STARKVILLE –– In a rare sequence, the man that helped beat the Mississippi State men’s basketball team ended up joining them.
Memphis D.J. Jeffries officially announced his intention to play for the Bulldogs next season on his Twitter account Monday. He just completed his sophomore season, so he could have up to three years of eligibility remaining taking the NCAA blanket waiver for all winter athletes in 2020 into account.
“Let’s do it,” Jeffries wrote in a Twitter post featuring him wearing a MSU uniform.
Jeffries was a thorn in MSU’s side in the NIT championship game last month, scoring 15 points and blocking five shots against the Bulldogs. An Olive Branch graduate, Jeffries is also the teammate of current Bulldog Cameron Matthews.
Last season, the 6-foot-7 forward averaged nearly 10 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the Tigers while shooting 44 percent from the floor. With the addition of North Carolina transfer Garrison Brooks and the Southeastern Conference’s leading rebounder Tolu Smith expected to return, Jeffries figures to play the majority of his minutes at the three.
Should D.J. Stewart decide to withdraw from the NBA draft and return to school, the Bulldogs will have a starting five capable of averaging double figures a night.
That’s not even factoring in the possibility Abdul Ado could return to MSU for another year of eligibility and be the first post presence off the bench, and the additions of incoming freshmen KeyShawn Murphy, Alden Applewhite and Camryn Carter.
While the addition of Jeffries solidifies the core of the 2021-2022 roster, it still may not be the final addition, as the team could potentially add a point guard through the transfer portal.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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