Mississippi State Basketball: Five-star recruit Reggie Perry chooses the Bulldogs

One of the top 20 players in the Class of 2018 has chosen to join the Mississippi Bulldogs and Ben Howland.

The SEC continues to get better as a whole and the Mississippi State Bulldogs are a huge part of that rising success.

One of the first SEC teams to take the jump and hire a big-name coach, Mississippi State was on the downswing when they brought in former Final Four and UCLA coach Ben Howland.

Almost immediately, recruiting took a huge step forward for the Bulldogs, and, although they have yet to see much success, the program itself is beginning to look a lot stronger.

2018 five-star recruit Reggie Perry, who was recently committed to the Arkansas Razorbacks, has announced his commitment to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The 6’9, 200-pound small forward out of Thomasville, Georgia, is rated as the No. 15 prospect in the Class of 2018 by 247 Sports. He is a massive get for the future of a Bulldogs’ squad that continues to search for an identity.

If there is one thing that we know Howland is the best at, it might be recruiting. He continues to receive interest and commitments from top recruits year in and year out. However, many will point to the Mississippi State basketball program’s transfer rate over the past few seasons.

This is a true and legitimate criticism to make of the program – until you take a look the other top schools in college basketball. Players are transferring in and out of programs constantly. If a team doesn’t have too many mouths to feed, they probably are failing to recruit very well.

I mean, how else are Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs going to end up stacked every other season if not for big-name transfers?

Next: Updated preseason top 25

All jokes aside, the SEC is getting better and more competitive. Players like Perry make this so, and I look forward to seeing what he can do in the 2018-19 season.