MSU Men’s Hoops: What’s Next?
On Thursday morning, it was announced that Mississippi State and Ben Howland have agreed to part ways.
Howland had been the coach at MSU for seven years, and was in part responsible for bringing the program out of the tumultuous Rick Ray era. With the announcement of a mutual decision to split paths, what is the next step for Athletic Director John Cohen and the former skipper?
For Mississippi State, the search has more than likely been ongoing before the two made the decision to split, and several names have been floating around, chiefly of which is Matt McMahon, the current head coach of the Murray State Racers.
For those unfamiliar, Murray State is a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and is set to play the San Francisco Dons tonight at 8:40 p.m. CT. Notable Murray State basketball alumni include current Memphis Grizzly and NBA All-Star Ja Morant and current g-league player Leroy “Shaq” Buchanan.
McMahon makes the strongest case for the number one priority not only because of his record at Murray State, which at the moment is 153-66, but also because of his already established recruiting ties to Mississippi.
Buchanan played JUCO ball at Northeast Mississippi Community College alongside his brother Shun. He made the leap from Northeast to Murray and has obviously made the most out of it, currently suiting up for the Memphis Hustle.
Aside from Buchanan, McMahon currently coaches a pair of former Magnolia State standouts in junior forward KJ Williams and sophomore guard DaQuan Smith. If his record alone doesn’t place him at the top spot on the priority list, his ties to the Mississippi Junior College system might. However, with all of the other vacancies across the country, the odds that MSU lands arguably the nation’s hottest coaching commodity are getting slimmer by the day.
Grant McCasland is another name that’s been floated around plenty of circles, and could very well be looking to make the jump to the SEC. McCasland and his North Texas Mean Green shocked the country last year when they bested Purdue in the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana as a severe underdog, and were arguably better this season. The Mean Green will take on Virginia, the same team that put MSU out of the NIT, on Sunday at 5 p.m.
McCasland has won everywhere he’s been, and has proven that he can win games in which his team is not entirely favored. If he’s looking to make the jump to power-5, MSU could land him in the chaos of March Madness.
Andy Kennedy, the current coach of the UAB Blazers, is another name that’s been floated around some circles. Kennedy has had SEC experience. The only problem? It was for the other Mississippi team. Kennedy coached at Ole Miss from 2006-2018, and only yielded a pair of tournament appearances. If MSU is willing to look past boundary lines, Kennedy is a guy with experience coaching P5 basketball teams. However, if they’re looking to go younger, Kennedy may not be the hire at 54 years of age.
These are just three of the names that have been and will be floated around, and there will most definitely be more as March Madness unfolds. Either way, John Cohen has a tough decision to make at a very pivotal time within the MSU basketball program. Renovations are coming, a talented recruiting class is still set to come in and there are plenty of current players that can provide quality high-level minutes. There will be a new face at the helm of it all, though come this winter — an exciting premise for Bulldog Hoops fans.
