STARKVILLE — These freshmen got to watch the Mississippi State men’s basketball team’s run to the edge of the NCAA tournament with a certain level of emotional attachment, having already committed to the program. Now that they’re in the program, they want to be the ones to take it over the edge.
By all accounts from the veterans, they have what it takes.
The three freshman additions — Robert Woodard, Reggie Perry and D.J. Stewart — alongside junior college transfer Jethro Tshisumpa enrolled this summer and have already made a name for themselves in summer practice.
“They’re coming along just fine, everybody’s coming together. It’s a great atmosphere on this team, everybody coming together as one,” senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon said. “Overall, I’d say this is the best and most improved summer we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Stewart is the lone addition listed as a guard, even when including graduate transfer Prince Oduro from Siena. Stewart, a 6-foot-6 guard from Grace, enters the program as a shooting guard that has drawn the tough love of an experienced backcourt.
“I’m making it real hard on them, being real physical with them in practice,” sophomore guard Nick Weatherspoon said. “I think it’s something they like. These are some good freshmen, so it’s good competition.
“I’m real hard on D.J., but I’d say I’m harder on Reggie though. He’s the big, I have to be real physical with him.”
The aforementioned Perry — a 6-foot-10 forward out of Thomasville, Georgia — comes to MSU with a strong pedigree. The son of Al Perry, who played for MSU in the 1970s, was a McDonald’s All-American and rated as the third-best prospect in the state of Georgia, according to 247 Sports. He has noticed the increased difficulty of college basketball, but is far from phased by it.
“The playing style, the faster pace,” Perry said. “It’s still basketball.”
Quinndary Weatherspoon added of Perry, “Reggie’s improving. He was a little timid at first, but he’s gaining his confidence back and coming along real good. By the time the season starts he’s going to be great.”
The local product, Columbus native Robert Woodard, is seeing the same things in his first collegiate practices.
“It’s a big transition going from playing AAU to working out here, but I’m enjoying it every step of the way,” Woodard said. “It’s very competitive. I wasn’t expecting it to be this intense.”
Woodard is another highly touted frontcourt addition, coming in at 6-foot-7 and Gatorade Player of the Year honors to his name. He is likely to be a flexible option, as he has been practicing at small forward recently but he knows coach Ben Howland is likely to put him at power forward, too. He knows he will be used to create mismatches, wherever that may be, and he’s perfectly fine with it.
Taking on that burden from the second he steps on campus is a feat that his teammates notice.
“Robert is willing to learn. The freshmen, they’re all willing to learn,” sophomore forward Abdul Ado said.
When it comes to Tshisumpa, he has some learning to do, too, but it may be more challenging for his teammates to learn to play against him.
He comes in as a junior from San Jacinto College, listed at 6-foot-10, 250 pounds; teammates are saying 260 pounds.
“He’s a big body, a shot blocker, a rebounder,” Ado said. “He’s like me my freshman year, he doesn’t have the offensive arsenal but he’s willing and he’s working on it. He’s coming to the gym to get extra work with the coaches.
“He’s 260 all muscle. You hit him but you bounce off him.”
It’s made Quinndary Weatherspoon’s life much harder: “We’re so much bigger on the court. It’s so much harder to get into the lane now than it was three years ago.”
As they find their feet in college basketball and their roles on this team, they all plan on being part of the group that gets the program over the hump. They are determined to be the group that gets Howland back to the NCAA tournament, for the first time at MSU; the upperclassmen showing them the ropes think they can do it.
“We were a couple of games short of making the tournament last year, so I want to do whatever we have to do to make the tournament,” Woodard said.
Quinndary Weatherspoon added, “I think they’re going to be great. Those guys are improving, they’re the most improved freshmen we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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