STARKVILLE — Nikki McCray-Penson is used to rebuilding jobs.
When she joined Dawn Staley at South Carolina ahead of the 2008 season, the Gamecocks had been to just two Sweet 16s since 1990. Over the nine years they spent together in Columbia, Staley and McCray-Penson brought four SEC regular season championships, three conference tournament titles and the 2017 national title.
Though not quite to the same heights, McCray-Penson also bolstered an Old Dominion program that boasts a robust history but had been lacking for some time. Under longtime coach Wendy Larry, the Monarchs reached seven Sweet 16s and the 1997 national championship game before the team fell off. Despite that, if not for the outbreak of COVID-19, McCray-Penson was slated to guide ODU to its first NCAA tournament since 2008 and complete a turnaround that saw her win eight games her inaugural year in Norfolk to 24 this past season — earning herself Conference USA coach of the year honors.
But as McCray-Penson takes the reins from Vic Schaefer in Starkville, the Bulldogs are not a program in need of a rebuild. Rather, it’s whether they’re built to last that remains the largest question around the program.
“This is a national brand with incredible people, a storied tradition and an outstanding community that is second to none,” McCray-Penson said in a news release Saturday. “I am confident that my experiences as a coach and player have prepared me for this, and I will pour everything I have into our student-athletes and program.”
While there were initially concerns that MSU might undergo a staunch roster overturn should administrators not hire former associate head coach Johnnie Harris, those issues were seemingly quelled in recent days, as numerous members of this year’s squad tweeted excitement at McCray-Penson’s hiring.
“We locked in … can’t wait to be back in the hump again #HailState,” freshman guard Aliyah Matharu tweeted Monday.
“It’s HAIL STATE til the day I die babyyy,” senior guard Andra Espinoza-Hunter wrote Sunday.
Most notably, it was the backing of all-SEC second-team honorees Rickea Jackson and Jessika Carter that stands to be the most important coup of all.
Jackson should enter next season on the shortlist for SEC and national player of the year honors after she averaged 15.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season — including six 20-point games in her final 12 contests. A future WNBA-type talent, Jackson will be expected to take another step forward in her sophomore campaign.
Carter’s buy-in is also a welcome addition after she watched her minutes increase from 10.8 to 28.8 per game from her freshman to sophomore season. Granted, MSU could stand to see her time on the floor decrease slightly with another post presence, but the Georgia product was a revelation of sorts as she averaged 13 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in a starring role this past year.
Other names that could help McCray compete immediately include Matharu and fellow rising-sophomore JaMya Mingo-Young. Matharu is the likeliest breakout candidate of MSU’s returners given her knack for finding a bucket. Twice earning SEC freshman of the week honors, she averaged 15.4 points per game In the Bulldogs’ final five games of the year — most notably her 17-point outburst against Staley’s No. 1-ranked South Carolina squad in the SEC tournament final.
Mingo-Young should factor in heavily, as she proved to be a rough and rugged defender in her first season and offered some high-end upside on the offensive end that starting point guard Myah Taylor lacks.
MSU also stands to benefit from the additions of incoming freshmen Madison Hayes and Deyona Gaston and junior Michigan State transfer Sidney Cooks. Hayes became the second McDonald’s All-American to sign with the Bulldogs out of high school this year and is a dynamic scorer off the wing in the same way Jackson has proved herself, while Gaston could see some minutes in the post.
As for Cooks, she too was a McDonald’s All-American coming out of Kenosha, Wisconsin, and offers a unique ability to stretch the floor despite her 6-foot-4-inch frame.
Of course, some attrition was expected. Since Schaefer took the job at Texas, freshman guard Jayla Hemingway committed to continue her career at West Virginia, while junior forward Chloe Bibby announced her intention to enter the transfer portal April 6.
That said, expect a few other players to join the fold — whether by transfer or signing — ahead of next year as MSU boasts four open scholarships heading into the offseason.
At present, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 3 in ESPN’s way-too-early top 25 poll for next season. And while the rankings were released prior to Schaefer’s departure and McCray-Penson’s hiring, the talent that remains and could arrive in Starkville should be plenty capable of keeping the Bulldogs among the nation’s elite despite the turnover — especially given their new head coach’s penchant for success at her previous stops.
“Nikki has achieved success at every step of her career, both as a coach and player,” MSU Athletic Director John Cohen said in a news release Saturday. “She is a proven winner who will lead one of the best women’s basketball programs in the nation. We are excited to welcome Nikki and her family to Starkville and are thrilled that she will lead us into the next chapter of Mississippi State women’s basketball.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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