NCAA Tournament.

02/27/99 - The men's team take on Auburn today at 2 p.m. at the Hump. Hope you are a true MSU fan and make the game today. It's seniors day, so thank our seniors by attending the game.

02/27/99 - I got the chance to see Lanier HS (Jackson, MS) play Columbus HS last night in Columbus. As I have been told and now have seen with my own eyes, Lanier junior Darius Rice is a great athlete who can sky with the best of them and likes to shoot 3-pointers. The youngster can make a dunk look spectacular. In fact, he even makes a missed dunk look spectacular. He ended up with 14 points (four 3-pointers and a dunk) However, this night belonged to another Lanier high schooler, Solomon Forbes. Solomon showed a very nice touch around the basket and was aggressive on the inside when rebounding. Not sure what his point total was, but it had to have been in the 20's. Columbus had an inside player who also looked good, Thomas Adams. Thomas also showed a good touch from about 10 feet.

Lanier defeated Columbus and will now take on a very good Tupelo HS team, which defeated number 1 Indianola Gentry, tonight at 8. Got the chance to see MSU football signee Milas Randle play. He impressed me with his athleticism and hustle.

02/26/99 - Last night, the Lady Bulldogs defeated Arkansas 79 to 70 in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. Our Lady Bulldogs are a step closer to their first ever NCAA appearance. Congrats Lady Bulldogs!

02/26/99 - For those of you who wondered why Coach Stansbury sat Tang Hamilton and Marckell for most of the game Wednesday night, I believe this may answer your question. Here are a couple of paragraphs from The Clarion -Ledger:

Never one to stand for an apparent lack of effort, State coach Rick Stansbury sat down starters Tang Hamilton and Marckell Patterson the entire second half as LSU knocked the starch out of the Bulldogs' NCAA Tournament hopes early.......

"It was obvious," Stansbury said after the game when asked about the benching of Hamilton and Patterson. "It's a coaching decision and I'll live with that. But we're going to play guys who lay if on the line. They might make mistakes, but they're going to make 'em hustling. And we had some guys come out and not play the way you need to in a game like this, with all that's on the line"

02/25/99 - In a heartbreaking loss, MSU (18-10, 8-7 in the SEC) was defeated by LSU 74 to 63. Will this cost MSU it's chance for an NCAA berth? Unless they defeat Auburn this Saturday and win a couple at the SEC Tournament it probably did. Looks like we need to really rock the Hump this Saturday. Show your support by filling it up Saturday.

Scoring Summary:

02/25/99 - Click here to go to a profile of McDonald's All-American Jonathan Bender.

02/24/99 - Click here to go to a very nice article about our Lady Basketball team.

02/24/99 - According to an article in USA Today, MSU and Ole Miss are the finalists for the top female high school basketball player in the state of Mississippi, Greenville's Latoya Thomas. MSU has signed the top high school baseball, basketball (boys) and football players in Mississippi. Sure would be nice to continue that trend by signing the top girls basketball player. Here is the link if you want to read the entire article: USA Today Link.

Don't forget about tonight's men's basketball game against LSU.

02/23/99 - For those of you who were not lucky enough to attend the MSU 72 to 69 victory over the Rebels, here are a few pics from the game:

02/23/99 - MSU signee Jonathan Bender has been selected to the very prestigious McDonald's All-American Team.

02/23/99 - Here is the latest list of MSU basketball signees and commitments:

02/21/99 - MSU 72, Ole Miss 69. Detrick White played great for 40 minutes. What a tough, tough hombre. He gives you 100% all the time. Great game, Detrick (21 pts, 3 assists). He played Rebel Keith Carter (17 points, but only 2 of 7 from 3-pt range) about as well as you can play him (Are you as glad as I am that we don't have to face Carter again?). What a great competitor. Todd Myles continues to show why he was so highly thought of in high school. Great defensive effort, leadership ("controlled the game" - Coach Stansbury quote) and 15 pts to boot. You did a number on "hand-check" supreme Michael White (how does that guy get away with so many hand fouls?). Congrats Todd. Tyrone Washington finally showed why some listed him as the top center in the SEC during pre-season (11rebounds, 21 points including 7-8 at the free throw line). And what can you say about the effort, on a bad ankle, by freshman supreme Robert Jackson? He didn't get many points or rebounds but he gave 100% effort in pain. And the crowd (10,226 strong), according to Coach Stansbury during his post-game show, in "the last 5.5 minutes of the game determined the outcome of this game. It was the loudest Humphrey Coliseum has ever been."

Last but not least, Coach Rick Stansbury is in the process of building something great at MSU, folks. The man obviously knows talent and can recruit that talent. Now he is showing what I knew all along, he can flat-out coach the game of basketball. He has completely turned a program around that had gone a little downhill the last two years after reaching the pinnacle of college basketball, the Final Four in 1996, the only school in Mississippi to have done such a thing. The man is going to do wonders with the MSU program.

P.S. Sure hope super junior basketball player Darius Rice (6'9", Lanier High School) and senior Otis Gaines (6'1", Provine High School) enjoyed themselves at the Hump Saturday. Yes, none other than Darius himself was at the game. For those of you who don't know a lot about Darius, he is one of the top 35 to 40 junior basketball players in the country according to all of the recruiting analysts. Probably underrated in my opinion but that's just me, I always feel the best players in Mississippi don't get the national recognition they truly deserve. BTW, Darius helped his team win Friday night against Callaway with a 19 point effort. If you guys aren't familiar with Otis, he has helped lead Provine to a number 3 ranking in Mississippi's highest classification. Nice to know two of Mississippi's best chose to be at MSU Saturday.

The Bulldogs, 18-9 overall, 8-6 in the SEC, now head to LSU Wednesday for their, as Coach Stansbury called it, next most important game of the season.

02/20/99 - Freshman Robert Jackson continues to be very doubtful for today's game. Just a reminder to all of you Bulldog fans with tickets to today's game: Make plans to attend. Your support and vocal cords are very much needed. Watching in front of a television set will not help our team at all. If for some reason you absolutely can't go, give your ticket to a Bulldog fan.

02/20/99 - Show your support for my page by visiting The Cotton District Grill, one of my advertisers, prior to today's game. For more info about The Grill, one of the best places to eat in Starkville, visit their website at http://www.eatwithus.com/grill/grill.html.

02/19/99 - Based on what Coach Stansbury said on Dawgs Talk last night, it appears one of our outstanding freshmen, Robert Jackson, will probably not be able to play this Saturday. Robert twisted his ankle recently and has just gotten off his crutches.

Coach Stansbury also answered a question about whether or not freshman Tyrus Boswell should have been redshirted. He said Tyrus wanted to go ahead and play and not be redshirted. He felt Tyrus is learning two valuable lesson by playing: How good the players are and how much energy it takes to play at this level. He hopes Tyrus will take this experience and work very hard during the off-season to get ready to play on the same level as the players he played against. He fully expects Tyrus to be a very good basketball player in time.

02/19/99 - Advertisement: Have you contacted The Cotton District Towers about buying a condo? Better hurry, only a few are available. You can visit their website by clicking here.

02/18/99 - With Ole Miss' loss last night, our game this Saturday just became huge as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned. How a team finishes is very important to the NCAA selection committee. If we can wind up in second place in the West, you have to believe our chances are good. Come on Bulldog fans, if you have a ticket BE AT THE GAME this Saturday.

02/16/99 - Click here to read a great article about MSU's sensation freshman Jennifer Fambrough.

02/16/99 - The Clarion-Ledger wants you to vote for the college basketball team of the century in the state of Mississippi. Click here to go to the location where you can vote for your choice.

My 1st team consisted of:

Two that I hated to leave off the 1st team were MSU's Darryl Wilson and Ole Miss' John Stroud. Next to Jeff, Darryl was the best pure shooter that I have seen play college basketball in Mississippi. John was automatic inside the paint. Both players played with a great deal of heart.

02/15/99 - From The Clarion-Ledger:

02/15/99 - Brian Johnson's ticket exchange page will not be updated for a while due to his mother having a very serious illness. He requests each of you pray for her.

02/15/99 - The Lady Bulldogs defeated Kentucky 83 to 78.

02/14/99 - Our Bulldogs got clobbered 82- 62 by the Arkansas Razorbacks yesterday. Here are the stats from CNN/SI: Click here

The Lady Bulldogs take on Kentucky at 2 p.m. today.

02/13/99 - Click here to go to the Jefferson Pilot Sports webpage. Click here to see what television channels today's MSU/ARK game will be shown on.

02/13/99 - I know it's not a basketball post but it is well written, very informative and our Bulldogs won, so here it is (thanks to Maroon Blood for this outstanding article):

"Mark it on your calendar. On Thursday night at 10:35 pm, February 12, 1999, freshman MSU tennis player David Ruiz was the biggest hero donning the Maroon and White. In one of the most exciting athletic events I have ever witnessed, Ruiz defeated Stepping Stone U's Vikrant Chada 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 as the Bulldogs took home the the Mississippi Cup at River Hills Country Club with a 4-3 classic win over the arch-rival Confederates before a rowdy sellout crowd in Jackson. After winning the doubles to take a 1-0 lead, our No. 1 singles player, Marco Baron, went down with an injury. Coach Andy Jackson had to shake up his lineup. Matthieu Ballay upset the Confed's No. 1 player James Shortall and the tennis Bullies went on to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the match. Stepping Stone U battled back to tie the score at 3-3. This set the stage for a late night showdown on Court 3 between No. 6 Ruiz and No. 5 Chada for the overall match. The young Ruiz hung in there like a true champ despite being totally ridiculed by obnoxious Confederate fans. In the third set, he was up 3-0. Things seemed sweet for the Dawgs. The crowd was hinging on every point. Chada fought back to knot the set at 3-3. The place was rocking! I had no idea tennis could be so intense. The score went to 4-4 in the third. This is when Ruiz showed me what few athletes have: determination, guts, true grit. Serving and down in the crucial 9th game of the set and being totally hounded by some of the most obnoxious Confederate fans I have ever seen, the young freshman dug deep and battled back in cool fashion to take game 9 and game 10 (6-4) for the match victory. We erupted into a massive celebration. The Confeds dejectedly headed towards the exits as the Tennis Dawgs proudly hoisted the Mississippi Cup high in the sky. I literally had chills! It's difficult to describe. We should all be very proud of our tennis team. They are more than exciting to watch. I never thought I'd say this, but this match was more exciting than any basketball game I have seen in the last few years. If you ever get a chance to catch the annual Mississippi Cup at River Hills or any match by our incredible tennis team, you won't regret it. It's awesome! And if you ever see David Ruiz, shake his hand. He whipped the Confeds for us in dramatic fashion! Hail State!"

02/12/99 - The Lady Bulldogs put the hurt to the Lady Rebels last night with a 69 to 55 victory. The men's tennis team defeated the Rebels 4 to 3.

BTW, within a week or so I am planning on adding another skuttle-butt which will cover all the other sports at MSU.

02/12/99 - One of you had the chance to see MSU 6-11 signee Raynell Brewer recently. Here is what he said about him:

"He made 9 of 10 free throws, loves to run the floor, and not only thinks like a guard, but actually handled the ball like one. Rick has this team posed to make a run for the next 3-4 years. Watch out SEC."

02/11/99 - MSU, now 17-8 overall and 7-5 in the SEC, defeated Vanderbilt 67 to 62 behind the excellent play of freshman Michael Gholar (8 pts, 3 rebounds, 18 minutes of playing time), sophomore Tang Hamilton (13 pts, 9 rebounds, 36 minutes), junior Todd Myles (9 pts, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 22 minutes) and senior Detrick White (13 pts, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, 40 minutes).

5,732 Bulldogs fans were in attendance, including several from Birmingham, AL., Ripley, Jackson, Clarksdale, Batesville and Greenville, Ms. That shows true Bulldog dedication to drive that far on a Wednesday night to see our Bulldogs play.

The Bulldogs, winners of four in a row in the SEC and in second place in the SEC West along with Ole Miss, will go to Arkansas this Saturday for a 3:05 p.m. game with the Razorbacks.

Don't forget, the Lady Bulldogs play Ole Miss at the Hump tonight. All children under 18 are admitted free with a paid adult. Quite a few special things are planned so come on out and help break last year's number of 1,178 fans. More info can be found by clicking here.

02/10/99 - MSU vs Vanderbilt: 7 p.m. at the Hump. Be There!

02/10/99 - Just got my latest issue of Recruiting USA. MSU's basketball class was rated 8th in the country. Other SEC classes ranked in the top 25 were Kentucky (#2), Florida (#13), and Alabama (#16).

If you are interested in subscribing, you can contact them at http://www.recruitingusa.com. Great publication and website!

If you have any Ole Miss / MSU tickets for sell, Luke Tentoni is interested in buying them. His email address is LTentoni@southernco.com.

02/10/99 - There is supposed to be a top-notch girls basketball prospect playing at Meridian HS. Does anyone know anything about her? BTW, she is a junior.

02/09/99 - MSU's very own Detrick White was selected SEC Player of the Week. Congrats, Detrick.

Hope all of you are planning on making this Wednesday's game against Vanderbilt. This team deserves your support. Time to Rock the Hump, folks!

02/08/99 - A few more tidbits of info from the Tennessee game Saturday night. Our four freshmen played a total of 57 minutes, the four seniors played 67. The two MSU sophomores played 46 minutes. The freshmen and sophomores played 103 minutes (51.5% of the total), scored 51 points (58%) and pulled down 23 rebounds (52%).

02/07/99 - One came away with a victory, one didn't. The Lady Bulldog were defeated by the Tennessee Lady Volunteers 94 to 53. Sorry, no stats were available.

On a more happy note, the men's team defeated the Tennessee men's team 88 to 82. The victory by the Bulldogs was the first loss at home for the talented Tennessee team in 17 games, going back to last season. Did you also know that Tennessee had won 6 of 8 conference games prior to the game last night? MSU was led in scoring by rising sophomore Tang Hamilton with 27 points. Other Bulldogs in double figures were Todd Myles (11 pts), Detrick White (16 pts) and high-flying freshman Michael Gholar (10 pts). The Bulldogs shot 57% from the field (29-51), 76% from free throw range (26-36) and 46% from three-point range. The Volunteers were shooting 49% from the field at home but our Bulldogs held them to 34% last night. BTW, the Bulldog freshmen and sophomores scored 58% of the Bulldog points. Enough from me. Here is what a couple of Bulldog fans who were at the game had to say.

FAN ONE: "I drove up to the game tonight from Chattanooga. Wow, what a big time effort by our boys!! They really came to play and kept the big crowd out of the game. My guess is there were only 20 - 30 Dawg fans in attendance, but they were all glad they were there. The young players continue to impress. Tang Hamilton showed the high flying athletic ability that will make him an SEC and national star. As Dicky V. would say this guy is a high riser, elevator man, baby ! Robert Jackson is a hoss, an absolute intimidator in the low post. He and Ty were challenging shots all night long. Todd Myles played great at the point. He broke through the double teams several times to find the open man. He also played great D on the smaller Tony Harris. D. White also had a great game. The team just flat out beat UT in every phase of the game tonight. I am very impressed and encouraged by this young team. They played with a lot of confidence.

"After the game, we hung around for about 45 minutes. My wife's family are all very big UT fans. While they hob nobbed with UT Athletic Department staffers, I talked to some of the State players and assistant coaches as they were walking out to the bus. Every player I talked to seemed to genuinely appreciate the support from a State fan among the Big Orange. I was very impressed with how nice they all were. I got to talk to Tyrus Boswell for a few minutes. What a nice young man! He told me the team is playing with a lot of confidence and they have their sights set on the big dance. He also mentioned that the difference in their improved play has been the up-tempo style of play and shaking up the lineup to get the young guys more PT. I also spoke to TJ Billups, Oral Roberts, and Todd Myles. I came away very impressed with these young men. The are fine ambassadors for Mississippi State. I mean to tell you, the future is very bright for this group of Bulldogs! Hail State!"

FAN TWO: "The only time I saw this year's team play was on TV against LSU. I was really worried about the team. This couldn't have been the same team. They were fantastic! BTW, I am not just a casual fan....I have watched TN stars C.J. Black, Vincent Y., and Del Baker play for several years. I watched Vincent develop since Jr. High!

"Overall, the assist stat tells the story: MSU 19; TN 8. Our guys were alert, looking for one another, and hitting the open man. Very unselfish. Tennessee was sleepwalking. We had a 20-21 point lead mid-way through the second half. I told my wife - we will see what kind of poise our young players have. Bottom line - they played with great poise! At about the 8 minute mark, the officials decided that Tn would win. They made one ridiculous call after another and put TN at the free throw line until they got them back in the game. Our guys didn't wilt under the pressure.

"Todd Myles was fantastic. Robert Jackson was very impressive - especially in the first half when Tyrone was on the bench after 2 quick fouls. Marckell is the real deal. D. White seems to play much better when Todd is in there handling the ball. Our guys looked quick and alert. Tennessee's squad of HS All-American's looked lost most of the game. Credit our coaching staff and players. If not for the disgusting officiating, we were looking at a major blowout on the road in a very hostile environment. I believe this game could have secured some type of post season play for the Bulldogs. GO STATE!"

02/07/99 - According to a Picayune source of mine, four different NBA scouts have watched MSU signee Jonathan Bender play since Christmas. My source talked to one of these scouts and asked him what impressed him the most about Jonathan. The scout told him he had never seen a kid as tall and young as Bender who could handle the ball that well.

My source also told me Picayune's senior guard Ricky Bennett has really improved his game and is being heavily recruited by Wyoming.

BTW, did you know that a long time Mississippi basketball coach, now retired, said Jonathan Bender is the best player he has ever seen play in Mississippi high school basketball? This coach saw the former Chris Jackson (the best until now) play many times and said Bender is better than Jackson because he can play on both ends of the court.

02/06/99 - The men and women's basketball teams play at Tennessee today. Sharon Fanning's Lady Bulldogs play at 12 p.m. and Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs play at 6:30 p.m.

02/04/99 - Much improved MSU, now 15-8, 5-5 in the SEC, defeated Alabama 79-50. MSU was led in scoring by senior Detrick White with 18 points. Detrick also played the most minutes of any player with 31. In fact, no other player played more than 22 minutes. Coach Stansbury is building great depth with the freshmen coming off the bench. Freshmen Marckell Patterson (a starter) and Robert Jackson continue to show star qualities. Marckell passed the ball very well and played tough defense during his 21 minutes of playing time. Robert, showing great effort, scored 7 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in just 13 minutes. Folks, this kid is going to be special. He plays with such great intensity. Freshmen Michael Gholar and Tyrus Boswell played 11 minutes and 9 minutes. Junior point guard Todd Myles continued to show great leadership ability while scoring 7 points (3 for 3 from the field), dishing out 4 assists and turning the ball over 1 time. Tyrone Washington, who scored 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, continues to play with great effort. There were 6,151 in attendance. BTW, I have a gripe with some of you. Why leave the game with 4:30 to go in the game. You have been wanting a game like this and once you get it, you leave! Shame on you.

P.S. Several members of the softball team performed at halftime. Make plans on attending their first home game which is February 19th at 1:30 p.m. In fact they play a doubleheader that day. The first game is against Northwestern State, the second one, which starts at 3:30, is against Evansville. Support your softball team.

02/04/99 - Advertisement: Check out Tradewind, Inc's website if you are looking for a whirlpool. They make one of the finest on the market. Tell them Gene sent you.

02/03/99 - Here is a portion of an email I received last night. I thought you guys would enjoy reading it:

I wanted to share some things I heard about Kell Patterson from someone who knows his family well. He comes from a very good family. They are also all very close. His sister quit her job up north to move back home so she could watch her brother play for the next four years. She felt she would be missing out on her family by not being able to go to see Kell play at MSU. Also, the people at Eupora who watched him play in high school said one of the most amazing things about watching him play was not his shooting but his "no look" passes. They said he would make these remarkable passes in every game in high school. Many from Eupora would actually follow the team no matter where they played just to see Marckell play. They also told me that watching him play this past Saturday against Florida, reminded them of the player that they followed in high school because of his slam dunk and a couple of passes he made. Time and time again I have also heard what a fine young man he is. We are very lucky to have him at MSU. Also, there was never any doubt about where he wanted to play college basketball. He has alway been a big fan of MSU. Well, anyway just wanted to share this with you. I have told you other stories about Ty and Oral. Apparently, we have some very fine young men in our program. I am very proud to call them Bulldogs!!

If you want to see Marckell and the other Bulldogs, be at the game tonight at 7 p.m.

02/03/99 - Did you know Lady Bulldog Jennifer Fambrough was named SEC Player of the Week for her efforts last week? Congrats Jennifer. P.S. And she is only a freshman.

02/03/99 - From someone who saw Provine HS play over the Christmas holidays:

"Just a quick note on Justin Reed. I was at the Columbus Basketball Tourney over the Christmas Holidays. No doubt Provine has several D-I prospects including Aaron Harper and others but, as to my opinion and the guys with me that day, Reed looked like the more awesome prospect -- at least for the game against Gentry. Reed had great size, speed, agility, moves, and basketball sense. He looks like a National 25 prospect to me."

02/01/99 - MSU, now 12-7 overall and 4-5 in the SEC, defeated the 4th ranked Georgia Bulldogs, now 18-3 overall and 6-3 in the SEC, 78 to 72. MSU was led in scoring by freshman Jennifer Fambrough with 22 points (9-15 FG, 4 of 4 FT). Jennifer, along with Nitra Perry, lead the team in rebounds with 10. Other players in double digits in scoring were Nitra Perry (17 points), LaToya Graham (13 points), and Meadow Overstreet (13 points). Angela Harris led the team in assists with 8.

02/01/99 - In the past few days, I talked to a very good friend of the Justin Reed family who told me MSU definitely has made a lot of progress with Justin.

I was also told by another source that, according to another member of the Reed family, new Provine head basketball coach Ernie Watson has really stressed academics since being hired by Provine and now has the Provine players on the right track academically. He will not let athletics get in the way of what is most important -- academics.

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