All the Mississippi University for Women men’s basketball team wants for Christmas is a win. And at 0-9, there’s no doubt the Owls need one.
But with senior guard Terryonte Thomas and junior forwards Thomas Wright and Tanner Collins becoming eligible recently, The W program opened some presents a bit early.
The trio were not able to play for three very different reasons, explained Owls coach Dean Burrows.
“With Terryonte, we had to get the NCAA clearance because he was coming from a Division I school to a Division III school, and there are certain requirements,” he said. Thomas last played at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. “We sent in the waiver, it came back not in his favor, we appealed that, and the NCAA granted the appeal.”
Wright, meanwhile, didn’t have any hurdles to clear; he just had to get back in school.
“With Thomas, he had graduated from his junior college last spring and wasn’t anywhere this fall, just working,” Burrows said. “So once the semester was over, he was eligible because he’s registered here for next semester.”
Collins, meanwhile, met an academic bump in the road.
“Tanner came in and met with me on Day 1 when I was on the job, sat down and told me about his academic slip-up last semester, and I looked him in the eye and told him my story about when I was in college,” Burrows said. “Now I wasn’t an athlete, but we learn from things, and he’s really done a great job at being ready, staying ready, doing what he could on his own to where he could be eligible to practice.”
Thomas has made the most obvious impact. The Columbus native has started both games he has played, scoring 59 points and shooting better than 50 percent from the field and from 3-point range. He’s also averaging 7 rebounds per game.
“Terryonte is an incredible story,” Burrows said. “Local kid, went JUCO, went D-I, then some stuff that happened brought him back home. For us, he’s everything: his energy, his basketball IQ. He’s like having another assistant. I can’t say enough about that kid.
“I’ve coached a lot of guys who played Division I, I’ve had All-Americans, guys in the G League … he’s just as good as a lot of those guys. He’s a special talent.”
And he’s enjoying playing in his hometown.
“It’s really cool, really fun,” Thomas said. “All of my family members get to see me play. When I was in Texas my family didn’t get to see me play. It’s fun to have my family here, my friends, and to get that support.
“I feel like I’m fitting in pretty well. All of my teammates have welcomed me with open arms. They know what I’ve brought to the team, and they’re just letting me play freely. They know when I drive that I’m a willing passer and have belief in them to knock down the open shot, or when their big man helps I can dump it off to our big, and he can lay it up. I’ve got trust in them, and they’ve got trust in me.”
Wright also has played in two games, scoring 10 points in a 74-63 loss to Blue Mountain and 14 in a 74-66 loss to Bethel.
“Thomas Wright, another great story,” Burrows said. “Being here as my first ‘official’ recruit I brought in. For me, it was important to get the right person, and I think we got him. Thomas is a great teammate, has great footwork for a guy who’s 6-3, 6-4 and 230. … He’s just a workhorse.”
Wright is very happy with the culture of the basketball team, something very important to Burrows.
“It’s the brotherhood, everybody works together, everybody encourages each other,” Wright said. “I like that.”
Collins, the only one of the three who started college at The W, is candid about his academic issues but showing few signs of lingering effects. He came off the bench in the loss to Blue Mountain and scored 5 points, hitting both of his 2-point shots and adding a rebound and a steal in 10 minutes.
“I think I’m fitting in pretty well,” Collins said. “It’s my junior year, and I’ve known these guys, most of them, since my freshman year. I feel like the chemistry is there, even with the setback I had, coming off of probation. Working myself back into it hasn’t really been that hard. It’s just kind of catching up, getting to know the plays.”
“He brings a dynamic to the team that we haven’t seen yet, but it’s there and we know it’s there in terms of being able to stretch the floor at 6-7,” Burrows said of Collins, who shares the distinction of tallest player on the roster with JaQuan Hines.
“Coach Burrows coming in was a huge change,” he said. “Just what he brings, the culture, the body language. He has a saying, 1-0. You may lose yesterday, but the next day you’re always trying to win at something, in life, on the basketball court, either way, always trying to go 1-0 at something.”
Burrows has a lot of little sayings.
“We always talk about only forward, only forward, only forward,” he said. “The past is the past. OK, yes, we’ve made mistakes, but how do we move forward? I’m trying to get them to understand that.”
Of course, the actual basketball part matters, and Burrows has plenty of work to do there as well.
“Coach is very willing to put in offensive sets or find ways to really suit each guy’s playing style,” Collins said. “He can really fit a lot of things in that a lot of people didn’t really see. My game, I can stretch the floor, shoot the ball, play inside, and I feel like Coach really puts people in position and can read people pretty well to have them play to the best of their ability.”
“We do have to progress and have different looks, but at the end of the day it comes down to fundamentals, no matter how many plays or sets,” Burrows said. “I’m never going to be a jack of all trades and master of none. That’s not how we go about our business.”
His players seem to grasp that, and it’s reflected in what they say they must do to reverse the result of that game against Blue Mountain, which visits Pohl Gym at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Owls’ last home game of 2021.
“I feel like we have to hustle a little more, make some free throws, play a little better defense,” Wright said. “We beat ourselves. We made a lot of mistakes.
“I think we’ll pull it off this time.”
“I feel like we just need to execute more and cut out the mental errors like the lazy pass or not finishing our cuts or layups and not making free throws,” Thomas said. “And whenever they make a run we have to be able to bounce back and make a run of our own.”
“It’s mental errors, little mistakes,” Collins agreed. “I feel like if we clean those up, we’re a really good team.”
The Owls are getting closer. After losing by 25, 39 and 21 points during their last three games of November, the margins have been 2, 8 and 11 in the three games since. And, said Burrows, a new problem has surfaced.
“Understand how to play with a lead,” he said. “We were up 28-21 (against Blue Mountain) at one point, and they went on a five, six-minute stretch where we didn’t execute, and we’re not getting stops.
“They’re a good club. They took Arkansas State to the brink; they played in spurts with Nicholls State the other night. They’ve got guys who played at the Division I level.”
The Toppers are 7-3 but just 1-2 in road games. And the Owls firmly believe they can make that road record 1-3.
‘I know we’re working hard every day, and that’s going to translate into wins,” Thomas said.
So everyone appears to be on the same page, and the signs of progress are there, but can the Owls break through and get that elusive first win during their last home game before the holidays?
“It comes down to us valuing the basketball, executing, rebounding, making free throws,” Burrows said. “Same story, different day.”
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