Last Friday night, the Mississippi State basketball program hosted Maroon Madness — an annual pre-season event showcasing the university’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.
Humphrey Coliseum was buzzing as a sizable crowd, one of the largest in recent memory, filled the arena.
Fans and students were able to watch the teams participate in various activities with the highlights of the night coming during the 3-point and dunk contests.
For the second consecutive year, junior guard Xavian Stapleton excited the crowd by putting on a show and winning the dunk contest while teammate Quinndary Weatherspoon wowed the audience by winning the 3-point contest.
Ladies & Gentlemen..
Your reigning Champ, @thesniperxay for WIN!#MaroonMadness #HailState pic.twitter.com/N5tQTjzzLM
— Mississippi State Athletics (@HailState) October 14, 2017
Brothers Q and Nick Weatherspoon enter one after another. pic.twitter.com/jfqSeF1JCa
— Taylor Rayburn (@STaylorRayburn) October 14, 2017
During the event, MississippiState head coach Ben Howland indicated that a major focus for this season would be keeping the roster healthy.
This season’s team features 11 scholarship players — many of which were highly rated during the recruiting process.
If State can stay healthy as Howland would like, the Bulldogs men’s team could easily exceed expectations of a 12th-place Southeastern Conference finish.
This year’s edition of Maroon Madness was a major success.
Hype for Mississippi State’s basketball programs is at an all-time high and it was evident in the fanfare surrounding the event.