Report: Mississippi State starter enters name in transfer portal; NC State guard commits to Bulldogs
Monday was a mixed bag for the Mississippi State Bulldogs’ men’s basketball program, as 1 player entered the NCAA transfer portal and another decided to commit to Ben Howland’s squad.
First, the Bulldogs got a commitment from Shakeel Moore, a guard out of NC State.
Then, later on Monday evening, the Bulldogs reportedly got some bad news, as 2020-21 starting big man Abdul Ado entered the transfer portal:
Mississippi State C Abdul Ado (RS SR) has entered the transfer portal. Grad transfer. https://t.co/85tctQ2w7J
— Verbal Commits (@VerbalCommits) May 17, 2021
Ado played in 33 games this year, starting all of them. He averaged 5.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.
Perhaps Ado felt like he was being moved out of the starting lineup. The Bulldogs have been busy in the transfer portal this offseason, landing Moore from NC State, Garrison Brooks from North Carolina and DJ Jeffries from Memphis.
After the news of Moore’s transfer broke, college basketball insider Jon Rothstein made his predictions for Mississippi State’s starting 5 for 2021-22:
Early prediction on Mississippi State's 21-22 starting five:
Shakeel Moore, Iverson Molinar, D.J. Jeffries, Garrison Brooks, Tolu Smith https://t.co/AeWHYNGw8K
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 17, 2021
Will this coming season’s Mississippi State team make the NCAA Tournament? Howland is stockpiling some intriguing talent in Starkville.