“I hope and pray for next year that our girls get that together and are a two-half team because if they can do that, they can beat anyone. They can beat Duke and Tennessee and all those people.”
— Former Mississippi State center Martha Alwal following the team’s 64-56 loss to Duke last season in the second round of the NCAA tournament
STARKVILLE — Martha Alwal had no idea what the Mississippi State women’s basketball team could accomplish.
Lured to Starkville by former coach Sharon Fanning-Otis, Alwal was projected to be a fixture for the Bulldogs in the paint. When Fanning-Otis retired, new MSU coach Vic Schaefer inherited a program that would see Alwal, Kendra Grant, and Jerica James mature to become leaders.
The development of Alwal, Grant, and James helped Schaefer transform the Bulldogs from a team that went 13-17 in his first season to a 22-win squad in the second season to a then-program record 27-win campaign last season.
But the development of Alwal, Grant, and James was only one piece to the puzzle. When Schaefer was hired in March 2012, he immediately hit the recruiting trail and began assembling the parts he knew he needed to make the Bulldogs into a contender. The success he and his staff had in signing Savannah Carter, Ketara Chapel, Dominique Dillingham, Chinwe Okorie, Kiki Patterson, Breanna Richardson, and Jazmine Spears in their initial class helped lay the foundation for everything that has followed.
Four years later, MSU is rubbing elbows with royalty — or, in this case, the sport’s gold standard. At 10:30 a.m. Saturday (ESPN), No. 5 seed MSU (28-7) will take on No. 1 seed and three-time reigning national champion Connecticut in the Sweet 16 at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Carter, a transfer from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas, best summed up MSU’s progression in four short years last season prior to her last home game at Humphrey Coliseum.
“I didn’t start here with them, but it sure feels like I have been there with them all four years,” Carter said. “Like the song (by Drake), ‘Started from the bottom,’ we really did start from the bottom together, and we went from not being heard of to the world knowing who we are.”
These days, the roots to the Bulldogs’ first Sweet 16 appearance since the 2009-10 season, and first meeting against the 10-time national champions, can be traced back to the arrival of the a recruiting class that Dan Olson, of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and espnW’s HoopGurlz, ranked No. 35 in the nation. Spears didn’t qualify academically and spent two years at Trinity Valley C.C. before transferring to MSU. Patterson transferred from MSU and recently finished her sophomore season at East Mississippi C.C. in Scooba.
Schaefer and his staff built on that class with another nationally ranked group that included the state of Mississippi’s all-time leading prep basketball scorer Victoria Vivians. Kayla Nevitt, Blair Schaefer, the daughter of Vic Schaefer, and Morgan William joined Vivians in a class that has helped MSU establish itself as a program in the top 15 and one that has made back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament.
“I think early, when we were recruiting that first class, I think it was that knowing that where we had been, the success that we had, and believing and trusting in a vision,” Schaefer said. “I think that is what we do. Once you bring it to fruition, I think it really gives you credibility, and it gives your kids credibility, too.”
The fact the Schaefer and Johnnie Harris were coaches on Gary Blair’s staff at Texas A&M that won a national title in 2011 helped provide legitimacy to their quest to build a winner at MSU. Former Aggie Maryann Baker, who was a member of that national championship team joined Schaefer and Harris in Starkville. Skylar Collins, another former Texas A&M national titlist, later joined MSU’s staff, too.
Schaefer said the addition of the first recruiting class did establish a foundation he could build on because it helped transform the Bulldogs’ identity.
“It changed the make-up of our team as far as the physical make-up,” Schaefer said. “Chinwe and Bre with the SEC bodies. Ketara, long athletic, slender, can run. Dominique, that physical, tough, aggressive kid that you desperately needed to change a culture and bring that toughness and competitive fire that you were really lacking.
“There is no question that class was critical. We had to sign them before they ever saw us play because if they saw us play they might not have come.”
Schaefer said the ability to land Vivians, who was being recruited by Louisville, Kentucky, and Florida, was crucial because it showed the Bulldogs could protect their borders and that the state’s best players believed in what was being built in Starkville.
Schaefer said it always helps that “great players want to play with great players.” He credited Vivians with seeing what was being built in Starkville. It included a 22-win season and a trip to the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament in year two.
As a freshman, Vivians led MSU in scoring and earned a spot on the Southeastern Conference’s All-Freshman team. She played an integral role in helping the Bulldogs win a program-record 11 SEC regular-season games and a then-single-season record 27 games.
“Smart players realize they can’t do it by themselves,” Schaefer said. “It just gives you credibility to the rest of the country that hey, the all-time leading scorer in the history of girls high school basketball plays at Mississippi State. That speaks volumes to what we’re doing and the trust factor and believing in a vision.
“They key is now we have stacked recruiting classes back-to-back-to back with some really good players. That is how you do it. You can’t go have a good class and go three years and have a good class and go another three or four years. You’re going to go up and down (moving his hand to mimic the movement of a roller coaster). If we are going to be what we want to be, which is a top-10, top-15 program, you have to stack recruiting classes. I think we have done that in our recruiting, and have continued to do that.”
MSU will add Jacaira “Iggy” Allen, the nation’s No. 77 recruit, according to espnW/HoopGurlz, next season. It also has received a verbal commitment from Olive Branch junior guard Myah Taylor for the following season. Taylor’s verbal pledge is non-binding, but her arrival would allow the Bulldogs to continue a trend of landing the state’s top players.
While signing the best player in a talent-rich state is vital, Schaefer also believes the Bulldogs have been able to build national recognition that enables them to compete for the top players in the country.
“I don’t think there is any doubt,” Schaefer said. “I think we can walk into the gym in the country and people know my staff. I think that is the first piece. They respect the fact that there is a Sweet 16 team, a top-10, top-12 team in our gym.”
More and more of those coaches and players in the state of Mississippi likely will be coming out to the Hump. Last weekend, MSU finished third in attendance of all of the 16 host schools for the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. Next season, MSU could be on pace to crack 100,000 for total attendance for the first time in program history. That would be another major accomplishment for Schaefer, who has helped build championship programs at Arkansas and Texas A&M. He has been around long enough to remember when Storrs, Connecticut, the home of the Huskies, wasn’t a destination for the nation’s top girls basketball players. You only need to look back to see how players like Kerry Bascom, Kris Lamb, Laura Lishness, Debbie Baer, and Wendy Davis helped set the stage for the arrival of Rebecca Lobo by leading the Huskies to their first Final Four in 1991.
Twenty-five years later, UConn has replaced Tennessee as the sport’s dominant program. It enters its game against MSU riding a 71-game winning streak.
Schaefer doesn’t know if MSU will get to that point, but he knows the Bulldogs are following a similar construction plan.
“When you first get here, it is hard to get anybody interested, a five- or a four-star interested,” Schaefer said, “so you have to build a program based on your philosophy. We built those first couple of years based around our philosophy, which was defense. Defense gave us a chance to win. That is what allowed us to beat No. 11 Georgia in our first year. It is what allowed us to win 22 ballgames and play three rounds into the WNIT. That was the foundation. You get players who fit your philosophy and then after that when you start winning, you can get in on the some of the other kids who might be a little more well-rounded skill wise. You get those kids who fit your philosophy and your personality; those kids are going to work. You’re going to develop those kids. They’re going to expand their skill set and do some things that maybe somebody didn’t see in them.”
Dillingham, a 5-foot-9 guard from Spring, Texas, epitomizes the Bulldogs grit and determination. She isn’t the biggest, strongest, fastest, or quickest player, but her heart doesn’t allow her to stop, and it drives the Bulldogs to overcome the odds, just like they did when they lost a 13-point lead against Michigan State on Sunday, weathered the storm of a 20-0 run, and rallied from a seven-point deficit to win 74-72.
“I feel like we have started something, but every recruiting class that has came here has helped and has brought something else to the table,” Dillingham said. “It started with us, but the other classes have brought so much more to the table.”
Dillingham is looking forward to the chance to showcase MSU’s defense and its toughness. She said the game will be a great barometer and will give the team valuable lessons it can take and build on next season.
William, the team’s 5-5 sophomore guard, already has seen the Bulldogs implement lessons learned this season. The biggest ones are the program’s first two victories in series history against Tennessee. The second led to the program’s second trip to the SEC tournament championship game.
On Saturday, MSU will relish the chance to play UConn for the first time to show how far it has come in a short amount of time.
“I am excited,” William said. “Last year playing Tennessee, I was nervous. This year, the second year, I like the bright lights, going out there playing against the best. I feel like if I go out there and play the best I can my teammates will follow behind me and we will play good.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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