Just Another Bulldog Minute: Dominance is Imminent for Tolu Smith
For Mississippi State, consistency is hard for most players in the program's history. From time to time, there will be a standout player but historically, MSU tended to fall behind other notable programs in the SEC. Kentucky is a basketball juggernaut by itself, while a few other teams will have a year or two in the limelight, but State has a noticeable ceiling.
Tolu Smith might be the person to break that ceiling for the program. After having a career year in the 2022-23 season, hopes were high when he announced his return to the program after leading the team to its best season in quite some time.
A foot injury in the preseason has limited his timetable in his last season for the Bulldogs, but in his time back, he has been a force to be reckoned with.
In the six games he has played, he is averaging 20 points and eight rebounds alongside a couple of dimes a game to teammates. In his last two games, he has put up 26 and 25 inching closer and closer to his career high of 28. He scored his career-high against MSU’s next opponent, Florida, in last year's SEC Tournament in an OT win to advance.
If you like an old-school back-to-the-basket type of player, Smith is that special talent that has started to phase out of basketball. He will be a key person to watch down the stretch of these upcoming games. If you watch closely, you can tell his in-game cardio is not all the way there, and once he gets fully into shape, he will be a dominant force that will be hard to contain.
