Nearly Two Years Later, Vic Schaefer's Departure Still Affects Mississippi State Women's Basketball

Not even three years ago, Mississippi State was one of the best teams in women's college basketball, as they had been for a few years.

The team reached unprecedented levels under head coach Vic Schaefer, who joined the program in 2012. Under his guidance, they improved little by little each season and made the sport one of the biggest at MSU. The program finished as the national runner-up in back-to-back seasons and made it deep in the NCAA Tournament for four straight seasons. Schaefer himself received recognition by five different organizations as the National Coach of the Year during his time leading the Bulldogs.

MSU reached the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history during the 2016-2017 season, then knocked off the undefeated UConn Huskies on an incredible buzzer-beater by Morgan William in overtime. Although they lost in the national championship to South Carolina, Mississippi State came back with a vengeance the next year. They finished the 2017-2018 regular season undefeated and once against made it to the Final Four. The wins came much easier for the Bulldogs, and to no surprise, they made it to the national championship for the second consecutive year. There, they lost to Notre Dame on a long game-winner as time expired. In 2019, State reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The 2020 postseason was never played due to the pandemic, but the team still finished with a 27-6 record. Despite players graduating or being drafted, the program was still set to bring in some of the nation's top talent.

Then, it all came to a stop.

Schaefer suddenly left Mississippi State for the University of Texas during the summer of 2020. Although the sudden change was shocking, there was still hope for the Bulldogs-- they still had an extremely talented team. That hope quickly turned to dismay as MSU finished the 2020-2021 season 10-9 with no postseason appearance under new head coach Nikki McCray-Penson. Meanwhile, Schaefer's Longhorns went 21-10 and made it to the Elite Eight.

This season, the Bulldogs are heading into SEC play with a 9-3 record under interim head coach Doug Novak. They've struggled in some games, but have a group of incredible athletes that includes Rickea Jackson, Myah Taylor and Anastasia Hayes. Although these players might not be at the level as some of Schaefer's former Bulldogs, there is no reason for them to lose to teams such as Troy.

What happened to Mississippi State? The answer lies in coaching. As proven by his success at Texas, the Bulldogs happened to snag a once-in-a-lifetime coach in Schaefer. Since then, neither coach has been able to fill his big shoes. They don't have the same methods, levels of discipline or ways of executing a game plan-- all things that a successful team needs. Every player struggles from time to time, but the team as a whole cannot play their best when they aren't getting what they need from the coaching staff.

Can things change heading into conference play? The players have the ability, but without stronger coaching and proper discipline, it's going to be hard to compete with many SEC teams. In the future, the program might make a rebound, but it's going to take years to rebuild what came crashing down after Schaefer's departure.