Photo courtesy of Hailstate.com/MSU Athletics
Two Mississippi State Bulldogs took home the awards given to the state’s top college basketball players.
All three finalists for the 2019 C Spire Gillom Trophy were from Mississippi State, but it was senior center Teaira McCown who took home the hardware. The on-court leader of the Bulldogs has already posted 27 double-doubles this season as the team has their sights set on a return to the NCAA title game after winning the SEC Tournament on Sunday.
“We don’t apologize for being demanding, in the classroom, the community and on the court,” head coach Vic Schaefer said. “I’m awfully proud of T. She’s been locked in for the last month and she’s playing a really high level right now. She’s dominating the game really. She commands so much attention on both ends.”
Quinndary Weatherspoon became a back-to-back recipient of the C Spire Howell Trophy after he was awarded the trophy over Ole Miss’ Breein Tyree and Southern Miss’ Cortez Edwards. During conference play, the senior guard averaged 19.4 ppg to lead the SEC. He’s also third on MSU’s all-time scoring list with 1,956 career points.
“I think he has just worked very hard,” head coach Ben Howland said. “He didn’t miss a day working on his shooting, ever. It’s incredible, his work ethic and how hard he works. He’s one of those guys as a senior, that’s how you expect a senior to play. We’re so proud of him winning the Howell Award for the second year in a row.”
After the awards were presented, Athletic Director John Cohen praised both players for the impact that they’ve had on the program.
“I think it’s really symbolic of the jobs their coaches have done,” Cohen said. “Coach [Ben] Howland and Coach [Vic] Schaefer have done an incredible job with their programs. You can’t do it without great leadership and without great players, which is certainly what Q and T represent. This has been a great year for basketball in the state of Mississippi, and certainly, it was a great year because of those two players. We’re just really proud of them, and the thing I’m most proud of is to see how far they’ve come in four years.”
The MSU men are a 6 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament, and they’ll face either Vanderbilt or Texas A&M on Thursday night.
The Bulldog women await their NCAA Tournament seeding, which will be announced on Monday, March 18.
