Timmy Bowers opinion of the program under Stansbury.
Bowers:
I'm probably a little biased because Stans was my coach. Personally I didn't want to see him leave. I thought the tradition he had built is what every program wants. Championships aren't easy to come by. To have a program in the SEC with the likes of Kentucky, Florida, Tenn, etc. that can compete at the top year in and year out is not very likely. Somehow Stans managed to do that at Mississippi State. In saying that, I do believe in his later years he kind of lost what got him to that point. Stans was always big on discipline. We were always held accountable for what we did or didn't do. I remember a few times he'd tell Frazier he had to go and get his hair cut or tell another player he needed to shave. He didn't allow braids, doo rags, hell I remember him telling Mario after the SEC tournament championship to turn his hat around (Mario had it on backwards). He was old fashioned to a fault sometimes, but it worked for him. As time went on, I think he eased up some and allowed things that normally he wouldn't have. IMO that's when things kind of went south and when that happens, most of the time a change is going to take place.
And of Ray
Honestly I think Coach Ray has done an exceptional job considering what he has been dealt. When he took over the program he really didn't have the chance to go out and recruit. He had to find, interview, and hire assistants, move his family, and get acclimated to a new region. Not to mention Bost, Moultrie, Sidney, and Hood leaving. His first season, he only had a few scholarship players and some walk-ons. The next year you get some players in but you have some injuries, players are still young. This season looked to be the breakout season, but unfortunately we had some serious injuries early on. Things that take time to recover from – back injuries, Zappardo’s ACL injury. Now in SEC play things look a lot better. I think the thing they are searching for now is consistency. Keep getting better and enjoy the process of it. We have to understand that it takes time to completely rebuild a program starting from scratch. We are headed in the right direction.
