Will Sheppard, a 6-3, 200-pound wide receiver from Vanderbilt, officially entered the transfer portal on Monday following a junior season in which he caught 47 passes for 684 yards and eight touchdowns. The big-bodied wide receiver has one year of eligibility remaining. Ole Miss made an offer to Sheppard, one of the top SEC wide receivers, minutes after securing the commitment of America’s top JUCO pass catcher Deion Smith on Monday night.
As of this writing, Sheppard holds offers from Ole Miss, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Auburn, Tulane and Minnesota.
Chris Jans, Mississippi State turn attention to Tulane following week of upsets
Two days after his program hit a new low in this year’s college basketball season, Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans was a lot less doom and gloom.
Though Jans, in his second season coaching the Bulldogs, reiterated that last week’s losses to Georgia Tech and Sunday’s 60-59 home upset against Southern, which knocked Mississippi State (6-2) out of the Associated Press Top-25 Poll, will remain black stains on its NCAA Tournament resume throughout the year, there are still enough games and opportunities for the Bulldogs to reverse their fortunes.
“It was a big upset,” Jans said of Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars. “If you pay attention to college basketball, they happen quite often in November and December. That’s not trying to diminish or make us feel better, because you don’t want it to happen to your team, But it goes to show you how hard winning is. These other coaches and players are doing the same things we are to try to win games and put their best foot forward.”
Just like a bad loss follows a team throughout a season, so does a good win, which is why Jans added he isn’t too concerned about talking NCAA Tournament resumes in the first week of December. The Bulldogs still
Jans added that the first week of December is too early to be talking about NCAA Tournament resumes because of the amount of potential “good wins” left on Mississippi State’s schedule, not just in Southeastern Conference play, which starts Jan. 6, but in the remainder of its non-conference slate, including Saturday’s Holiday Hoopsgiving game against Tulane at State Farm Arena in Atlanta (10:30 a.m./SEC Network).
Tulane (6-1) has strong metrics heading into the game with a KenPom rating of No. 89 and a NET ranking of No. 66. A win would get Mississippi State’s NCAA Tournament hopes back on track, already having three wins against Power Six teams (Arizona State, Washington State and Northwestern).
The biggest difference, Jans said, from those wins to this past week’s play has been the Bulldogs’ turnover issues. The Bulldogs have tallied 10-plus turnovers the past four games, including 27 over their two-game losing streak.
“It has become an Achilles heel for us in a lot of games,” Jans said. “Against Southern, it was the main reason why we lost the game.”
As the Bulldogs enter a gut-check moment in its season, Jans hopes his team’s experience takes over, with returning veterans littered throughout his rotation.
Though he has yet to play this season, Jans said All-Southeastern Conference forward Tolu Smith can be a vocal leader for the Bulldogs, as can senior forward Cameron Matthews, who is scoring 8.6 points per game so far this season.
