Three Mississippi storylines to watch in 2017-2018
Is Mississippi State still the favorite for Robert Woodard?
Top 50 ranked 6-6 forward Robert Woodard of Columbus H.S. has long been considered the top prospect in Mississippi’s Class of 2018. A strongly built, long armed, athletic 3/4 man who is comfortable playing inside or on the wing and who plays with great effort at all times, Woodard has just has long been considered as sure a bet as you can get to attend Mississippi State.
Columbus, MS
Growing up in the shadow of the school, Columbus is just over 20 miles up the road from Starkville, and being the son of a former player, everyone just figured it was only a matter of time before Woodard committed to the Bulldogs.
But here we are headed into Woodard’s senior year and that commitment has yet to materialize. While Mississippi State remains a possibility, a number of other schools have made a strong impression on Woodard.
In state school Ole Miss is pushing hard, as is fellow SEC member Alabama. Iowa State, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State as also schools Woodard has shown a strong interest in. While it’s still hard to imagine Woodard going anywhere other than Mississippi State, it looks as if the Bulldogs will have to work a little harder than everyone initially thought to get Woodard to Starkville. Could he slip through their fingers, it really bears keeping an eye on.
Can Ladarrius Marshall bounce back?
Like Woodard, Ladarrius Marshall the 6-6 forward from Jackson Forest Hill H.S. has been on recruiters’ radar since a young age, and as he has gotten older has been someone that a lot of recruiters were unsure what to make of him. But, coming off of an impressive high school season last year where he averaged 16.7 PPG, 10.8 RPG and 4.4 BPG and led Forest Hill to a 26-5 record and the quarterfinals of the 6A state tournament, Marshall, an athletic four man who can really run the floor. He finishes forcefully around the rim, is a strong shot blocker and who can also step out and stick the open jumper, looked to finally be showing the consistency in his game that would take his recruitment to the next level.
But a late season leg injury cost him his whole spring and summer travel team season and as is the nature of the recruiting game caused him to fall off the radar of the recruiters and become somewhat the forgotten man in Mississippi’s recruiting class of 2018.
The word is that his injury is healing well after some early complications and he should be good to go by time the season kicks off in early November, and hopefully he’ll be his old self when he hits the court, because he has a lot of ground to make up with the recruiters and one final chance to get it done.
Can Southern Miss make inroads in their in-state recruiting?
The last three years have been tough ones on the Southern Mississippi basketball program.
Under investigation from the NCAA, the Golden Eagles were really handicapped in their recruiting efforts and that has never been more strongly exemplified than their inability to garner interest from their own in-state prospects, as from the 2014-2015 season, when the current staff came on board, through the 2016-2017 season Southern Mississippi did not sign one notable in state player.
The Golden Eagles finally broke through and signed a highly regarded in state player for this incoming class with the signing of 6-5 Wing Ladavius Draine of Calhoun City H.S. No one is naïve enough to think that Southern Miss can only focus on Mississippi players to build their program, but it stands to reason that they have to make inroads and become a viable option with their own homegrown talent before they can convince upper level out of area prospects that they are a solid option.
The 2018 and 2019 classes have a number of quality in state prospects that could be great building blocks for a mid-major program on the rise, such as: 2018 – 6-8 forward K.J. Williams of Cleveland Central, 6-2 combo guard DaQuan Smith of Holly Springs, 6-6 forward Tyron Brewer of Meridian, 7-0 center Andrew Junkin of New Hope, 6-6 forward Ladarrius Marshall of Forest Hill, 6-1 combo guard Gabe Watson of Saint Joseph; 2019 – 6-3 wing Jaylan Forbes of Florence, 6-3 point guard Earl Smith of Lanier, 6-0 point guard Joesph Cooper of Olive Branch. Southern Mississippi is already involved with a number of them as Williams will be on an unofficial there this weekend. Now, if they can just close the deal with a few of them.
RELATED: Mississippi 2018 Rankings | Mississippi 2019 Rankings
