Opinion: Saturday will be a Special Day for Mississippi State Men's Basketball

MSU against South Carolina is a big game for obvious reasons, but it'll also be the final sendoff for a number of Bulldogs.

STARKVILLE, Miss – The Mississippi State Bulldogs will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday as South Carolina comes to Humphrey Coliseum. The regular season finale is always emotional as a handful of players will play their last game at home, but this year, a special class will be honored.

There will be six Bulldog seniors or graduate seniors honored: Jimmy Bell Jr., Dashawn Davis, Shakeel Moore, DJ Jeffries, Tolu Smith, and Cameron Matthews. This senior class should be remembered in Starkville forever because they led this Mississippi State men’s basketball program into a new era.

Former MSU head coach Ben Howland had moderate success during his tenure from 2016-2021. Howland always had talented players like Lamar Peters, Reggie Perry, Quinndary Weatherspoon, and others, but something always seemed to be missing.

Howland brought in the core of this class by signing Moore, Smith, Jeffries, and Matthews. Three of them he signed via the transfer portal: Moore (NC State), Jeffries (Memphis), and Smith (Western Kentucky).

However, after a lackluster season, the former UCLA head coach was let go by Mississippi State, and they brought in New Mexico State coach Chris Jans. A Jans team was notorious for their intensity and defensive prowess, an identity that fit his roster and MSU perfectly.

That identity helped the Bulldogs get off to an 11-0 start in 2022, and each player played their role well. Smith began to establish himself as one of the best big men in the SEC, Matthews and Jeffries were developing into two of the best on-ball defenders in the conference, and Moore and Davis were a solid backcourt for MSU.

However, the good times did not last as the Bulldogs got off to a 1-7 start in SEC play, and these seniors showcased their greatest strength, which is their toughness. Nobody would have blamed the Bulldogs if they had mailed it in at that point under a first-year head coach, and you had taken steps in the right direction, but this team will not accept mediocrity.

The Bulldogs won seven of their last ten SEC games to finish 8-10, and that was good enough to get MSU into the NCAA tournament. However, the season ended in the play-in game for the NCAA tournament as the Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker to Pitt 60-59.

Moore took the potential game-winning shot and missed, then Jeffries missed a potential putback. It was a brutal way to end the season, but it was an excellent first step for the Bulldogs in their first year under Jans.

Now, it was time for decisions to be made, as Davis, Smith, and Jeffries only had one year of eligibility. Each of these guys decided to return for their final season, giving them a chance to cement their spot in Mississippi State lore further.

This year has been another successful year for MSU as they sit at 19-10 and 8-8 in SEC play. There is also a new excitement for men's basketball in Starkville, and Humphrey Coliseum has become one of the most challenging road venues in the SEC.

For the better part of a decade, “The Hump” rarely was more than half-full, but this season there have been seven sellouts. The Bulldogs also hold two top-ten wins at home over Auburn and Tennessee.

The impact these guys have made will be felt for years, as in two years, they have taken the Bulldogs from the cellar to a legitimate contender. This group has each battled its own adversity, but each handled it with a good attitude.

For example, Jeffries and Smith, both long-time starters, have shown this season that coming off the bench is not below them. A good culture is the backbone of any program, and the unselfishness, intensity, and toughness exhibited by these guys have laid the foundation for Mississippi State basketball for years to come.

How To Watch: Mississippi State Men's Basketball at Texas A&M