2009–10 Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball team

The 2009–10 Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Mississippi State University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was head coach Rick Stansbury's twelfth season at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs competed in the Southeastern Conference and played their home games at Humphrey Coliseum, nicknamed The Hump. They finished the season 24–12, 9–7 in SEC play. They advanced to the championship game where they were defeated by Kentucky in overtime. They were invited to the 2010 National Invitation Tournament where they advanced to the second round before being defeated by North Carolina.

2009–10 Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball
SEC West Division champions
NIT, Second round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	West
Record	24–12 (9–7 SEC)
Head coach	Rick Stansbury (12th season)
Assistant coaches	Robert Kirby Phil Cunningham Marcus Grant
Home arena	Humphrey Coliseum
Seasons ← 2008–09 2010–11 →

2009–10 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 2 Kentucky†	14	–	2		.875			35	–	3		.921
No. 21 Vanderbilt	12	–	4		.750			24	–	9		.727
No. 15 Tennessee	11	–	5		.688			28	–	9		.757
Florida	9	–	7		.563			21	–	13		.618
South Carolina	6	–	10		.375			15	–	16		.484
Georgia	5	–	11		.313			14	–	17		.452
West
Mississippi State	9	–	7		.563			24	–	12		.667
Mississippi	9	–	7		.563			24	–	11		.686
Arkansas	7	–	9		.438			14	–	18		.438
Alabama	6	–	10		.375			17	–	15		.531
Auburn	6	–	10		.375			15	–	17		.469
LSU	2	–	14		.125			11	–	20		.355
† 2010 SEC tournament winner As of March 30, 2010 Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The 2008–09 Bulldogs finished the season 23–13 (9–7 in SEC play). The Bulldogs won the 2009 SEC men's basketball tournament, allowing them to advance to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Washington in the Round of 64.

Before the season

Departures

Four players from the 2008–09 team did not return for this season.

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Christopher Gay	10	Guard	6'0"	165	Senior	Hattiesburg, MS	Graduated (Walk-on)
Jacquiese Holcombe	1	Forward	6'6"	205	Junior	College Park, GA	Transferred to West Texas A&M[1]
Brian Johnson	44	Forward	6'9"	245	Senior	Laurinburg, NC	Graduated
Rod Bryant	14	Guard	6'1"	165	Sophomore	Birmingham, AL	Left team (Walk-on)

Recruits

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Wendell Lewis C	Selma, AL	Selma HS	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Apr 22, 2009
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:
John Riek C	Khartoum, Sudan	IMG Academy	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	May 15, 2009
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:
Renardo Sidney PF	Jackson, MS	Fairfax HS (Calif.)	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Apr 30, 2009
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:
Shaun Smith SG	Brooksville, MS	Noxubee County HS	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 23, 2008
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:
Overall recruit ranking:   Scout: 19    Rivals: 21
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Mississippi State 2009 Basketball Commitments". Rivals. "2009 Mississippi State Basketball Commits". Scout. "ESPN". ESPN. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

Because the Bulldogs were one player above the scholarship limit, Jarvis Varnado gave his scholarship up so that no one on the team would have to leave, making him a walk-on.^[2] Renardo Sidney was suspended for the entire season over recruitment violations.^[3]

2009–10 Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 1 Renardo Sidney (I) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Fr Fairfax HS (Calif.) Jackson, MS G 2 Ravern Johnson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Coahoma County HS Lyon, MS G 3 Dee Bost 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Concord HS Concord, NC G 4 Twany Beckham   6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Ballard HS Louisville, KY F 5 Romero Osby 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Northeast Lauderdale HS Meridian, MS G 10 Shaun Smith  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Noxubee County HS Brooksville, MS G 12 Charles Parker (W) 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 154 lb (70 kg) Fr McKinney North HS McKinney, TX G 15 Riley Benock 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Meade County HS Battletown, KY F 20 Taylor Luczak (W) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS So Glens Falls HS Glens Falls, NY G 21 Baxter Price (W) 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 145 lb (66 kg) Fr Northwest Rankin HS Brandon, MS G 22 Barry Stewart 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Shelbyville Central HS Shelbyville, TN F 24 Kodi Augustus 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Maine Central Institute Baton Rouge, LA G 25 Phil Turner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Jr Grenada HS Grenada, MS C 30 Wendell Lewis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Selma HS Selma, AL F 32 Jarvis Varnado (W) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Haywood HS Brownsville, TN G 33 Brandon Bolen (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Madison-Ridgeland Academy Madison, MS F 45 Elgin Bailey   6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Jr Belaire HS New Orleans, LA F 50 John Riek 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 242 lb (110 kg) Fr IMG Academy Khartoum, Sudan	Head coach Rick Stansbury (Campbellsville) Assistant coach(es) Phil Cunningham (Campbellsville) Marcus Grant (Mississippi State) Robert Kirby (UTPA) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Rankings

Main article: 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	WK 17	Wk 18	Final
AP	18	RV	RV	--	--	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	RV	--	--	RV	RV	RV	--	RV
Coaches	19	RV	--	--	--	RV	RV	--	RV	RV	RV	RV	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Schedule and results

Source^[4]

• All times are Central

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
10/31/2009 2:00pm	No. 18	Oklahoma City	W 82–54		The Hump (2,938) Starkville, MS
11/7/2009 2:00pm	No. 18	Georgetown (KY)	W 90–70		The Hump (2,995) Starkville, MS
Regular Season
11/13/2009* 8:00pm	No. 18	Rider	L 74–88	0–1	The Hump (7,241) Starkville, MS
11/19/2009* 7:00pm		Southeastern Louisiana	W 82–67	1–1	The Hump (4,544) Starkville, MS
11/21/2009* 6:00pm		Bethune-Cookman South Padre Island Invitational	W 67–51	2–1	The Hump (3,721) Starkville, MS
11/24/2009* 7:00pm		Texas–Pan American South Padre Island Invitational	W 75–50	3–1	The Hump (3,214) Starkville, MS
11/27/2009* 5:00pm, FCS		vs. Richmond South Padre Island Invitational	L 62–63	3–2	South Padre Island Convention Centre (585) South Padre Island, TX
11/28/2009* 4:30pm		vs. Old Dominion South Padre Island Invitational	W 69–55	4–2	South Padre Island Convention Centre (543) South Padre Island, TX
12/5/2009* 1:00pm		St. Bonaventure	W 105–53	5–2	The Hump (3,344) Starkville, MS
12/10/2009* 6:30pm, ESPN2		vs. DePaul SEC/Big East Challenge	W 76–45	6–2	St. Pete Times Forum (9,353) Tampa, FL
12/12/2009* 1:30pm, FSW		vs. UCLA John R. Wooden Classic	W 72–54	7–2	Honda Center (13,043) Anaheim, CA
12/16/2009* 6:00pm, ESPN2		Wright State	W 80–69	8–2	The Hump (4,721) Starkville, MS
12/19/2009* 1:00pm, CCS		at Houston	W 70–64	9–2	Hofheinz Pavilion (3,422) Houston, TX
12/22/2009* 7:00pm		vs. Centenary	W 88–51	10–2	Mississippi Coliseum (5,502) Jackson, MS
12/28/2009* 7:00pm		Mississippi Valley State	W 73–45	11–2	The Hump (5,421) Starkville, MS
12/31/2009* 6:00pm		at San Diego	W 77–68	12–2	Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,630) San Diego, CA
1/4/2010* 8:00pm, CSS		at Western Kentucky	L 52–55	12–3	E. A. Diddle Arena (5,925) Bowling Green, KY
1/9/2010 12:45pm, SEC Network		at No. 14 Ole Miss	W 80–75	13–3 (1–0)	Tad Smith Coliseum (9,360) Oxford, MS
1/14/2010 6:00pm, ESPNU		Arkansas	W 82–80	14–3 (2–0)	The Hump (8,339) Starkville, MS
1/16/2010 2:00pm, ESPN2		Georgia	W 72–69	15–3 (3–0)	The Hump (7,682) Starkville, MS
1/23/2010 11:00am, CBS	No. 23	at Alabama	L 57–62	15–4 (3–1)	Coleman Coliseum (12,336) Tuscaloosa, AL
1/28/2010 8:00pm, ESPN2		at Arkansas	L 62–67	15–5 (3–2)	Bud Walton Arena (12,803) Fayetteville, AR
1/30/2010 12:30pm, SEC Network		LSU	W 67–51	16–5 (4–2)	The Hump (7,247) Starkville, MS
2/3/2010 7:00pm, SEC Network		at No. 18 Vanderbilt	L 72–75	16–6 (4–3)	Memorial Gymnasium (14,316) Nashville, TN
2/6/2010 12:30pm, SEC Network		at Florida	L 62–69	16–7 (4–4)	O'Connell Center (11,660) Gainesville, FL
2/11/2010 8:00pm, ESPN2		Ole Miss	W 71–63	17–7 (5–4)	The Hump (9,401) Starkville, MS
2/13/2010 6:00pm, FSN		Auburn	W 85–75	18–7 (6–4)	The Hump (8,854) Starkville, MS
2/16/2010 8:00pm, ESPN		No. 2 Kentucky	L 81–75	18–8 (6–5)	The Hump (10,788) Starkville, MS
2/20/2010 3:00pm, SEC Network		at LSU	W 60–59	19–8 (7–5)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (9,434) Baton Rouge, LA
2/24/2010 8:00pm, CSS		Alabama	W 74–66	20–8 (8–5)	The Hump (8,477) Starkville, MS
2/27/2010 5:00pm, ESPN		at South Carolina	W 76–63	21–8 (9–5)	Colonial Life Arena (13,834) Columbia, SC
3/3/2010 7:00pm, SEC Network		at Auburn	L 89–80	21–9 (9–6)	Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum (9,927) Auburn, AL
3/6/2010 5:00pm, ESPN		No. 16 Tennessee	L 75–59	21–10 (9–7)	The Hump (10,021) Starkville, MS
2010 SEC men's basketball tournament
3/12/2010 6:30pm, SEC Network		vs. Florida Quarterfinals	W 75–69	22–10	Bridgestone Arena (NA) Nashville, TN
3/13/2010 2:45pm, ABC		vs. No. 20 Vanderbilt Semifinals	W 62–52	23–10	Bridgestone Arena (NA) Nashville, TN
3/14/2010 12:00pm, ABC		vs. No. 2 Kentucky Final	L 75–74 OT	23–11	Bridgestone Arena (20,082) Nashville, TN
2010 National Invitation Tournament
3/16/2010* 9:00pm, ESPNU		Jackson State First round	W 81–67	24–11	The Hump (4,433) Starkville, MS
3/22/2010* 11:00am, ESPN		North Carolina Second round	L 76–74	24–12	The Hump (9,471) Starkville, MS
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.