The Mississippi State University women’s basketball team’s class for 2013-14 is shaping up quite nicely.
On the heels of getting a verbal commitment from Ketara Chapel, a 6-foot-1 forward from Temple, Texas, in July, coach Vic Schaefer and his staff added to the list Aug. 26 when Dominique Dillingham, a 5-9 guard from Spring, Tex., gave her verbal commitment to play for the Lady Bulldogs.
“It was a pretty big deal,” said Dillingham, who plays basketball at Klein Collins High School and for the Cy-Fair Shock Nike Elite Amateur Athletic Union basketball team. “I am glad I got it out of the way before school started. Now I can just go out and play my senior year without any stress.”
Dillingham visited Starkville on Aug. 24 and came away impressed with the campus, the athletic facilities, the players, and the coaches. She said she had a feeling when she left the campus Aug. 25 that MSU was the place for her. She took the rest of that day to consider her decision before she made up her mind the next day. She chose MSU over the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Winthrop, Georgia State, and Florida Atlantic. She said Louisiana-Lafayette was the only other school she visited.
Dillingham said MSU wasn’t recruiting her before Schaefer replaced Sharon Fanning-Otis as head coach in March. She said Schaefer had watched her play in part because his daughter, Blair Nicole, who will play basketball this season at Starkville High, plays on a younger age group team in the Cy-Fair AAU organization.
Schaefer can’t comment about Dillingham or any of the verbal commitments until they sign a National Letter of Intent. Dillingham said she will sign that letter in November. She also said she hopes to return to Starkville in October to be part of Maroon Madness to kick off the basketball seasons at MSU.
Dan Olson, a former college basketball coach and longtime scout, evaluates players for his recruiting service, Dan Olson’s Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. Although Olson doesn’t have Dillingham rated, he feels she will fit right in with Schaefer’s style of play.
“She is deceptively quick and is an agile perimeter threat who rebounds,” Olson said. “She competes on the glass and elevates on the mid-range game to the arc. She is an interior passer and is a glue player.”
When asked to describe how she plays, one of the first words Dillingham used was “defense.” That fits right in with the philosophy of Schaefer, who earned the nickname “Secretary of Defense” for his work as Gary Blair at the University of Arkansas and at Texas A&M University. Schaefer played an integral role in helping Texas A&M, which joined the Southeastern Conference this year, win the national championship in women’s basketball in 2011.
“I like to rebound a lot and am really aggressive when playing defense,” Dillingham said. “I like to get after it. Whenever I am on offense and need to be aggressive, I will be aggressive.”
Dillingham said she likes to shoot the pull-up jump shot and that she might be considered a “pass-first guard as opposed to one who looks for her shot first. But she said defense is her strongest suit, which is why playing for Schaefer at MSU was such an easy fit.
“My defense helps me out a lot,” Dillingham said. “I can guard from a one (point guard) to a three (small forward). I am a strong defender and my body frame is built for my size, and I can go against bigger people.
“Defense is my favorite, and that is why I am being recruited so heavily. Coach Schaefer is big on defense, and I know I can bring that to the table. I think it is a perfect fit.”
Dillingham praised the work of all of the coaches on Schaefer’s staff for making her feel at home and convincing her MSU is the place for her. She echoed those thoughts when asked if she had heard any teammates or peers talk about Schaefer and the work he and his assistant coaches were doing to rebuild the program at MSU.
“I think they have everything they need to build the program,” Dillingham said. “The players are there and they respond well to the coaches and they have been working hard in workouts. Coach Schafer is bringing in a lot of good, new players. I think everybody will be up for the challenge of getting Mississippi State heading in the right direction.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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