STARKVILLE — The future is now for Rodney Hood.
With 12 days remaining until his college basketball debut, the anticipation continues to grow for the player many believe could be the first lottery pick in NBA draft since Rick Stansbury took over the Mississippi State men’s basketball program.
The hype doesn’t bother the 6-foot-8 wing player from Meridian High School. He simply flashes a smile with the understanding he’s counting the days with everybody else.
“When it comes to basketball, I don’t really get nervous (because) I love the game and I got veterans,” Hood said. “The pressure is on them. I’m ready for the competition, and this is what I dreamed about.”
While most freshmen in Stansbury’s system are allowed to go through a transition period to the ever-changing life of college basketball on and off the court, Stansbury suggested it’s likely Hood will be given the opportunity to showcase his skills in the starting lineup from day one.
“He has no cracks in his armor,” Stansbury said. “I love Rodney Hood for what he is and what he’ll become.”
Hood is the son of a high school principal (mother, Vicky) and the director of the Meridian Boys & Girls Club (father, Ricky). He also has had brothers play college basketball. His father played at MSU from 1978-80.
“It normally takes some time for some guys to have that it factor,” Stansbury said. “He’s got it from his upbringing. You don’t get young men consistently that come up from a mom and dad who have played college basketball and his brother and sisters played. He just gets it.”
Hood is the highest rated in-state talent to sign with MSU since Stansbury has roamed the Humphrey Coliseum sidelines as an assistant or as a head coach. Hood realizes the onus to realize that potential is on his 204-pound shoulders.
“He’s really ready, and he’s probably the most talented freshmen in a while,” senior point guard Dee Bost said. “He’s stronger than me, can do more things, and is probably better than I was as a freshman.”
Hood averaged 24.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while leading Meridian High to a Class 6A state championship. His efforts earned him 2011 Gatorade Mississippi Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors. He was a first-team All-State performer before signing a National Letter of Intent with MSU last fall in the early signing period
“Rodney is a guy that can do it all, but I think State is getting a bonified two-guard,” Meridian High coach Randy Bolden said. “He’s got an old-school game, and what separates him from every other good player is his efficiency offensively and his basketball intelligence. It’s funny because he’d had that basketball I.Q. since the ninth grade.”
Hood could have accepted a scholarship offer from Florida State, Louisville, Marquette, or Alabama after he watched the Bulldogs struggle last season with a number of issues on and off the court. He was watching on television when Renardo Sidney and Elgin Bailey got into a fight in Hawaii. That incident became a topic of national discussion, but Hood’s commitment to MSU didn’t waver.
“I knew them before all that went down and what type of guys these people are so there was no judgment on it,” Hood said. “It was a bad incident and bad season. We need to move on from it, and we’re getting ready to make a deep run.”
Hood’s education began in the summer on MSU’s European tour of The Netherlands, Belgium, and France. He averaged 11 points per game in the five-game exhibition stretch in August, and made an impression by leading the team in scoring (15 points) in his first game in a MSU jersey against the split Netherlands National Team.
“I had to learn how physical the game really is,” Hood said. “I learned that firsthand overseas, and I’m glad we had this opportunity to do it. I had to learn little things on how to box out, guard off screens, and it made me a better player mentally.”
Stansbury said Hood gives the Bulldogs a wing player who can get to the rim and to the free-throw line more than in previous campaigns.
“I had one guy (last year) that could break you down off that dribble and get in the paint,” Stansbury said. “It think the most noticeable thing after scrimmages is I have four guys (Hood, Bost, senior guard Brian Bryant, and freshman point guard DeVille Smith) that can really break people down off that bounce.”
Hood is part of a recruiting class most of the recruiting services have rated in the top 25. Smith, a four-star point guard from Jackson, and forward Roquez Johnson from Montgomery, Ala., figure to add valuable depth this season. While Hood and Smith were Amateur Athletic Union teammates on the MBA Hoops squad, all three freshmen competed this summer in the Mississippi/Alabama High School All-Star game in Pelham, Ala.
“Every day we work out is when we talk to each other because we’re trying to all make it,” Smith said. “It’s as simple as that. We’re just trying to make it.”
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