SEC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2024-25 season
By Justin Wiles
10. Mississippi State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons under Chris Jans. Mississippi State has finished with eight conference wins each of the last two years and still made the NCAA Tournament. While Jans and Co haven’t made a postseason run, his teams have been the model of consistent defense, raising the floor of what his teams can achieve.
The hallmarks of Mississippi State basketball have been size and physical defense for a while now. The loss of Tolu Smith leaves the team without its defensive anchor from the past few years. But luckily for Jans, Cameron Matthews returns to help solidify that end of the court. Matthews (9.4 ppg) was the team's top rebounder most of last season with Smith missing time due to injury to start the season. At 6.8 rebounds per game, Matthews was one of the best rebounders in the SEC last season.
The offense should be led once again by Josh Hubbard. Hubbard had a great freshman year averaging more than 17 points per game. Jans added some pieces to help out on offense. Claudell Harris Jr (13.7 ppg) from Boston College and Kanye Clary (16.7 ppg) from Penn State made more than 37 percent of their shots from deep last season. Transfers Riley Kugel (9.2 ppg) from Florida and RJ Melendez (9.6 ppg) from Georgia will help spread the floor as well. Both made over 30 percent from three last season, but a somewhat crowded backcourt might limit their initial impact.
Chances are that Mississippi State will once again have a good defense, but will the offense be as good as it was last season? Having Josh Hubbard back to lead the offense is a good start. And the additions of Harris and Clary should help bolster the perimeter scoring. Matthews should hold down the interior on both ends of the court. Jans brought in plenty of power conference experience, but the limited frontcourt depth might hurt the Bulldogs down the stretch. But at any rate, Mississippi State should be squarely on the bubble most of the season, looking for a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.