STARKVILLE — A week ago, Vic Schaefer said the 2014-15 Mississippi State women’s basketball team has 14 players who bring something to the table.
Schaefer then singled one of those players out to make sure she knows what is expected of her this season.
“I need Ketara (Chapel) on the floor,” Schafer said. “That gives us a big lineup and allows us to move Victoria (Vivians) to the two (shooting guard).”
Schaefer made that comment prior to MSU’s 114-58 victory against Arkansas-Fort Smith in an exhibition game at Humphrey Coliseum. He highlighted the role of Chapel, a 6-foot-1 sophomore forward, because he was explaining why sophomore forward Breanna Richardson was moving from power forward, the four position, to small forward, the three. The lineup change is one of several Schaefer will experiment with this season as he tries to work five freshmen and a sophomore (Chinwe Okorie) who didn’t play last season into the rotation.
A year ago, Chapel averaged 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in 17.1 minutes (34 games). Chapel only had three double-figure scoring games, but Schaefer said her versatility, her length, and her athleticism and valuable assets that could help make the Bulldogs even better a year after a 22-14 season that saw the program advance to the quarterfinals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Against Arkansas-Fort Smith, Chapel had nine points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes. She will try to duplicate that production at 8 p.m. Friday when MSU opens its season against Mercer in the Preseason WNIT at The Hump.
Schaefer said Chapel’s ability to play a bigger role will take pressure off All-Southeastern Conference performer Martha Alwal and will open more opportunities for Richardson and Vivians, a freshman, who was the state of Mississippi’s all-time leading high school scorer.
“You’re talking about a kid who is very athletic, long, and she understands the press,” Schaefer said. “She has great anticipation in the press. Defensively, she has a toughness and a great help-side demeanor. With her, as we are with Breanna, we are looking for someone who can consistently make a 15-footer and consistently make a 3-pointer, and then guard on the other end and block out and keep the player they are guarding from getting on the offensive boards.
“Right now, Breanna and Ketara, I don’t notice them. I think both of those kids are much better than they are playing right now.”
Coming out of Temple High School in Temple, Texas, Chapel was rated the No. 1 power forward by Premier Basketball Report. She also was nominated to be a McDonald’s All-American following her senior season.
But Chapel wasn’t impressed by her performance as a freshman at MSU. She also senses an opportunity to play a bigger role and understands what she has to do to make the most of that chance.
“I feel like I bring so much to the team, coming off the bench and going out there and fixing what needs to be fixed,” Chapel said. “I just want to be more aggressive this year in trying to get to the hole.”
Chapel mentioned rebounding and finishing layups as two things she wants to improve on this year. She admitted she was a little more “timid” last season and that she felt she was “complacent” with where she was. She said this year she wants to go out and play so she can be more of an active participant in the team’s success. She smiled when asked if that meant she would have to sharpen her elbows to box opponents out or to use her hips to be more physical in the paint.
“This year, I think I have done that,” Chapel said. “Our scout guys are really, really good this year. I think if you can go out there and compete with our scout guys, you can play against anybody in the SEC.”
Chapel expressed confidence that she can fill all of those roles, even one — hitting 15-foot jump shots — that she didn’t mention. That evoked another smile from Chapel, who remembered something Schaefer told her when he was recruiting her to come to MSU.
“He always teased me in high school how he recruited a two guard because I used to be able to shoot it,” said Chapel, who caught herself after she used the past tense to describe her shooting stroke. “I still can make that shot.”
n MSU adds three players to program: Schaefer announced the signing of standouts Jazzmun Holmes, of Gulfport High; Jazmine Spears, of New Albany High and Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College); and Zion Campbell, of Washington, D.C.; on the first day of the early signing period.
Holmes, an athletic 5-8 guard from Harrison Central High School in Gulfport, earned three stars from ESPN/HoopGurlz and is rated No. 31 at her position.
“Jazz is a young lady that is going to be a great player for us as a combo guard. It’s very important, in my mind, that to get to that next level you need a great combo guard that can play the 1 and 2, and Jazz fits all that,” Schaefer said. “She sees the floor extremely well, and she can go off the bounce and shoot the three. I love her competitiveness, and she understands floor spacing and where the ball needs to go as good as any high school kid I think I have ever seen. Once again, we feel like we have signed the best player in Mississippi.”
The two-time Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen selection had an explosive junior season, averaging 18.4 points and 5.1 rebounds en route to earning All-State accolades. Holmes also averaged 3.6 steals and 3.9 assists per game in leading Harrison Central to a 20-11 record and the Mississippi Class 6A semifinals.
“Jazzmun is the one that holds our team together. She’s like our Energizer bunny because our team goes as she goes,” Harrison Central coach Nancy Ladner said. “She gives everything she has all the time, and she’s just as good of a person as she is a player.
Spears, a 6-0 forward, signed with MSU in April, 2013 before going to Trinity Valley C.C.
“It’s exciting to be a Bulldog again. I started a Bulldog and will always be a Bulldog,” Spears said. “It’s exciting to have the opportunity to go home and play in your home state in front of friends and family.”
Under the guidance of current MSU assistant Elena Lovato, Spears helped Trinity Valley win the 2014 NJCAA national title, the school’s third straight, while earning WBCA All-America honorable mention accolades.
“Coach Lovato is someone who knows me and how I play,” Spears said. “She is a good coach who knows what it takes to win, but she is a great person who has always been there to pick me up in hard times.”
Spears, rated the nation’s seventh-best junior college sophomore by HoopGurlz, averaged 11.9 points and shot 50.5 percent last season. She also averaged 7.6 rebounds per game.
Campbell, a 6-3 center at Riverdale Baptist School, is an athletic, high-energy center who is prepping for her first season playing for coach Sam Caldwell at one of the nation’s top high school programs, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
The Washington, D.C., product has claimed three stars from ESPN/HoopGurlz while ranking as the 17th-best player in the post.
“The biggest factor to me about Mississippi State was the family environment,” Campbell said. “Everyone was so nice, and they made me feel like it would be a place I would be comfortable for four years. Signing with Mississippi State means I’m part of a family. It’s going to be a great opportunity for me to expand my skills on the court, in academics and in life.”
Campbell made the move to Riverdale after playing for a St. John’s College High School squad that won the D.C. State Athletic Association championship.
“We like Zion’s build, and we really like her motor. We feel like she has a tremendous upside, but the thing that is really encouraging is she wants to get better,” Schaefer said. “I know she has a great high school coach in Sam Caldwell who is going to work her, demand of her and push her. I think she’s far from a finished product, even in high school.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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