Mississippi State Bulldogs

2023-24 Result: 21-14 (8-10 SEC), NCAA Tournament Appearance

Key Additions

Claudell Harris (Boston College)

Riley Kugel (Florida)

Kanye Clary (Penn State)

RJ Melendez (Georgia)

Chris Jans brought in a nice recruiting class in Kanye Clary, Claudell Harris, Riley Kugel, and RJ Melendez. Based on the production that left, Mississippi State certainly won this offseason. With Josh Hubbard returning in the backcourt, and Cameron Matthews in the frontcourt, Mississippi State should be much improved in 2024-25. 

Defensively, the frontcourt is a bit concerning. There isn’t a strong rim presence, with 6 ‘7 Cameron Matthews expected to be the starting center. He is not a shot blocked, nor is RJ Melendez at 6 ‘7. They did add two more frontcourt pieces that are exclusively centers in Michael Nwoko and Jeremy Foumena, who are both over 6 ‘10. However, in their limited playing time at their previous schools, it remains to be seen whether they can help make an impact on the defensive end. In the back court, Jans picked up Claudell Harris who will instantly make an impact on the defensive end of the court for them. He is a long, rangy guard that plays with great energy defensively. The other concern for them is having Clary and Hubbard, who are both undersized guards. They should, and will, get targeted and picked on in defensive matchups over and over, which might make it tough to play both of them at the same time. However, they are going to have to for the offensive firepower they both bring.

The Bulldogs’ offense is going to be an extremely perimeter oriented offense, spearheaded by the two guards in Clary and Hubbard. Transfer from Florida, Riley Kugel, should also be a key secondary contributor along with Harris. There are some uncertainties with the team with Clary having been dismissed from Penn State last season and Kugel falling out of favor down the stretch with Todd Golden at Florida. However, the talent is there with these guys, so if they can stay on the court, they should have a strong offensive backcourt. The main issue with their offense is the lack of an interior presence. With Tolu Smith and his 15ppg now gone, the interior scoring is not really there. Cameron Matthews will play center, but at 6 ‘7, he is going to struggle with SEC big men guarding him every night. The Bulldogs won’t have the same presence on the offensive glass anymore without Smith either. They were 30th in offensive rebounding last season, but with Smith’s departure and a more frequent 3 guard lineup, some regression in that aspect will surely happen. This means that the guards are going to have to be more efficient since they won’t be able to rely as much on 2nd and 3rd opportunities every possession.

Mississippi State has a fun offensive backcourt that will win them some games, but their defense and interior scoring is going to be where the problem lies. It is doubtful that they can overcome that in the SEC. They will have offensive outbursts that lead them to victories, but overall, they will likely be a middle to back-end SEC team that is fighting with the NCAA tournament bubble most of the season yet again.