STARKVILLE — New Mississippi State University men’s basketball coach Rick Ray intentionally mentioned Rodney Hood four times last week in his introductory speech.
Ray’s goal was to convince Hood he would be a major part of MSU’s future.
The future suddenly turned into the past late Sunday evening when it was announced Hood has left the program after one season.
CBSSports.com national reporter Jeff Goodman used anonymous sources to break the story Sunday night. MSU officials quickly confirmed the news minutes later.
“It was just a long, tough year for me,” Hood said in a statement. “Coach Ray will be a great asset to Mississippi State, and getting to know him last week made this decision even harder, but after much thought, I am going to ask for a release. I wish my teammates and the program nothing but the best.”
Ray downplayed Hood’s move, saying the decision “was made before” he was hired as the school’s 19th men’s basketball coach to replace Rick Stansbury, who retired after 14 seasons as head coach.
“We are disappointed in Rodney’s decision,” Ray said in a university release. “I was looking forward to getting a chance to develop and coach him. The Hoods were forthright and honest about where they were when I met with them, and I appreciate their honesty.”
Ray said last Monday in his first news conference he wanted to build his first team at MSU around Hood, who was named to the All Southeastern Conference freshman team, and he would do everything he could to help him develop into a standout.
“Rodney Hood is a guy who is very important to our program, but I don’t want to belittle the other guys,” Ray said. “I want Rodney Hood to be a guy that commands double teams. I want the other team to be focused on him so he can make the other guys better.”
A little more than a week after being hired, Ray must attempt to figure out how to transform a program that loses six of its top seven scorers from this past season (63.8 points per game) and to rebuild a team that figured to have the state’s 2011 Gatorade Player of the Year as its cornerstone.
“I look forward to putting together a team with the current members, rolling up our sleeves and recruiting new Bulldogs,” Ray said.
Hood, who played at Meridian High School, averaged 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds this past season. He suffered a deep bone bruise to his left knee in a 73-64 loss to the University of Kentucky on Feb. 21 in Starkville. Hood missed the next game against the University of Alabama and then didn’t play more than 21 minutes in the next three games. He had eight points in 45 minutes in a season-ending 101-96 double-overtime loss to the University of Massachusetts in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament on March 13.
In the university release, Ricky Hood, Rodney’s father, who also transferred from MSU to Murray State University more than 30 years ago, said his son made up his mind two months ago to transfer. He said the hiring of Ray had nothing to do with the decision.
“Rodney came home for a weekend with the family and after lots of talking he decided he wanted to ask for a release from his basketball scholarship at Mississippi State,” Ricky Hood said. “He said it’s been a long, hard and difficult year at Mississippi State, as far as basketball is concerned. He’s enjoyed the atmosphere and academic side of Mississippi State, but he didn’t know if he could be fair to coach Ray and be 100 percent committed.”
When contacted for comment, Stansbury declined to comment about whether he knew Hood intended to transfer after the season.
“As parents, we struggled with the decision because we wanted him to stay at Mississippi State,” Ricky Hood said. “It’s Rodney’s decision, and we want him to be happy. This decision is nothing coach Ray could have prevented. For Rodney, talk of transferring started two and half months ago. Right now, though, the situation is awkward, and we just feel it is time to move on.”
Seldom-used forward Roquez Johnson is the only player from MSU’s nationally ranked, five-man signing class in 2011 who remains on the roster. Hood’s absence leaves Ray with rising senior forward Wendell Lewis and rising junior guard Jalen Steele as the only returning players with significant experience. Latvian forward Kristers Zeidaks must sit out the first nine games next season due to an NCAA suspension for violating transfer rules. Former Noxubee County High School standout Shaun Smith played sparingly this past season due to a hip injury.
Hood is the fourth player to leave the team since Stansbury retired March 15. Junior forwards Renardo Sidney and Arnett Moultrie opted to declare for the NBA draft and a chance to play professional basketball, while freshman point guard DeVille Smith withdrew from school March 19. MSU also loses point guard Dee Bost and guard Brian Bryant.
“(The player attrition) should not hinder how you feel about the program,” Ray said April 2. “Those things will happen when there is a coaching change. I just need to make sure we don’t have more attrition.”
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