Quinndary Weatherspoon will be the Focal Point of Mississippi State Basketball
Quinndary Weatherspoon will be the undisputed leader of the Mississippi State basketball team in 2016-17.
We all knew Quinndary Weatherspoon was the best player on last season’s Mississippi State basketball team. The only question we had about his role on next season’s team was if he would share a leadership role with Malik Newman.
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We now know Malik Newman will transfer from the Mississippi State basketball team. I don’t know how this will help Newman in the long term, but I wish him well in whatever he decides to do with his life post MSU.
As a result, Quinndary Weatherspoon will be the unquestioned leader on this team. His emergence as a high quality player was one of the biggest surprises from the 2015-16 season. There will be plenty of talent on the 2016-17 team, but there will be even more youth on the squad so the team will need a strong leader.
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One of the things Mississippi State basketball fans loved about Weatherspoon was his willingness to do whatever coach Ben Howland asked of him. And with the incoming class, he might need to fulfill multiple roles on the team.
The Bulldogs should be fine at point guard with I.J. Ready back for his senior season. But don’t be surprised if Howland asks Weatherspoon to play the two, three, and four at different times next season based on the incoming recruiting class. Here are the players coming in next season.
- Schnider Herard, 6’10” Center
- Mario Kegler, 6’7″ Small Forward
- Eli Wright, 6’4″ Shooting Guard
- Lamar Peters, 6’0″ Point Guard
- Tyson Carter, 6’4″ Shooting Guard
- Abdul Ado, 6’11” Center
- E.J. Datcher, 6’9″ Power Forward
And here are the players returning from last season’s team.
- Joe Strugg, 6’9″ Power Forward
- Carter Holmes, 6’0″ Shooting Guard
- Xavian Stapleton, 6’6″ Shooting Guard
- I.J. Ready, 5’11” Point Guard
- Reggie Patterson, 6’4″ Shooting Guard
- Jett Jobe, 6’4″ Shooting Guard
- Aric Holman, 6’10” Power Forward
With Xavian Stapleton recovering from surgery and not likely to make his season debut until sometime around the middle of the season, you can expect Weatherspoon to see a lot of time at the two guard. The early favorites to join Weatherspoon and Ready in the starting lineup would be Mario Kegler at the three, Aric Holman at the four, and Schnider Herard at the five.
But with Quinndary Weatherspoon’s versatility and willingness to do anything he needs to, the Bulldogs could move him to the three when Stapleton returns and go small with Kegler at the four and Holman or Herard at the five. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Howland try to play incredibly small with Ready, some combination of Wright or Carter at the two, Stapleton at the three, Weatherspoon at the four, and Kegler at the five.
Losing Malik Newman was not ideal. He is still a highly talented player many teams will seek to add to their roster. But him staying on the team might have done more harm than good if he was going to demand the offense be tailored to his skill set.
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But this gives Quinndary Weatherspoon a chance to shine for the Mississippi State basketball team. Opposing teams began to focus on Weatherspoon as he developed into a consistent scoring threat for the Bulldogs, and with a massive upgrade in talent, don’t be surprised to Quinndary Weatherpsoon soar to even higher heights in 2016-17.