Padgett Proud To Be In Maroon And White
November 03, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Former Kentucky Wildcat star now bettering the Bulldogs.
STARKVILLE – The year was 1995. Mississippi State was ranked No. 23 in the nation and next up on the schedule was quite the test – a trip to Kentucky and Rupp Arena to battle the fourth-ranked Wildcats.
Scott Padgett was a freshman in Kentucky blue on that February day. He can still vividly remember the contest.
"We were so focused on [MSU's Erick] Dampier and wanted to take away his touches," Padgett recalled. "[State's] Marcus Grant had made only three three-pointers up until that point of the season, and he hit three [three-pointers] in the first half against us. I remember [Kentucky coach Rick] Pitino going off on our assistant about the scout because we were leaving [Grant] open. The scout said that's the guy to leave open, but he had a great game against us. They beat us pretty good, like double figures almost all game long."
The final ended up being 76-71 in favor of MSU as the Bulldogs ruined the day for the Wildcats and Padgett. Now, nearly three decades later, Padgett finds himself wanting all games wrapped in Maroon and White.
When State tips off the 2022-23 season on Monday, Padgett will start his first year as a Bulldog. He's serving as an assistant to head coach Chris Jans and Jans is pumped to have someone with Padgett's resume onboard.
"Coach Padgett has been a great hire for us," Jans said. "He has experience as a player in this league, winning national championships and playing in the Southeastern Conference. He has head coaching experience. He's got a lot of information. He's got a lot of experiences to draw upon for not only myself and the staff, but our players."
The Padgett resume is indeed impressive. As a player at Kentucky, Padgett scored 1,252 career points, was a Wooden All-America First Team honoree, was a two-time All-SEC selection and was a centerpiece of three straight Wildcat SEC Tournament crowns, as well as the 1998 national championship.
From Kentucky, Padgett spent eight seasons playing in the NBA before achieving essentially a lifelong dream and becoming a coach.
Padgett had long admired Pitino and been inspired to coach by him. A couple of years after Padgett's playing career ended, he was able to find an open door into coaching himself.
Kentucky had just recently hired John Calipari to lead its program and soon after, Padgett was back at his alma mater.
"I had a lot of connections through people that knew [Calipari]," Padgett said. "I just felt like this is the perfect timing, and I wanted to get in. He hired me, and he helped me get my first [assistant coaching] job. So, since then, it's been Coach Padgett."
In all, Padgett now has 13 seasons of coaching experience at the Division I level. He spent six of those years as the head coach at Samford.
Padgett has experienced the game of basketball from essentially every single angle and can now use his knowledge to make sure Mississippi State is performing at its peak.
"I'm now watching video," Padgett said. "I'm breaking down the offense and the stuff [Jans and his staff] ran while at New Mexico State. I try and figure out what I think will work here with the personnel we have. I'm looking at things for our personnel from other programs that I think would work or things maybe I have used at other places. Right now, I think it's heavy on the offensive side, but it's still breaking down and doing some video of defensive practice too. I think my role is helping on the basketball Xs and Os side. There are other things that I'm doing as well, but the meat of what I'm doing is Xs and Os."
Padgett's wisdom is beneficial to the Bulldogs in the present. However, don't mistake its impact on the future, too.
For players with professional aspirations, Padgett can be a constant resource. Here's a guy that knows what it takes to achieve dreams and he's more than willing to share what he knows with others.
"I feel like there's something that I can give to [guys like] Tolu [Smith] or D.J. [Jeffries] that because of that it can help get them to that step they want to be at," Padgett said. "There's a lot of kids and great kids out there that no matter what I tell them…they don't have that ability to get [to professional basketball or the NBA]. We have guys at this level and in this league that have that actual ability to get there if they're willing to listen, learn and work for it."
That last part is key. Guys have to work for it.
Padgett has worked for everything he's earned in his career and so it's fitting he's now pushing others to do the same on a staff that won't settle for anything less than maximum effort.
In that way, Padgett seems like a perfect fit to join forces with Jans – a man who has made a living off of relentlessness. Padgett and Jans were originally introduced years ago courtesy of a mutual coaching friend, Jake Headrick. Headrick was an assistant coach for Padgett at Samford.
Well, that relationship was ultimately the starting point for Padgett to now find himself in Starkville, where all these years since his first encounter with the Dawgs, he's now on their side.
Padgett describes those MSU teams of old as incredibly tough.
"You knew it was going to be a war when you came to play them," Padgett said.
Now, with Jans, Padgett is committed to making sure State's opponents of today feel the same way.
"I think we're a definite reflection of Coach Jans," Padgett said. "If you're a good program, you want your players to reflect the head coach. Coach Jans will get after guys and be intense. He's going to let them know when they've done something good, but he's going to be right there to tell them when it's not good enough. He's not settling for being average. He wants NCAA Tournaments and deep runs. He's had success everywhere he's been, and he knows what success looks like."
Jans knows it, but Padgett does, too. It seems to be a perfect match.
"That's invaluable to any program when you have someone like that with so many different experiences both as a player and a coach," Jans said. "We're fortunate that he's with us."
