MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. — Mississippi State forward D.J. Jeffries was wrapping up his session at Southeastern Conference media days on Wednesday afternoon when teammate Tolu Smith approached him, cellphone out and recording.
Smith, jokingly introducing himself as being from “Smith Sports,” began the rapid-fire questioning: best-looking player on the team, worst-dressed player, favorite teammate.
He saved perhaps his toughest question for last: “What’s your biggest expectation for this season?”
Without hesitation, Jeffries said making the NCAA tournament. Smith said his answer was the same.
“So we’re going to make it?” he asked.
“We’re going to make it,” Jeffries confirmed.
Even during that moment of levity, Mississippi State’s goals this season shone clearly through the bright lights in the ballroom of the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
Smith, Jeffries and new coach Chris Jans represented the Bulldogs at SEC media days Wednesday as MSU aims to end its streak of missing the tournament at three years.
The Bulldogs’ 2022-23 campaign begins Nov. 7 against Mississippi Valley State and ends — they hope — in early April, atop college basketball’s highest mountain.
Just making the Big Dance in the first place would be a new and welcome feeling for nearly every player on Mississippi State’s roster
“That’s a feeling that I want to see, and hopefully we get there this year,” Jeffries said. “I want to go see what the NCAA tournament is like.”
Last year, the Bulldogs came close.
They were competitive in nearly every big game, but the failure to win those contests put them in the wrong postseason tournament.
After a loss in the first round of the NIT, Mississippi State fired coach Ben Howland and hired Jans three days later.
The former New Mexico State coach is one of five new coaches in the conference — six, if you count Mike White, who left Florida for Georgia in the offseason.
“I didn’t necessarily have an ambition to just be in the SEC, but I definitely had a goal of coaching at the Power Five level and to be able to recruit and coach against the best student-athletes and some of the best coaches in college basketball,” Jans said.
That tough competition gives the Bulldogs an early hole to dig out of.
Jans inherits a roster returning just five scholarship players from last season, something he acknowledged is the reality of college basketball when new coaches come in.
“In this day and age with the portal and certainly when you get a new job and they make a change in leadership, that’s just how it is,” he said. “Each and every year, each and every program’s going to have to piecemeal it together, at least in that first year.”
Mississippi State is no exception. The Bulldogs brought in five Division I transfers, including Oregon State guard Dashawn Davis, to help fill their empty roster spots.
But MSU lost star Iverson Molinar to the professional ranks after last season, while forward Garrison Brooks and wing Andersson Garcia were among the Bulldogs’ biggest losses.
MSU was picked 10th in the SEC preseason media poll and did not have a single player named to the first or second all-conference teams.
Jans said Smith, should he manage to stay healthy all season, could change that by the end of the year.
“He’s got that kind of ability to be a surprise, to be a first-team all-SEC performer,” Jans said. “To be honest with you, if we’re going to have the type of year that we want to have, then he’s going to have to play at that level. And he’s capable of it.”
The Bulldogs, to be sure, have a supporting cast around Smith. The big man delineated Mississippi State’s “core” of four returnees: himself, Jeffries, guard Shakeel Moore and guard/forward Cameron Matthews.
Both Jeffries and Moore entered the transfer portal in the offseason but ultimately were coaxed into staying.
Smith had a role in that.
“Tolu was on me every day,” Jeffries said. “He was like, ‘What are you going to do? What are you going to do?’ When I start something, I’m going to always finish it. I’m here to finish it with these guys.”
Smith and Jeffries have both taken strides in terms of leadership and are part of a veteran Mississippi State roster.
The Bulldogs have two graduate transfers in guard Jamel Horton Jr. and forward Tyler Stevenson. Smith and New Mexico State transfer Will McNair Jr. are redshirt seniors. Jeffries and Davis are seniors. Moore and Matthews are juniors.
“One of my favorite things to say to anyone is, ‘You can’t teach experience,’” Jans said. “We’re going to have some of that up and down the roster, and I think that will be beneficial when the games come around the corner.”
That’s not long from now — under three weeks and “ticking,” Jans said.
A nonconference slate including Drake, Minnesota, Marquette and TCU (in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge) should give MSU chances for marquee wins outside of league play.
Should the Bulldogs take advantage, they could set themselves up well for a return trip to March Madness.
“You’ve got to give yourself opportunities to have a chance to build some résumé wins going into the SEC, and obviously in the SEC, it’s each and every night with opportunities,” Jans said. “I feel good about the quality of our schedule and the opportunities that we’re going to have.”
Ultimately, though, it comes down to whether Mississippi State can cash in.
The Bulldogs couldn’t last season, marking one more year without an NCAA tournament appearance for players who want it badly.
Soon, they’ll have another chance to get there.
“That’s my biggest priority right now — just winning and getting to the tournament and showing what I can do and showing what my team can do,” Smith said. “I think we’re going to open a lot of eyes, and I think we’ve got a chance to be really special this year.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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