Mississippi State basketball star Josh Hubbard earns preseason All-SEC honors

Mississippi State basketball fans are fired up for the return of Bulldog basketball. One of the main reasons for optimism entering the season is that Mississippi State has one of the SEC's very best players coming back, and on Monday he earned some preseason honors.

Bulldogs guard Josh Hubbard named 2nd Team All-SEC

Sophomore guard and 3-point phenom Josh Hubbard was named 2nd Team All-SEC by the media entering the season. Hubbard averaged 17.1 PPG and led the SEC with over three made 3-pointers per game as a true freshman last season. He ended his freshman campaign with 2nd Team All-SEC honors and took home the Bailey Howell trophy, given to the best men's basketball player in Mississippi.

Hubbard was behind preseason 1st Teamers Mark Sears (Guard, Alabama), Johni Broome (Forward, Auburn), Walter Clayton Jr. (Guard, Florida), Zakai Zeigler (Guard, Tennessee), and Wade Taylor IV (Guard, Texas A&M). While Hubbard certainly would have been deserving of 1st Team honors, it's not egregious to see that group ahead of him. Sears is the SEC's best overall player, Broome is the best big man in the league, Clayton Jr. and Taylor IV had slightly better all-around numbers last season, and Zeigler was the SEC's assist leader and one of the best defenders.

If Hubbard builds off his freshman season, he'll absolutely have a chance to be a 1st Teamer at the end of the year. I will argue though that Cameron Matthews not being named to any of the SEC's three preseason teams is unfair. You'd be hard-pressed to find a player who impacts the game at a high-level in a wider variety of ways than Matthews.

All in all, Mississippi State finds itself flying somewhat under the radar amongst national and SEC media entering the season between preseason standings and all-conference teams. But I expect this squad to start getting a lot more buzz once the season begins.