Is De'Runnya Wilson going to join the basketball team after FB?

Bulldogg31

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Dec 9, 2013
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...and can he shoot 3's? We need a few shooters or we're going to see packed in 2-3 zones for the next three months.
 

Philly Dawg

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He was a post player in high school. He is in the Alabama record books as one of the career all time leading rebounders. He'd be undersized in college. I hope he focuses on football.
 

Lettucexxxx

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Oct 16, 2012
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Are you 17ing kidding me? We are playing Tyson "MEAN MUG" Cunningham. You telling me we cant find minutes for Alabama's Mr. Basketball? He could "focus on football" at the end of February and still be ahead of the rest of team, which want start "focusing" until spring drills.....probably wouldn't hurt having him get faster and maybe work on his vertical. Am I way off here?
 

Philly Dawg

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I'm sure the basketball team could use him, but his future is football, we need to develop a top WR, and I'd hate to see him splitting his efforts and fail to reach his full potential in his primary sport.
 

Lettucexxxx

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The guy would never miss anything football oriented. He would never "split" anything. That has been established. I don't see him getting any better in football between Jan 2nd and February 28. Is it legal to even practice football during this time? Let him work that hop and snatch some rebounds.
 

Bulldogg31

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One reason I asked is it sounds like we promised Elijah Staley that he would be playing 2 sports as well. I believe he decommitted from Vandy b/c they wouldn't let him participate in both FB and Basketball. My understanding was De'Runnya met with Rick Ray during recruiting and it sounded like he had a spot for him.
 

af102

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May 17, 2009
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Bob tweeted that he was in street clothes on the bench at the TCU game. I would guess that means there is a chance he plays sometime during the season.
 

thunderclap

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Feb 25, 2008
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I'm not certain there aren't eight guys on our football team who wouldnt make up a better squad than our basketball team.
 

johnson86-1

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I'm sure the basketball team could use him, but his future is football, we need to develop a top WR, and I'd hate to see him splitting his efforts and fail to reach his full potential in his primary sport.

If he actually wanted to improve in basketball and be a part of the program going forward, there'd be know way he could do that without it taking away from football. But as bad as we are in basketball right now, he can go out there when football allows it and still contribute meaningfully to the basketball team, even if it's just some fouls on defense. I think he'd basically be like Matt Jones at Arkansas; he didn't add as much to the basketball team as he could have, but I don't think basketball took away from football at all for him.

There is an increased injury risk, but that's probably there whether he's doing basketball or doing off season conditioning.
 

mstateglfr

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He was a post player in high school. He is in the Alabama record books as one of the career all time leading rebounders. He'd be undersized in college. I hope he focuses on football.

Assuming he plays this season and averages 5ppg and 5rpg in 18mpg while shooting 68% from the line and 53% from the field- he will effectively be at the same point in basketball that he is in football.
...those are hardly impressive numbers but show some sort of ability as a freshman. Same as what he did on the field this fall in football.


How is his future in football if he puts up what could be very attainable numbers in basketball?

He is undersized, yes...for a post player. He is a freshman and could easily spend the following 3 years learning to be a wing that can rebound and post up smaller wings.

Given the odds of becoming an NFL player or a pro in basketball, I would say his odds are way better at becoming a pro in basketball(assuming he shows a bit of ability this winter). He may never even come close to the NBA, but if he can become a competent wing that can post smaller guys and rebound, he should have plenty of options in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere for years to come.

For football its basically NFL or nothing. Yep you can play in the AFL which is a league that is constantly struggling to even exist, or the CFL which is an odd version of what football actually is- and get paid jack.



-This is purely based on opportunities in each sport and his known skill set in each sport. It obviously doesnt take into account what he actually likes more. Even though thats obvious, it still needed to be said as this is SPS and even the obvious often goes over the head of many.
 

patdog

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The one guy that really impresses me is Ellington at South Carolina. He not only plays both football and basketball, he's a key player for both teams.
 

msudawg12

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Dec 9, 2008
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The guy would never miss anything football oriented. He would never "split" anything. That has been established. I don't see him getting any better in football between Jan 2nd and February 28. Is it legal to even practice football during this time? Let him work that hop and snatch some rebounds.

yes they practice like crazy then. just not with coaches

QB's and WRs practice together a ton during "non-practice" times to build that chemistry and knowledge to always know where the receiver will be and have perfect timing
 

kired

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Aug 22, 2008
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I don't know that he's much of a 3-pt shooter. Around the same size as Johnson & Applewhite --- 6'6" ish and 215-220 lbs. Wouldn't mind seeing him on the court this year, to see what he's got.

But I think his true calling is WR. He has tons of potential there. He put up great numbers for a true freshman that stepped on campus less than 6 months ago. About the same production as Malcolm Johnson, and better than Morrow. He's the best freshman WR we've had in over a decade other than Bumphis. If he simply equals his freshman totals each of the next 3 years, he'd end up around the 10th best WR in MSU history. And with the offense we're running now I think he could approach 2000 yards if he plays 4 years.
 

Philly Dawg

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If we assume that football players do nothing in the off season to better themselves then you are right. But I always understood that players did individual workouts, receivers worked with the quarterbacks, etc. And there is the possibility of injury. I'm not sure how to say this diplomatically, but if a guy who is potentially our best wide receiver were to get injured playing basketball for this team, it would be a travesty. And we can't say that the liklihood of injury is small, look at what has happened in the past year to our basketball players.

This is just my opinion, but if a player clearly has a future in one sport and not the other, then he should focus on that primary sport. But its their decision, not mine, and if they end up playing him in basketball, I will support him and hope for the best.
 

121Josey

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Oct 30, 2012
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As long as he doesn't digress, I have no objection. He was just a true freshman this year and emerged as the go-to split end by the end of the season. I'm worried about the rest of the receiving corps getting better.
 

BiscuitEater

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Okay ...

I don't know that he's much of a 3-pt shooter. Around the same size as Johnson & Applewhite

If he can just hit 63% of his Free Throws, he will be shooting better than our average as a team. Fred is struggling with a ~47% clip followed by Gavin's ~58%. If we shoot just a little better than the 50% we shot in the last game, we probably pull out the win over TCU & if we don't improve, we don't win many, if any, SEC games.

This team can definitely use him ... if he can rebound (we are losing the def rebound stat to OOC teams like Kennesaw State, Jackson State & Loyola Chicago) ... if he can bring some energy to the offense ... take and make reasonably shots ... or guard a small forward.

He is going to get extra reps and play in the bowl game. Don't see any reason he can't get additional conditioning running up and down the basketball court between 1 Jan and start of spring FB practice.
 

kired

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Aug 22, 2008
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My biggest question is how rusty would he be? I doubt he's played much basketball lately.

I wonder if he'd do much better than Applewhite. That's basically who you've described - he's a decent FT shooter and probably the second best rebounder on the team (if you look at rebounds / minutes played) but he turns the ball over more often than anyone on the team. So he doesn't get the minutes he may otherwise deserve. I just wonder if Wilson would be similar.

But anything is an upgrade if it means fewer minutes for Cunningham.
 

Hump4Hoops

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May 1, 2010
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If he put up those numbers...

He could take Flat-top Freddie's spot on the floor in a heartbeat. Hell, even with half of those numbers.
 

bsquared24

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Jul 11, 2009
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I know it's not "professional looking" but I would take the high school mentality of filling out the roster and see if we could get Rufus Warren, Damien Robinson, Charles Siddoway and get them some uniforms and have them camp out on the baseline, get the rebounds they can, use 15 fouls and get Ware some well deserved rest for a few minutes a half. We have giant 6-7 guys without NFL talent who could be serviceable (better than Wesley Morgan).
 
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Philly Dawg

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But Peppers was more of a true big time basketball prospect and North Carolina was a much better team. My opinion isn't the same regarding Elijah Staley, who is a true basketball prospect with a potential future in that sport.

I could be selling this kid's ability short. If he has the ability to be a potential starter in the SEC, then I wouldn't oppose him playing. I just don't want to take away from football and risk injury to be a role player when his potential in football is so high.
 
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Shamoan

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Jun 27, 2013
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As long as he doesn't digress, I have no objection. He was just a true freshman this year and emerged as the go-to split end by the end of the season. I'm worried about the rest of the receiving corps getting better.

prettttyyy, prettttyyyy, pretttyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....




.....sure you mean regress, but I digress.
 

HammerOfTheDogs

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Jun 20, 2001
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Going after two-sport athletes might be the only way we can attract 4 and 5-* recruits. If we force Wilson to concentrate on football, other candidates will see that Mississippi State LIES about its promises.

A 5-* talent at 80% is better than a 2-* giving 90-95%.
 
Oct 25, 2012
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Going after two-sport athletes might be the only way we can attract 4 and 5-* recruits. If we force Wilson to concentrate on football, other candidates will see that Mississippi State LIES about its promises.

A 5-* talent at 80% is better than a 2-* giving 90-95%.

Let him play. This is the best possible year to test how we handle a 2 sport athlete. By best year I mean us having NO chance at making the post season. He also happens to have the best name at MSU right now, so there's that.
 

Lawdawg.sixpack

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Jul 22, 2012
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Didn't Greg Hardy play a little basketball for a year or two?

I wish we had let Gholar play both. I also wish we had thrown him a jump ball- just ONCE. Along those lines, Derunnya has to work on catching the ball with his hands. When he can do that, he is gonna be VERY tough to stop.
 

Bulldogg31

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Dec 9, 2013
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Gavin Ware looks like a TE. I know a lot of the better TE's in the NFL were actually basketball players in college...check out these guys:

Julius Thomas - TE for Denver was forward at Portland State
Jordan Cameron - Browns TE played hoops at BYU and USC
Antonio Gates - BB at Kent State
Jimmy Graham - Hoops at Miami
Tony Gonzalez - Power Forward at Cal
 

DAWG61

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Feb 26, 2008
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Wasn't Bear promised a chance in both sports? Seems like that promise should be held up
for atleast one year. There's no denying his talent in football but he might just be even better at basketball. He is the reigning Mr. Basketball in Alabama. I definitely want to see him play basketball. It'd give me a reason to watch MSU basketball right now. Those are hard to find right now.