MSU lands 4-star big man
Mississippi State coach Ben Howland added two 4-star prospects to his 2016 recruiting class in the last eight days.
Prestonwood Christian (Texas) 6-foot-10, 260-pound center Schnider Herard announced his commitment to the Bulldogs during a ceremony at his school on Wednesday. The four-star prospect chose MSU over offers from Kansas, Purdue and Texas Tech after taking official visits to all four.
"He told me two weeks ago that's what he wanted to do," Herard's guardian Derrick Shelby told The Clarion-Ledger. "I think he probably liked them early on, and he wanted to go on the visits and see a couple of other schools to compare it to."
Herard, a native of Haiti, is listed as the No. 5 center in the nation and No. 7 overall player in Texas, according to the 247Sports composite.
The big man has been in the United States for just over two years and was part of back-to-back state championships at Prestonwood. According to Shelby, Herard didn't play a lot of basketball prior to leaving his home country and was raw when he arrived. Herard originally wanted to play soccer, but his size, footwork and ability to catch a ball drove him to pursue his talents on the hardwood.
Mississippi State pitched Herard on how it plans to develop his game further and sharpen his skills so he'll have a chance to play beyond college.
"I think the Mississippi State coaching staff worked extremely hard convincing us that they were the place to be," Shelby said. "(Assistant) Coach Ernie Ziegler has been awesome all the way through, and we were able to develop a relationship early on and trust what he was saying. And bringing in Coach Howland, who has a proven track record of success and helped guys get better and to the next level."
Added Herard at his commitment ceremony: "(Howland) has been to the Final Four three times before, and he has so many guys in the league already that used to play for him. ... He's going to develop me to be the best I can be."
MSU now has the No. 5 ranked recruiting class, according to Scout, with four commitments in 2016 including four-star guards Tyson Carter (Starkville), Eli Wright (22 Ft. Academy, Greenville, S.C. ) and Lamar Peters (Landry-Walker, New Orleans).
The center's commitment adds much-needed size to Mississippi State's frontcourt. Sophomore Fallou Ndoye and freshman Aric Holman are the only two players on the Bulldogs' current roster listed at 6-foot-10. Herard provides strength and power in the post and is a load for players to defend.
The chance for early playing time was the most important factor in Herard's decision, according to Shelby.
"When you're a freshman, getting minutes on the floor can be hard to come by," Shelby said. "Being a true five, he's the only center they're recruiting. He can go in and play right away.
"He's going to be a huge part of anchoring their defense and offense. Schnider can score the ball. When you have a big guy that's 6-10, 6-11, 260 pounds — and that's strong — he'll change the way teams have to defend. Schnider is good enough that you can't play him with one man. He's going to draw the double-team. He'll change the way they play and help the way they play because he'll be able to get guards open."
The early signing period for college basketball starts next Wednesday. Mississippi State hosts four-star big Abdul Ado (Chattanooga, Tennessee) and four-star power forward De'Ron Davis (Aurora, Colorado) on official visits this weekend. The Bulldogs are also heavy in the mix with four-star small forward and Jackson native Mario Kegler.
To Shelby, Herard's commitment may serve as the tipping point for MSU's remaining targets.
"I think Schnider being the first big to fall, he's going to set a domino effect into play here," he said. "I think some of the guys they're recruiting are not size. Kegler wants to play the 3-4, De'Ron wants to play the 4. Now that (Mississippi State) has a true center, those guys may look a little harder because they can play their natural position. (Herard) is more of a throwback center. Most guys nowadays want to be a stretch-four. Not Schnider. He's a five. He knows who he is."
Of note, this is the second time Howland has gone head-to-head with Kansas to land a top-ranked recruit since he arrived at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs and the Jayhawks were the finalists for former five-star combo guard Malik Newman.
Contact Courtney Cronin at (601) 961-7091 or ccronin@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @CourtneyRCronin on Twitter.