Mississippi
Chris Jans provides update on Mississippi State basketball's Kanye Clary
Mississippi State basketball has faired decently well so far this season when it comes to injuries, as they haven’t seen multiple players miss extended time to this point. But there has been one notable injury to the roster that’s lasted several weeks.
Penn State transfer point guard Kanye Clary hasn’t seen the court since Mississippi State’s November 29 loss to Butler seven games into the season. He suffered a lower leg injury in early December and since been out indefinitely.
Now after 13 games without him available, we have an answer as to his status going forward.
Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Kanye Clary out for the season with injury
During his Tuesday night “Dawg Talk” radio show, Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans confirmed what many had been speculating. Kanye Clary is officially out for the rest of the year.
From Chris Jans at Dawg Talk regarding Kanye Clary: From the radio show
I want to provide an update on Kanye. He’s missed a significant amount of time due to injury, and his injury will not allow Kanye to return to the court this season.
— Paul Jones (@PaulJonesOn3) January 29, 2025
Kanye Clary was seen as one of Mississippi State’s biggest transfer portal additions over the offseason. The former Penn State guard averaged 16.7 points per game on 46% shooting for the Nittany Lions during the 2023-2024 season. A player who primarily did his damage inside the arc, Clary could ideally have served as a compliment to Josh Hubbard in the backcourt.
He was also a more natural point guard, which the State roster otherwise lacked. In seven games this season, Clary made four starts, averaging 6.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists. His best performance came against Georgia State when he had 11 points on a perfect night shooting and totaled six assists.
Despite modest numbers, Clary’s presence on the court clearly benefited Josh Hubbard, who was at his best during those early games. Without Clary, it’s largely been on Hubbard to orchestrate the offense, and despite doing a good job of handling the ball, his scoring and efficiency has slipped playing the point.
Hubbard is at his best when someone else is setting things up for him, and while both Cam Matthews and Riley Kugel has shown they can handle that role, they too are best suited elsewhere. Unfortunately for State, they don’t have any other realistic option other than to primarily play Hubbard at point guard, mix up those duties on occasion, and make it work as best as they can. On the positive side, they’ve still shown the can win under those circumstances.
It will be a beautiful start to the weekend with sunny skies and highs in the 80s. Here’s your statewide forecast from the National Weather Service.
Northern Mississippi
It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy and warmer with lows in the mid to upper 60s.
Central Mississippi
Friday will be sunny with highs in the mid to upper 80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s.
Southern Mississippi
It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be partly cloudy with lows in the lower 60s.
Mississippi
Golden Spikes watchlist features players from Mississippi State, Ole Miss – SuperTalk Mississippi
Two pitchers representing Mississippi universities are up for the 2026 Golden Spikes Award.
USA Baseball announced Thursday the 25 semifinalists for the award, which is presented annually to the most prolific college player in the nation. Both Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius and Ole Miss’ Cade Townsend cracked the list. It’s the latest award each was announced to be up for after Valincius and Townsend became Ferris Trophy finalists earlier this week.
Valincius, a left-hander who followed first-year Bulldog head coach Brian O’Connor to Starkville from Virginia has been a star for Mississippi State this season. In 13 starts, the sophomore is 8-2 with a 2.52 ERA and 105 strikeouts, along with just 16 walks across 75 innings of work.
He has effectively limited opposing hitters to a .209 batting average on the year and ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts and wins, and is third in innings pitched and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.56) and WHIP (0.99).
Valincius is the 10th Bulldog to earn a semifinalist distinction from the Golden Spikes Award and the first since Dakota Jordan in 2024. Will Clark is the program’s only Golden Spikes Award winner in 1985 while Rafael Palmeiro and Brent Rooker finished as finalists for the honor in 1984 and 2017, respectively.
For Ole Miss, Townsend is the first Rebel since Doug Nikhazy in 2021 and just the seventh ever to be named a semifinalist for the award. He is the first Ole Miss sophomore to ever be named a semifinalist as all six before him were juniors.
The right-hander boasts a 3.25 ERA and has struck out 77 batters while only allowing 20 earned runs in 55.1 innings. Townsend ranks fifth in the SEC in WHIP (1.01), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.50), and strikeouts per nine innings (12.52). He leads the Rebels in all three categories as well as batters struck out looking (24) and wins and is second in opponent batting average (.202) and total strikeouts (77).
If Townsend is announced as a finalist, he will join Stephen Head and Drew Pomeranz in earning the honor. No Ole Miss player has ever won the Golden Spikes Award.
The full list of semifinalists can be found here. Finalists will be named on June 10, and this year’s Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced on the MLB Network on June 29. Fans can weigh in on which player is their favorite by clicking here.
One series remains in the regular season and Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball are in similar situations.
Both are locks for the NCAA Tournament but are on the bubble for hosting a regional.
The Tennessean’s latest bracket projections have both the Rebels and Bulldogs as two of the 16 national seeds, but that is not solidified yet.
Finding wins in the final series, and possibly the SEC Tournament too, are necessary. Both teams close the regular season on the road against ranked teams that are also projected to host regionals.
The No. 12 Bulldogs (38-14, 15-12 SEC) play at No. 10 Texas A&M (37-12, 16-10). The No. 19 Rebels (35-18, 14-13) play at No. 16 Alabama (35-17, 16-11). Both series begin May 14 (6 p.m., SEC Network+).
Here’s a look at the different scenarios for Ole Miss and Mississippi State to host NCAA Tournament regionals.
Mississippi State, Ole Miss hosting scenarios for NCAA Tournament
Ole Miss and Mississippi State getting swept could knock them completely out of the hosting conversation, barring a deep run in the SEC Tournament. However, SEC Tournament wins are not always viewed the same as SEC regular-season wins by the selection committee.
Mississippi State is in a slightly better spot than Ole Miss. The Bulldogs’ RPI is at No. 12, one spot ahead of Ole Miss. They are tied for sixth in the SEC standings, while Ole Miss is ninth.
The Bulldogs also went 4-0 against Ole Miss, which could give them the edge if the final hosting seed came down to those two teams.
The Tennessean projects MSU as the No. 12 national seed and the Rebels as the No. 13 seed. D1Baseball and Baseball America also project MSU to host, however they both have Ole Miss as a No. 2 seed.
That could mean Ole Miss needs two wins against Alabama, while MSU may be fine with just one win at Texas A&M. If Ole Miss wins one game at Alabama, it probably would need multiple wins in the SEC Tournament.
Mississippi State winning two games at Texas A&M could keep it in contention for a top eight seed. Ole Miss and Mississippi State sweeping their series obviously would, too.
Getting a top eight seed is advantageous because that means you are guaranteed to host a super regional.
Who Ole Miss, Mississippi State fans should root against
It will help Ole Miss and Mississippi State if teams near them in the projections lose, too. That would be teams like Oregon, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Nebraska, Oregon State and Kansas.
Oregon hosts Southern Cal, Nebraska plays at Minnesota, Kansas plays at BYU, Wake Forest plays at Duke, Oregon State hosts Air Force and West Virgina hosts TCU.
How NCAA Tournament history could be made in Mississippi
If everything falls the right way, there’s a chance Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss all host NCAA Tournament regionals. That’s never happened.
The No. 9 Golden Eagles (37-14, 19-8 Sun Belt) are projected by The Tennessean as the No. 10 national seed, just ahead of MSU and Ole Miss.
Southern Miss plays a home series against Georgia Southern (15-37, 7-20) at Pete Taylor Park beginning May 14 (7 p.m., ESPN+).
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
-
Indiana10 minutes agoIndiana law enforcement takes up donations for Special Olympics
-
Iowa16 minutes agoIowa City Community Band readies for the summer | Music Column
-
Kansas22 minutes agoSW Kansas wildfires prompt evacuations, school closure, road closures
-
Kentucky28 minutes agoFormer Kentucky education commissioner to leave California superintendent job
-
Louisiana34 minutes agoOil donors cling to Cassidy in Louisiana primary
-
Maine40 minutes agoA Maine couple known for restoring cabins on TV is opening an inn of their own – The Boston Globe
-
Maryland46 minutes agoProminent immigrant rights group endorses Ferguson to remain as Senate president
-
Michigan52 minutes agoMichigan State roster reset: All eyes on Jeremy Fears Jr.’s return