Last season for the men’s basketball team at the Mississippi University for Women was one of the best in school history.
The Owls posted a 12-14 finish to the season, which set the program record for victories and earned the team’s first appearance in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament – a 76-59 quarterfinal exit against Eureka College – in its second season in the NCAA Division III ranks – an improvement from the previous year’s 7-18 finish.
Those are some important milestones for a program that’s only been around since 2018, but head coach Dean Burrows isn’t interested in bringing all the fanfare about it into this season.
“We took a step forward – the year before we took two steps back,” he said.
This year’s campaign is about continuing the trend of improvement, and to do so, Burrows brought in nine new players to pair with four returning Owls. They’ve been busy working in the gym in preparation for the tipoff of the team’s first taste of action in an exhibition game today at Mississippi Valley State. Actually, they’ve been working so hard that players are already getting “banged up,” which is to be expected, Burrows said.
“It takes time to get into shape, and of course with that you’re going to have bumps and bruises along the way,” he explained. “But all-in-all, I have a group I think that’s going to work consistently; that’s what excites me about them.
“We got some in-state juco guys, some Alabama juco guys who we’re really excited about that some people would be surprised to maybe see on our roster, because I think they’re capable of being that good.”
Among the new players are 6-foot-3 freshman guard Mal Stansfield of Center Hill High School; 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Tray Huguley of Shelton State Community College; 6-foot-1 freshman guard Tyler Bohannon of Jefferson High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; 6-foot-5 sophomore forward Joe Haze Austin from Southwest Community College; 5-foot-11 junior guard Devin McCaine from Bishop State Community College; 6-foot-2 junior guard Tyler Shephard of Northwest Community College; 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Ayden McDeavitt from Southeastern Baptist College; 5-foot-10 sophomore guard Tylen Simpson from Blue Mountain Christian University; and 6-foot-3 freshman guard Cayden Howell of Saltillo.
“We probably have six guys who could start for us on any given night,” Burrows said. “And with that, I also think we have six or seven guys who could go get double-digit points.”
They joined a returning squad that features senior 6-foot-5 guard/forward Jackson Reid, who averaged seven points and three rebounds last season and will likely “get a good chunk of minutes” this season, and senior 6-foot-4 guard Trent Walker, who averaged 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists last season and is someone Burrows believes can be an all-conference player.
“(Walker) started maybe a few games last year but came off the bench and did a really good job for us,” he said. “He’s grown and matured on and off the court and he’s a matchup problem for other teams as well.”
So far the team has made impressive strides in chemistry, forming a bond tighter than last year’s team by this point of the season, which says a lot about the group because last year’s squad was the one of the closest teams Burrows said he’s ever had.
“And that’s nothing that we do,” he said. “That’s all in the guys spending time together, doing things together and things like that.”
Burrows hopes that chemistry will translate to good performance on the court, something last year’s team managed to do in different ways. The 2024 Owls hung their hats on defense, averaging 6.9 steals, 3.2 blocks and 12.8 points off turnovers per contest. But on offense, the team wasn’t full of sharpshooters. The Owls shot 42% from the floor but had a 26% success rate on heaves from beyond the arch with a 64% mark on free throws. The team’s new transfers should help with that deficiency, Burrows said.
“Honestly, I don’t think it can get any worse,” he said. “I’m not knocking anybody but that’s just God’s honest truth.”
The Owls were also productive rebounders and grabbed 39.8 boards a night, which is a part of the game Burrows always puts emphasis on – even if he doesn’t have a true center with towering height.
“We’re always going to rebound, and if we don’t that’s completely on me. … It’s literally the first thing we do every single day – we’re going to rebound,” he said. “We’re going to put bodies on bodies … We don’t have anybody who is jumping out of the gym like you see down the road over in Starkville or anything like that. We know who we are and we focus on that, and we try to do the best we can with who we are, and we don’t shy from that.”
After today’s exhibition game, the regular season begins for the Owls on Nov. 11 at home against Huntingdon College. The Hawks defeated The W last season 83-55 and offer a tough season-opening challenge that the Owls are ready for.
“We’re really excited about this group and what we can be,” Burrows said. “We’re not there yet – shoot if we were peaking right now then that’s a problem – but we’re really excited. I don’t use those words often or too loosely. I know we have a long road ahead of us and we haven’t really faced any adversity yet … but (I’m looking to see) how do we respond to that adversity? How do we respond (tonight) to a bad call? How do we respond to, ‘My shots are not falling?’ How do we respond to ‘I’m not playing?’ Just anything like that, because at the end of the day that’s what life’s about – how do we respond?”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
