Analyzing the impact of Reggie Perry’s commitment to Mississippi State
Ben Howland just landed yet another blue chip prospect in Starkville. What does this mean for Mississippi State?
As you have surely heard by now, Mississippi State landed one of the premier basketball recruits in the nation earlier on Monday. Five-star forward Reggie Perry announced his pledge to the Bulldogs to FanRag Sports in a YouTube video.
Perry, a recent Arkansas decommit, held offers from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Iowa State, and Miami. SBNation’s Kentucky blog A Sea of Blue wrote that John Calipari was also interested in one of the best forwards in the 2018 recruiting class.
Yet, the fifteenth best player in the entire country decided to bypass all of the other programs in order to play for Mississippi State. The school his dad starred at in the 70’s. Al Perry, the five-star’s father, finished 3rd all-time in career assists in Mississippi State history. He even led the conference in the stat during both the 1975 and the 1976 seasons.
The Mississippi State legacy has decided to follow in his dad’s footsteps and rep the Maroon and White for his college basketball career.
What does this mean for Mississippi State?
Since arriving in Starkville in March of 2015, Ben Howland has put the rest of the SEC on notice. Howland, along with ace recruiter Korey McCray, have a long history of pulling in some of the top rated recruits in the nation. That trend has continued during his Howland’s time at Mississippi State.
In the 2015 signing class, Howland convinced four-star guard Quinndary Weatherspoon to stick with the LOI he signed when Rick Ray was leading the charge. He was also able to convince four-star big man Aric Holman to bypass a Louisville offer that would have sent him to a prep school for a season and instead come straight to Starkville. The biggest splash of that cycle, though, was Malik Newman. The 2015 five-star guard signed with Mississippi State over Kentucky and Kansas. Although things didn’t work out, Howland proved that he can still recruit with the best of them.
In 2016, Howland continued his superb recruiting. Mississippi State landed six four-star prospects: Schnider Herard, Mario Kegler, Lamar Peters, Tyson Carter, Abdul Ado, and Eli Wright. Lamar Peters developed into an explosive point guard en route to earning All-SEC Freshman honors. Tyson Carter showed flashes of becoming a sharpshooter off the bench, Herard had his moments, and Eli Wright is back. Mario Kegler decided to transfer to Baylor, but the 2016 class still looks promising. Especially if Abdul Ado develops into the kind of player he showed he can potentially be throughout workouts and practices during his redshirt season.
This past recruiting cycle, Howland inked his second five-star during his early tenure in Starkville. Nick Weatherspoon, the younger brother of All-SEC Second Team performer Quinndary, signed with the Bulldogs over offers from Indiana, Kansas, and North Carolina. The explosive combo guard earned comparisons to NBA MVP Russell Westbrook from the man that coached the Brodie. Lawrence County forward Keyshawn Feazell also signed with State after flipping from Iowa State.
Up until today, Mississippi State didn’t have a commitment in the 2018 basketball class. Although, the Bulldogs are favorites to land Mississippi State four-star legacy Robert Woodard II and four-star wing DJ Stephens. Reggie Perry became the first big domino to fall in yet another likely elite signing class for Howland and company.
In a 30-second clip, Perry explained his reasoning to commit to the Bulldogs:
I believe coach Howland and his staff can help me achieve my goals as a student-athlete and becoming a pro. My family will be able to attend my games and support me and I will be able to continue my father’s legacy by wearing the Bulldog uniform. Thanks for all the prayers for my family and friends and go Bulldogs!
Perry was actually born in Jackson, Mississippi, but currently resides in Thomasville, Georgia. A big reasoning on why he decommitted from the Razorbacks was to be closer to his father and family. Starkville is six hours closer than Fayetteville to Perry’s home in the Peach State.
On the court, Reggie Perry is widely considered one of the elite prospects in all of high school hoops. The 6'9" and 200 pound forward has the ability to play either wing spot. He can play out on the perimeter, but he may actually be best at the stretch-four position. He has an inside presence down low and can step out beyond the three-point line and hit jumpers.
Per Real GM’s stats, the talented combo-forward averaged 15 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks at the Adidas Euro Camp. According to Scout’s Evan Daniels, Perry is currently “averaging 6.5 points and 7.9 rebounds through 13 games in the adidas Gauntlet Finale”.
He is rated as the fourth-best small forward in the nation and the 15th best overall, with a 247Sports Composite grade of .9941. Scout rates him as the 14th best player in the 2018 class and the fourth best power forward. ESPN also gives Perry a five-star grade. The Mississippi State legacy has the tools to become an elite player on the college level the moment he steps on the court.
Perry’s pledge to the Bulldogs has the potential to intrigue other top prospects across the nation. Whenever a five-star commits, recruits take notice. Perry will have the opportunity to sell other recruits on playing for Howland. This will surely have a big impact on the aforementioned Woodard II.
Woodard is the son of Robert Woodard Sr., who suited up for the Bulldogs from 1986–1990. Woodard is the reigning Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year, winning the prestigious honor of 2017 five-star signee Nick Weatherspoon. He also has experience playing for Team USA. This can’t hurt with other elite prospects that Howland and McCray have their eyes set on, either.
Reggie Perry’s commitment to Mississippi State has the potential to become program changing. Basketball season — this season and next — can’t come soon enough. The Howland Effect strikes again.
