It didn’t begin in December, 2010. That’s just when it went public.
Mississippi State has been a dysfunctional mess for a while. Now head coach Rick Stansbury is gone. As is the trouble-maker in-chief, Renardo Sidney. Assuming there is good news in this, that’s it.
The Bulldogs had one of the most talented rosters in the nation, and they finished 21-12 with losses in 7 of their final 9 games. They had everything on their roster – talent, enough depth, size, experience, a dynamic freshman – for a special season. Instead it ends with the program falling to pieces.
Unfortunately for Mississippi State fans, the drama didn’t end with the firing of Rick Stansbury. Arnett Moultrie, who may have been the best transfer in the nation, has jumped ship to the NBA. And now All-SEC Freshman Rodney Hood is transferring.
Combined with Dee Bost and Brian Bryant graduating, that’s the loss of four full-time starters AND Renardo Sidney. Everyone who played at least 60% of the team’s minutes is gone.
And now Rick Ray – who has never been a head coach – steps in to clean this mess up. The MSU AD had this to say: “Rick fits the model of head coach we have sought to bring into our program over the last several years. He is bright, enthusiastic, disciplined and is a man of integrity. He has served with some of the top head and assistant coaches in college basketball and will bring a piece of all of them to our head coaching position.”
Good luck, Coach Ray.
