Mississippi State Men's Basketball Star Iverson Molinar Named Howell Trophy Winner

Mississippi State standout basketball player Iverson Molinar was named the recipient of the 2022 Howell Trophy on Monday afternoon.

The trophy is presented to the best college basketball player in the state of Mississippi and is named after Bulldogs legend and Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Bailey Howell. This is the second year in a row that an MSU player has won the award: Reggie Perry won it for the 2020-2021 season.

This season was an incredible one for Molinar. The junior led the team with 553 points scored, averaging roughly 17.8 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting. He was among the best on the team with an 87 percent free throw percentage and also made 25.7% of his three-pointers-- an impressive stat, considering how much the team as a whole struggled with making threes. Molinar scored a season-high 30 points against Kentucky, becoming one of only eight program players since the 1950s to score that many points against the Wildcats.

Molinar excelled as a shooter, but he could do a bit of everything. He had a team-high 113 assists, roughly 3.65 per game. Despite being a traditionally smaller front-court player, he racked up 95 rebounds and had 12 blocks. Molinar also totaled 37 steals on the year.

Nationally, Molinar stood out in multiple other categories. He was one of two Power Five players to reach double figures in every game played this season. He was also one of eight Power Five players to finish inside the top 11 in three separate categories in their respective conferences-- points per game (third), field goal percentage (fifth) and assists per game (11th).

Molinar picked up multiple other accolades this season. He was named a consensus All-SEC Preseason First Team selection and won an SEC Player of the Week award after his performances against Georgia and Alabama in mid-January. In those two games, Molinar averaged 26 points, 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2 steals.

Although Mississippi State did not have the best season, Molinar remained a shining star that other teams tried their hardest to stop. The Bulldogs still have the chance to play in the SEC Tournament later this week but will likely receive an NIT bid when all is said and done.

Molinar has the chance to stay another year, but he also has the talent to move on to the next level. It's not clear what he will do once this season ends, but his impact on MSU will live in the record books for years to come.

The No. 1 men's basketball player in the State of Mississippi 👉 @MolinarIverson3 #HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/Qmx29oPPs6
— Mississippi State Men's Basketball (@HailStateMBK) March 7, 2022