UPDATE: Stansbury says he “thought long and hard about this, but it’s time to start a new chapter and step away from coaching.”
After back-to-back seasons filled with team turmoil that ended in NCAA tournament misses, Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury will retire today, according to multiple reports.
A press conference is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
Mississippi State started the season 19-5, but lost seven of its final nine games. It closed the season with a 101-95 double-overtime loss Tuesday to Massachusetts – at home – in the NIT. Shortly thereafter, Renardo Sidney, the Bulldogs’ talented, but often troublesome center, declared for the NBA draft, via Twitter.
That was a fitting way for Sidney’s time in Starkville to end. He spent last season playing poorly, fighting teammates and getting suspended. (None of it helped Stansbury.) This season he was in less trouble, but wasn’t any better on the court as teammates such as Arnett Moultrie, Rod Hood and Dee Bost led the Bulldogs instead.
Not that it kept Mississippi State from a late-season fade. Or sniping at one another while it happened.
Stansbury, 53, has been the Bulldogs’ coach since 1998, and was an assistant for eight seasons before that. He won at least 20 games in 10 of his 14 seasons and made the NCAA tournament six times. He was SEC coach of the year in 2004, won five divisional titles and two SEC tournament titles.
In all, he’s been with the program for 22 years, compiling a 293-165 record as a head coach.
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