Howland believes MSU men’s hoops will make NCAA Tournament if team stays healthy

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- For Mississippi State men’s basketball, the addition of transfers like Garrison Brooks (UNC), Rocket Watts (Michigan State) or DJ Jeffries (Memphis) combined with key returners  has created high expectations for the fan base. ESPN projects MSU as one of the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament.

Watts (hip injury) is slated for a mid-November return while Tolu Smith (foot) should be back at the end of November. Howland said if the team sticks to that timeline and stays healthy, they will be an NCAA Tournament team.

“I think our team definitely has the opportunity to do that. The only thing that worries me is health. If we get healthy and stay healthy we have a chance to do that,” Howland said. “We won’t rush Rocket or Tolu back. We need to see how they continue to evolve.”

“All of us are talented,” Memphis transfer and MSU forward DJ Jeffries said. “Guys like Garrison, Rocket and Shak (Shakeel Moore, NC State transfer). All of them play at a high level. We’re gonna bring our experience to this team and try to help young guys pick up on some of the things we learned because that will help us this year. You need experience in college basketball and we have a lot of it.”

The Bulldogs season gets started November 10th against North Alabama.