When you sign up to wear the Forest Green and White at this HBCU deep in the Mississippi Delta you know you are wearing the same colors as two of the greatest football players that ever put on cleats.  Yes, this is the home of both the greatest receiver who ever lived, Jerry Rice, and the man who coined and popularized the term sack, David ‘Deacon’ Jones.  Those are mighty big shoes to fill when you enroll at this small little college (2500 students) with hopes of a bigger and brighter future.  This year’s basketball team might have a freshmen who establishes himself as the kind of once in a lifetime player. Sure, that might by a little high on hyperbole but then again we would not know who those boys from Seattle were unless those two Sub-Pop owners decided to ram grunge down our throat.  And the best things about this young stud is that he can really play!  And he is being handed a starting role as the one thing the DD’s need is somebody who can score from the perimeter as they have more than enough beef inside to hang in the SWAC.     

The always well-dressed Stribling came from humble beginnings himself so knows what most of these kids are looking for when they come to Itta Bena. This sharecroppers son had to borrow a suit to graduate from High School and was the second choice to take over this program after a great career as a High School Coach.  Good thing that first guy turned this job down because this dapper Coach is the real deal and he understands not only what this program needs (big games against big time competition) but also what the kids he is recruiting ‘are looking for when they come down to Itta Bena on their trips.’  Sure they want to be a star but they want an education and a chance at a different future even if it is going to this small little college with not much to offer but a degree.  Stribling knew going into this year that he had to bring in some more talent to stay up with the Jones of the SWAC.  The Delta Devils were not only a new school to Division One but the college itself had only been around since the 50’s when the leaders in this backasswards state decided to build a small campus to fend off the calls for integration in their schools.  Ole Miss and the Ole Boys were not going to have black kids attending their University and of course those rednecks thought this would help.  Of course, Rosa Parks and Brown v. Board of Education changed that and schools were forced to integrated but this school was already in place and these kids had their own little rural college to get an education and a future.  The Delta Devils were not going to get many resources but these kids had a school and were going to make it work.  Stribling has the same mentality.  His program had a place at the table with their brethren and now he had to get the players to come to Itta Bena (is it easier said than done or vice versa here?) so they could compete with the established powers that Davey Whitney, Fred Hobdy, Ben Jobe and company have built.  With that in mind the Sharecropper’s son has brought in a large group of freshmen who will fight for playing time with the upperclassmen in a year designed to ‘build’ a program into becoming one of the elite of this conference without losing too many games.  Of course that really would be easier said than done! 

As stated above, Stribling has got a solid group of front court players to choose from though all have work to do.  The one thing MVSU is not lacking is rebounding.  The Delta Devils have a trio of board men who love the dirty work underneath.    Senior Rueben Watson and Junior Calvin Robinson both can play and both can board.  Both are thick bodied monsters who love to take up space and check in every night to grab as many of boards as their quota will allow.  Neither is extremely tall but make up for it with pure beef.  They play well together and when they are both in there really is no space in the paint that they don’t take up.  Watson did have the moment of the year versus Prairie View when he took a pass from George Ivory and slammed it over Zelmo Beatty and in the process tore down the backboard.  Now if he can just figure out a shot that does not involve trying to pull down the backboard?  Both have a way to go before anyone confuses them with Elvin Hayes on the offensive end but their job on this team is to board and this trio gets the job done.  Every night!

The Delta Devils had one of the best shot blockers in the country in junior center Herman Harris.  Harris is only six five but can flat jump out of the gym.  He has never lost an opening tip and loves rejecting other team’s mistakes.  Because if you go into the key when Harris is around and try to get a shot off it is a mistake.  The ‘Helicopter’ loves to swoop in and destroy other team’s confidence and glory and man can he finish.  He is a bit unorthodox and undisciplined but this kid can play and boy do the fans love him especially when he throws down one of his patented tomahawks from about 8 feet away.  He flat dominated the paint at times and though he obviously does not have the size you would normally want for a center that is what he is.  It doesn’t hurt having Harris line up next to the man child Mr. Mann down low as the really do complement each other well though matching up with huge front lines can be a trick.  The SWAC thank goodness does not have many of these twin tower sets so it did not hurt the Delta Devils too much and to be honest the one big time program they played the Cardinals of Louisville are not exactly Georgetown or UCLA up front.  So they got away with it.  For this year! 

As good as Harris and Robinson are and they are all of that and a bag of chips there might be one guy more important than either one of them on the team.  Sophomore George Ivory has got a lot of game and took over the point guard role for Stribling.  He combines with Ford to give the Delta Devils a high octane back court.  He can score but has taken the role of quarterback and sacrificed for the team.  That’s a heck of a sacrifice but somebody has to get these guys the basketball.  Ivory still averaged over 12 points a game and almost six assists and most importantly was on the court for almost 35 minutes a game.  He is the team’s glue and it’s leader and there is no way the two freshmen superstars could have had the year they did without Ivory doing what he does.  

The biggest problem Stribling had was finding a suitable set of wings.  This is what sets them apart from the rest of the SWAC as most of the teams in this league have supreme athletes at these positions.  Stribling does have his top recruit ever coming in Alphonoso Ford who will take on of those spots for sure but he is a gunner and not a runner. He will be looking for a guy who can run the court and guard forwards to play alongside Ivory and Ford.  For now the Delta Devils match up with three guard sets most of the time.  Several players rotated in trying to get the fifth starting spot but none of them had the athleticism to really get the job done.  Tony Reed and Henry Ellis got the biggest opportunity to show they could play and they did compete and both have certain skills that Stribling loves.  Sophomores Reed and Ellis are limited as Ellis is a pure jump shooter (and that’s about it) and Reed is a six one jumper who can score.  Neither will play much if Stribling can bring in some more complete wings though both are fan favorites.  Of course Dominique Wilkins’s do not fall from trees. 

The rest of the bench for the Delta Devils are all much as most of the starters are.  Hard working players with limited total packages who do well in limited roles.  Junior Ernest Williams began the year as a starter at center but was beat out by Robinson. Williams at one point was the star in Itta Bena (that was when it was still called Mississippi Vocational College) and did not like getting benched.  He is a tough inside player who will come at you and man can he throw it down. Sophomores Robert Sanders and Roddy Coleman are solid big man who are clones of the starters in that they love to board and defend and can block a shot but are limited offensively.  Both are projects who have size and will improve but are stuck behind Robinson and Harris and company at least for the time being getting minutes when they can.  

The Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (33 letters for those who are counting) are a tough physical basketball team who have some size down low but not much else. Sophomore point guard George Ivory can really light it up and a couple of post players have some potential but there are no real wings on this roster.  This extremely young team went through some growing pains and have some roster limitations but what they do well they do as well as anyone playing the game.  They hit the boards with gusto and led the SWAC in knockdowns of guys coming to the hoop.   The always positive and finely tailored Coach Stribling got what he wanted from his young studs and knows this group has a bright future in Itta Bena.  He after all does have everyone coming back so things will improve.  Will they be a favorite to win the SWAC this year?  Well, that all depends on how well these young kids progress but the nucleus is there if they can find a great wing who has size and can run the court and hit threes?  If they can just get Johnny Neumann to transfer from Ole Miss  then the SWAC is theirs for the taking!  But even if they had Neumann (you just said that in Seinfeld’s voice) the Delta Devils would still be in a dogfight in this tougher than advertised conference.