Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney didn’t know how to help. That’s been the theme the whole year as the NCAA went through an investigation that will result in the talented forward missing his entire freshman season plus the first nine games of next season because he’s suspended for receiving improper benefits in high school.
Unable to make a basketball play, Sidney apparently deemed it necessary to let everyone know he’s still around by getting into a verbal confrontation with No. 13 Tennessee’s big man Wayne Chism after the Volunteers had kicked the Bulldogs’ behinds all around Humphrey Coliseum Saturday night.
“I can go to sleep knowing I can play next year,” Sidney said upon learning of the NCAA ruling, a day before his team’s disheartening 75-59 loss.
Will Sidney’s absence have the Bulldogs (21-10, 9-7 SEC) in next-year mode as well following the defeat? Smack talk or not, Chism’s Volunteers (23-7, 11-5) might have just slammed the door in the face of Mississippi State’s hopes to make the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs finished the regular season with the No. 1 seed in the SEC West, but their conference tournament chances look dim with No. 3 Kentucky, No. 19 Vanderbilt and Tennessee itself representing the East in the competition.
Outstanding as it’s been while playing in the daunting SEC, Mississippi State could have been that much better with an in-uniform Sidney, who averaged 26.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks as a senior at Fairfax High School of Los Angeles. At the very least, the 6-10, 260-pounder could have been a deluxe complement to team leading-scorer and rebounder, senior forward Jarvis Varnado (13.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game).
Mississippi State relied heavily on its home court advantage and burst out to a 12-2 record early in the season. The win total slowed as expected once the Bulldogs hit the conference schedule, but the home wins continued. They were 12-1 at the Hump by the time Kentucky came to visit Feb. 16. The Bulldogs led the Wildcats by five with less than four minutes remaining in regulation but faltered in overtime, losing 81-76.
But the feared edge that had the third best team in the nation on the ropes at one time was nowhere to be found Saturday. Tennessee shot out to a 17-0 lead and never looked back, sending the Bulldogs to their third home loss and deflating their bubble.
Sidney exchanged words with Chism, who averages 12.4 points per game but scored only one on the night, thinking of what it could have been. Chism will graduate after this season, so Sidney won’t get a chance to confront him on the court — not him, nor South Carolina’s Devan Downey or any of the other outstanding SEC seniors. Sidney will wait a year and then some to make his mark. This year, though, his Bulldogs are in — a difficult — position to make the NCAA Tournament. They probably don’t need to repeat as conference tournament champions to get an NCAA Tournament invitation, but they need an upset, which likely means they need to at least make it back to the championship game.
That’s a daunting task — Sidney or no Sidney.
