STARKVILLE — For the first time since the end of the 2011-12 season, Rick Stansbury will return to Humphrey Coliseum.
The all-time winningest coach in Mississippi State basketball history (293 wins) retired and was “reassigned” within the athletic department after losing to Massachusetts in the first round of the postseason National Invitational Tournament in 2012. The loss ended Stansbury’s 14-year tenure as the Bulldogs coach in which he won 293 games and led the program to the postseason 11 times, including six trips to the NCAA tournament.
Stansbury will return to Humphrey Coliseum as associate head coach for No. 21 Texas A&M (11-2, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), which will play MSU (7-5, 0-0) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (SEC Network).
MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin tweeted Monday that Stansbury will be recognized before tipoff.
“Rick’s about our team and our players,” Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said Monday on the SEC men’s basketball teleconference. “He really hasn’t mentioned it a lot and hasn’t talked about a whole lot about it.”
Texas A&M defeated MSU 74-70 last season in College Station, Texas, in Stansbury’s first matchup against his former team after two seasons out of coaching.
Kennedy said he knows how special MSU is to Stansbury, who spent 22 seasons with the program. Stansbury was an assistant coach under coach Richard Williams in 1996 when the Bulldogs went to the Final Four.
“It will be an interesting moment for him,” Kennedy said. “I know he really loves Mississippi State, the fans, the supporters he had there, and the players. He mentions that an awful lot since he’s been here in the last year and a half.”
Stansbury recruited senior center Gavin Ware, who leads MSU in scoring at 17.7 points per game, and senior guard Craig Sword, who is the Bulldogs’ third-leading scorer (12.1 ppg.).
Senior guard/forward Jalen Jones, who was named SEC Player of the Week after averaging 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds last week in victories against Cal Poly and Arkansas, leads Texas A&M in scoring (16.3 ppg.). Senior guard Danuel House is scoring 15.2 ppg., while freshman center Tyler Davis is averaging 11.6 ppg.
LSU’s Ben Simmons was named SEC Freshman of the Week after averaging 28.5 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and 1.5 blocked shots last week.
Holman progressing
MSU freshman forward Aric Holman has returned to action.
After having micro fracture surgery to repair a patellofemoral disorder that caused pain in the front of his knee, the Owensboro, Kentucky, native has scored four points in 24 minutes in wins against Northern Colorado and North Carolina Central.
MSU coach Ben Howland doesn’t want to push Holman, but he said Holman hasn’t complained about pain.
“I don’t think it’s affecting his injury at all,” Howland said. “If there was anything at this point we were doing to affect his injury, he wouldn’t be out there. His knee feels better than it did before he had the surgery.”
Holman, who signed with the Bulldogs this past summer, averaged 15.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.9 blocks as a senior at Owensboro High School. He shot 62.2 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from 3-point range as a senior.
Howland wants Holman to improve as a rebounder and a defender. Against North Carolina Central, Holman picked up two quick fouls in the first half that limited his minutes.
“He gives us a very skilled player who has great feel for the game,” Howland said. “He’s a very smart basketball player, and that’s something that will help us moving forward.”
New venue
Ole Miss enters a new era in basketball.
Coach Andy Kennedy’s Rebels defeated Troy 83-80 in overtime Dec. 22, 2015, in their last game at Tad Smith Coliseum. Ole Miss (10-3, 0-1) hopes to open The Pavilion at Ole Miss in style at 8 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU) when it plays host to Alabama (9-3, 0-0) in the first game in the 9,500-seat venue, which is located between Tad Smith Coliseum and Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
“They’re putting a couple of the finishing touches on it,” Kennedy said. “It’s going to be really nice, and it’s obviously a real game-changer for our program.”
Kennedy said he hoped the Rebels could have a shoot-around late Monday night in their first time in the building.
Ole Miss is coming off an 83-61 loss at then-No. 10 Kentucky. Stefan Moody had 23 points for his eighth-straight 20-point game for the Rebels.
Alabama is coming off a 68-49 victory against Norfolk State on Saturday. Senior guard Retin Obasohan leads the Crimson Tide in scoring (13.4 ppg.).
Johnson, Saban allies
Alabama first-year men’s basketball coach Avery Johnson was at the Cotton Bowl last week to support Alabama football coach Nick Saban and his team in its 38-0 victory against Michigan State in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. Johnson said Saban has been very welcoming since he was hired last spring.
“My relationship with coach Saban is really good,” Johnson said. “He’s been very supportive of all of the sports on campus. He’s welcomed my family and I to the University of Alabama Crimson Tide family.”
Johnson, who has spent most of his coaching career in the NBA, has made an impact in his first season in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Johnson and his coaching staff have received verbal commitments from five-star Texas wing player Terrance Ferguson and junior college wing man Ar’Mond Davis and four-star Virginia forward Braxton Key. The recruits give Alabama the nation’s fifth-best recruiting class in 2016, according to 247 Sports.
Johnson said Saban has helped in recruiting, too.
“He’s met with several of our top recruits,” Johnson said. “We meet time to time to just talk about life, talk about coaching, so he’s a really good ally.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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