Mississippi State's Amier Ali and Brandon Walker update summer hoops progress

Summer practices inside Humphrey Coliseum resumed this week as Mississippi State continues its offseason work this summer. On Thursday, the media was able to talk with the majority of the new transfers on campus, as well.

Taking the podium first on Thursday was former Arizona State transfer wing Amier Ali and former Montana State transfer forward Brandon Walker:

Q: In your first offseason at Mississippi State, are things different this summer compared to offseason workouts at your previous schools?
Ali: I can say the intensity. Every workout is high intensity. Everybody just wants the best for you. Going two or three times a day and being with each other, I can say that is the big difference is the intensity and how hard it gets sometimes.

Walker: I would say the intensity, too. Everybody in the gym, everybody getting you hyped and all that stuff. The coaches are working, talking you through your mistakes. It is very intense in our practices and that is the main thing, really.

Q: Amier you were a highly-recruited guy out of high school. What kind of jump are you looking to take in your second year of college?
Ali: My main focus is really winning. Obviously, I have individual goals but mainly what comes first with my guys, winning always comes first. Individually, I just want to play harder. That is the main thing to get me on the floor. When it comes first for me, that is the main thing that comes first.

Q: What was it about Mississippi State that made you feel like this was the right fit?
Ali: When I was talking to Coach (Chris) Jans, Coach (Dave) Anwar and all of the coaches, it kind of felt like home. i was on a zoom call but the hospitality that was showed was big for me. Taking a dive into the program and all the winning and accolades, it impressed me. The winning is mainly what brought me here. Coach Jans, obviously, too, and he is a great coach. It is a great coaching staff and that is mainly brought me here.

Walker: For me, the winning culture here. Coach Jans is a great coach, high-level coach. It just felt like family. They flew down to come see just to have lunch with me. It went pretty good and just the winning culture, me wanting to get better and things I need to work on and just win. I think we can do something pretty special here. Just the culture and family here, it felt family-oriented.

Q: The summer can always be an adjustment period. How is the bonding with new teammates going so far?
Walker: I feel like we’ve been bonding very well. We do stuff on our own individually on the side. We are gelling well and we are learning a lot of new things. We have a lot of transfers so basically, putting our ego to the side for the team and that is what is going on right now. Just figuring out the playing style and how Jans wants us to play. Playing harder and the defensive concepts, we are all learning. Right now it is all learning. We are early in the summer so we have until November 5th. But the process is going very good. Everyone is buying in, listening to Coach Jans and the coaching staff.

Q: Amier, you talked about wanting to add more weight. How is that process going and also, what positions are you practicing at?
Ali: Last year around this time, I was probably around 183 (pounds), 184. Now I am 198 and almost 200. That is my goal to be around 205, 210, before the season starts because I know your weight tends to drop during the season, at least for me. I tend to lose weight a lot during the season. But I’ve been trying and I want to be at a good weight to where I could drop some and still be at a good weight.

For the second question, I am playing the wing, sometimes the four. Whatever Coach Jans wants me to play I will play. I am versatile so whatever Coach Jans wants me to play I will play. So no specific position.

Q: Same thing Brandon, where are you playing in practice?
Walker: The four. Just being able to play-make for my teammates, score the ball, do what I do. So just at that position to be able to do all of those things.

Q: For both of you and I know it is early. But what freshmen have caught your attention so far in practices?
Ali: They are all great. All of our freshmen are great. You got King (Grace). King has been standing out on the defensive end and offensively. He is just a dog and you can see the dog intensity. CP (Cameren Paul) is getting better every day. He is a dog, too, playing hard on defense and showing his offensive capabilities. JMar (Jamarion Davis-Fleming), too, with defensive versatility and offensive production is there. Our freshman group is very talented and you will see a big jump from them.

Walker: Yeah for me, all of them are good, really good. King, like he said, just his intensity on defense, getting into the ball, guarding. Then with CP, just being able to score the ball whenever he wants to and then sharing the ball and making plays for others. Then JMar, he is a dog, dunking the ball, shooting it better and being able to play-make and pass the ball and offensive rebounding. He can do all of those hustle things. They are really good and I am excited.

Q: Who are some of the players taking on leadership roles to help the new guys get acclimated?
Ali: Definitely Hubb (Josh Hubbard) and Shawn (Jones), mainly teaching us about the culture. They’ve been here for awhile, especially Shawn. They are teaching us how things are done at Mississippi State. They took a big responsibility in that leadership role and have been teaching us well. Great leaders and I applaud them.