Excitement.
That was a key word used by Dan Mullen and Rick Ray during Tuesday’s Road Dawgs Tour stop in Greenwood.
Mullen, Mississippi State’s head football coach, is excited about high expectations this fall and continued strong fan support. Ray, State’s second-year head basketball coach, is excited to finally have a full allotment of scholarship players.
“Having 13 scholarship players is better than having eight,” Ray joked. “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure that out.”
One of those players will be Amanda Elzy senior sharp-shooting guard Maurice Dunlap, Ray’s first verbal commitment at State.
“Anyone who saw us play this season knows we need help shooting, and that’s exactly what Maurice brings for us. His shooting will help spread the floor and open up driving lanes.”
Asked about how much the Elzy product may play next season as a freshman, Ray was guarded.
“Every young man and situation is different. Sometimes it doesn’t depend on the talent of the player but the position he plays. He will certainly have an opportunity to play early because I’ve shown I will play young guys, but it will all boil down to how well he matures physically for the college level.”
Even after a disappointing 14-19 season that included a 3-15 SEC mark, Ray is able to find some positives moving forward.
“The development of (point guard) Craig Sword. The thing we really needed him to do was cut down on his turnovers,” he said. “I think he did a good job of that. We saw Gavin Ware continue to get in better shape. Then, Trivante Bloodman became a better basketball player for us. Now our team needs to get better along with those individual steps.
“We’re going to be a big, physical team. We’ll look like an SEC team when we take the floor.”
Mullen is also expecting to field a better team in football.
A lot of that is because the Bulldogs return 19 from their two-deep defensive depth chart and quarterback Dak Prescott, who has the potential to be a star player in the SEC.
“I think our fans are catching up to our expectations,” Mullen said. “Since I’ve been there, it’s been really important for us to have really high expectations. Our goal is to win the SEC West and then to go on and win the SEC championship. That’s all we can control. Hopefully, our whole fan base can continue to embrace those expectations.”
MSU went 7-6 last season, including a 44-7 dismantling of Conference USA champion Rice in the Liberty Bowl. It was the fourth straight bowl trip in his five seasons in Starkville, but Mullen made it clear his sights are set much higher.
“We are going to relentlessly pursue an SEC championship,” he said. “What we strive for is to give you the type of team that makes Mississippi proud — on and off the field. I know that’s the type of university we have.
“We have the premier university in the state of Mississippi. But we aren’t stopping there. We want to be the premier university in the south.”
State opens the season Aug. 30 at home against an old instate rival, Southern Miss. The two teams haven’t matched up on the field since 1990. The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series 14-12-1, dating back to 1935. The game will be televised by the SEC Network.
