Bulldogs open season without All-American Roberts

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- The Mississippi State Bulldogs worried over the offseason about possibly having to play without star forward Lawrence Roberts.

Their concern came true, just not how they figured it might.

The reigning Southeastern Conference player of the year and AP All-American flirted with the NBA draft before returning to school for his senior season. Then, the NCAA suspended him for one game for allowing a pro team to pay his expenses for a pre-draft workout.

Turns out Roberts couldn't play right away anyway. He broke his nose during practice last week and is out at least two games.

That brings coach Rick Stansbury back to square one -- without Roberts, even if it's only temporary.

"We're kind of putting a new team together," Stansbury said. "Then, you take a Lawrence Roberts out of that mix. Naturally, it's an opportunity for some other guys to step up, and that's what we're counting on."

The 12th-ranked Bulldogs begin their 2004-05 season Thursday night with an out-of-state "home" game against Fairfield in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Birmingham, Ala. They meet either Alabama A&M or Birmingham Southern the next day.

And with the Bulldogs' best player back on campus -- if not yet in the lineup -- they're dreaming big.

"With the talent we have, we can do some big things, and that's always a plus coming back to school," Roberts said.

Mississippi State was tabbed to host the four-team pod, but the site was switched out of state because of a new NCAA rule prohibiting states with the Confederate emblem on their flags from hosting predetermined tournaments.

Stansbury is counting on two other returning starters and several new faces to build on last year's 26-4 season and help make up for Roberts, who last year averaged nearly 17 points and 10 rebounds but last week underwent surgery on his nose.

"Nobody's going to take his place," Stansbury said. "We'll have someone out there in his position."

Swingmen Winsome Frazier (13.1 ppg) and Shane Power (9.7 ppg) return to the lineup, and Ontario Harper redshirted last year but started two years ago.

Stansbury has more concerns than just finding a stopgap replacement for Roberts, whose backup is 6-foot-9 Piotr Stelmach _ who came to Starkville from Poland.

The Bulldogs are looking for a new point guard to take over for Timmy Bowers and a low-post threat to replace Branden Vincent.

But the biggest Bulldog -- Roberts, the Baylor transfer who stepped right into stardom last season -- is coming back, perhaps by next weekend.

"We didn't think Lawrence was coming back this summer, so we prepared like we lost those three guys," Power said. "Last year, Lawrence was the final piece of the puzzle (and) he will be the final piece of the puzzle again this year."

Slashing sophomore Gary Ervin will play the point, and Stansbury hopes a heralded class of freshmen -- including Charles Rhodes, Walter Sharpe and Jerrell Houston -- can come along quickly enough so the Bulldogs don't miss a beat.

"We need that starting five and about three more off the bench to give us quality minutes," Frazier said.

The sooner, the better. Stansbury calls this year's non-conference schedule the toughest in school history.

If the Bulldogs survive the Birmingham region this weekend, they most likely will meet No. 6 Syracuse in the tournament's semifinals. They also play No. 10 Arizona and at Xavier, which eliminated Mississippi State from last year's NCAA tournament.

"Just getting our team ready to play a basketball game against such tough competition, that's been our biggest challenge so far," Stansbury said.