STARKVILLE — Mississippi State’s women’s basketball roster continues to shrink.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Dispatch that freshman guard Madison Hayes intends to enter the transfer portal. Hayes, a former five-star recruit, becomes the fifth player to depart the program since the season ended, though junior Sidney Cooks and senior Yemiyah Morris were previously expected to leave.
Robbie Falk of 247Sports first reported the news.
Hayes arrived at MSU as the lone holdover in the Bulldogs’ 2021 recruiting class following Vic Schaefer’s move from MSU to Texas. In 19 games, the former top-30 prospect received nine starts and averaged more than 20 minutes per game. Hayes finished the season averaging 4.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest. She was named Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team for her efforts.
Other players to announce their intentions to transfer in recent weeks include junior forward Xaria Wiggins, sophomore guard JaMya Mingo-Young, Cooks and Morris.
MSU concluded its season 10-9 and 5-7 in SEC play. The Bulldogs bowed out in the first round of the SEC Tournament with a loss to LSU and missed the NCAA Tournament entirely for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
Nikki McCray-Penson was hired to replace Schaefer after three years as the head coach at Old Dominion. Prior to that, McCray-Penson starred at Tennessee during the 1990s and served as an assistant coach for Dawn Staley at South Carolina for nine years.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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