STARKVILLE — An opportunity has surfaced on the Mississippi State men’s basketball team.
MSU coach Ben Howland announced Monday that sophomore guard/forward Quinndary Weatherspoon will miss the remainder of the season due to a possible tear of the Scapholunate ligament in his left wrist. In four games, the Canton native led the Bulldogs in scoring (18.8 points per game). Howland said Weatherspoon hopes to have surgery next Wednesday and be
sidelined for six months. Howland said Weatherspoon will be able to seek a medical redshirt.
Although Howland will miss Weatherspoon and he feels awful for his young player, he will look for young players to try to fill the void starting at 7 p.m. Friday (SEC Network+) when MSU (3-1) plays host to Lehigh (1-2) at Humphrey Coliseum.
“Guys now have to step up and take advantage of the opportunity that’s going to come their way,” Howland said. “There’s going to be more of it to come around with one less player to be out there.”
Weatherspoon averaged 12 points and 4.7 rebounds last season and was named to the Freshman All-Southeastern Conference team. He was a preseason All-SEC selection, but Howland will have to find a way to keep his team competing without their best player.
“It takes away 34 minutes a game, 20 points per game and our best perimeter defender,” Howland said. “It just opens up more opportunities for others.”
Freshman guard and Starkville native Tyson Carter is now MSU’s leading scorer (12.3 ppg). Senior point guard I.J. Ready is averaging 12 ppg., while sophomore forward Aric Holman is averaging 11.8.
Carter, Ready, Holman, and freshman guard Mario Kegler have started all four games. Kegler is averaging 8.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
“I think we’re going to have to start using Mario there,” Howland said. “It’s going to end up giving more opportunities to everybody, including Joe Strugg. He’s going to end up playing some minutes. Everybody else’s minutes go up.”
Strugg, a redshirt freshman, was scoreless in two minutes against Central Florida on Nov. 17.
Howland gave his team Monday off and hadn’t talked to his players about Weatherspoon before he addressed the local media Tuesday afternoon. He said they were going to have a short practice and watch film to prepare for Lehigh.
Ready said it hurt him to hear the news about Weatherspoon. He said he has talked to Weatherspoon on the phone. Although he wanted to play with Weatherspoon in his final year, Ready said the team has to move on.
Ready feels like Kegler and Carter have the potential to be leaders, especially Kegler.
“Just his competitive fire and his communication,” Ready said. “Mario knows what he’s doing and he talks a lot at practice. Leaders have to be able to talk, and he’s the next one that talks and communicates throughout the practice.”
As the point guard and lone senior, Ready said it is up to him to be the leader on the court. He said he will control the tempo and make sure the flow of the offense is right.
From a production standpoint, Ready said he has to step up.
“It’s hard to make up what Q brought to us,” Ready said. “He brought rebounding, scoring, and toughness. Everybody has to step up. Me being a senior and me being here, I think I have to step up even more and raise my level of play even more.”
Howland hopes sophomore guard Xavian Stapleton will make his MSU debut in December. Stapleton had to sit out last season after transferring in from Louisiana Tech. He didn’t get to practice with MSU last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his left knee last August. He suffered the same injury in March. Howland said they are going to be patient with Stapleton and not rush him.
Freshman forward Abdul Ado was ruled academically ineligible last week due to a discrepancy in his transcript from Nigeria. He will be allowed to practice if he passes nine hours this semester. MSU’s final exams are Dec. 5-9.
“It hurts us not to have enough guys out there to practice that can really keep the level of competition up,” Howland said. “It will be nice for our team when Abdul’s able to start practicing again.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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