Five Takeaways from Coach Howland’s Media Session

October 20, 2020 | Men's Basketball

by Matt Dunaway, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State men's basketball team officially started team practice last week, and head coach Ben Howland had the opportunity to meet with the media on Tuesday.

Below are five takeaways from Coach Howland's media session.

1. Cameron Matthews and the freshmen class have stood out in practice especially Matthews guarding D.J. Stewart Jr. on the defensive end.

"Our freshmen are improving and getting better. The guy that has really been coming on and doing a lot of positive things for his team the last couple of weeks has been Cameron Matthews out of Olive Branch. He's a very good defender and a good rebounder. He's the best matchup every day, for example, guarding D.J. Stewart [Jr.]. No one else on our team comes close to doing what he does defensively trying to match up with D.J. He's a guy that can play multiple positions defensively. He can guard the one through four. He's 6-6, 225 pounds, really strong, handles it well, makes good decisions with the ball, does all the little things and the glue things that help your team win. He's done a great job, and I'm really excited about his progress."

"Deivon Smith, we've been expecting him from the beginning to play an important role, which he will. I'm excited about Keondre Montgomery's jump shot. I like all the freshmen. I really like our class. Good kids, hard workers, great work ethic and they've got great leadership to follow. So, it's really been positive."

2. Team bonding and team chemistry is coming together.

"I'm excited about our team. We have a good group. Team bonding, I think the team has never been closer. You have no one else you can be with, but your own team and your teammates. Basically, if you're following protocol, you're not out there socializing and hanging out and seeing a lot of people if you're smart."

3. The next pieces of the 2020-21 schedule will be released …

"I think you're a couple of weeks away from seeing that [the SEC schedule] from the conference office. At that time, we will have a couple of other tweaks to our non-conference schedule to announce, so it will all come out at one time. Tomorrow, we find out who we're playing in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge."

4. Tolu Smith and the frontcourt group are grinding.

"I'm excited about them [the frontcourt]. I think Tolu [Smith] is going to be playing major minutes for the first time in his college career. He played about 12 minutes a game behind a really good player as a five at Western Kentucky in Charles Bassey. Last year, he redshirted with us and now he's playing. But he's had a great off-season. An outstanding, productive spring, summer and fall. He's our leading rebounder by far on anybody on our team in practice right now on the offensive end, the defensive end and overall."

"We're not going to replace Reggie Perry. Reggie's getting drafted in the NBA, and he was the Co-MVP in the SEC according to the AP [Associated Press. He's a hard guy to replace, as is Robert Woodard [II], as is Tyson Carter, as is Nick Weatherspoon."

"Getting Javian Davis [eligible] late was a big boost because we've got an experienced guy who's played in the SEC, who's put up some really good numbers in SEC games. Picking him up late was a big boost. Between him, Quinten [Post], Abdul [Ado], and Tolu [Smith] – we've got four guys there that are big and have size. Derek Fountain would be our fifth.

5. D.J. Stewart Jr. is showcasing his versatility.

"He'll [Stewart Jr.] play minutes at the three. He'll play minutes at the two. He'll even play minutes potentially some at the one. Today, at practice, I had him playing the one so we could mix it up and mix and match. We'll have a lot of different options in terms of how we play him. The biggest difference is who you match up with, who you guard and keeping that person off the glass. For him, he's still going to be playing the same way offensively, whether he's the two or the three."

Mississippi State won 11 of its last 15 SEC games to earn a top 4 finish in the conference standings, the program's highest overall regular season finish since 2010-11. The Bulldogs have tucked away three consecutive 20-plus win seasons under sixth-year coach Ben Howland. The last time the program accomplished that feat was the 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. The 68 victories also are the fourth-highest total in program history for a three-year span.

Mississippi State will look to punch its return ticket to March Madness in 2020-21 led by returnees Abdul Ado, Iverson Molinar and D.J. Stewart Jr. The trio will be joined by talented transfers in Javian Davis, Jalen Johnson and Tolu Smith along with a skillful freshmen class headed by Derek Fountain, Andersson Garcia, Cameron Matthews, Keondre Montgomery and Deivon Smith.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching 'HailStateMBK' on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.