Wiedmer: No crime and no traffic music to the ears of MSU's Schaefer

Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer yells from the sidelines during the second half against Notre Dame in the final of the women's NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 1, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer yells from the sidelines during the second half against Notre Dame in the final of the women's NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 1, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
photo Mark Wiedmer

A few weeks back, fairly certain his job was secure after guiding the Mississippi State women's basketball team to back-to-back NCAA championship games the past two seasons, Bulldogs coach Vic Schaefer bought an 80-acre plot of land near Starkville, complete with a 20-acre lake.

Apparently fearing his success might prompt Schaefer to look elsewhere, many Mississippi State supporters since have come up to him to let him know how happy they are to hear their 57-year-old coach isn't planning to go elsewhere for more money.

"That's great," said Schaefer, who was in town Tuesday evening to speak to MSU's Greater Chattanooga Alumni Club at Christ United Methodist Church in East Brainerd. "But that land doesn't come cheap. I'm thinking about passing a plate and asking, 'Just how happy are you?'"

It would be hard for any MSU fan not to be deliriously happy about the overall state of the Bulldogs athletic department these days. The State baseball team throttled North Carolina 12-2 in the College World Series on Tuesday to position itself to play for a championship this time next week. The men's basketball team is projected to make next year's NCAA tourney. Though the football team lost coach Dan Mullen to Florida, State knocked off Louisville and 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in last season's TaxSlayer Bowl and welcomes back quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, among others, from a 9-4 squad.

Asked why such success is coming to a program that reportedly had the third smallest football budget in the Southeastern Conference last season, Schaefer said, "I think it starts at the top. Both our president, Mark Keenum, and our athletic director, John Cohen, are Mississippi State grads. This isn't just a paycheck to them. They love this school."

It also doesn't hurt that MSU has the nation's fifth highest cost-of-attendance rate in the nation, which allows its student-athletes more money in their scholarship packages than most programs.

"And the school sells itself once a recruit visits," he said. "I've only lost six kids in six years (to other schools) that I've been able to get on campus. I can't tell you how many times a parent will tell me, 'I had no idea how beautiful this campus is.' Plus, I think parents feel their sons and daughters are safe here.

"Two of the biggest reasons I took this job (after a long period as Gary Blair's top assistant at Texas A&M) was that there was no crime and no traffic in Starkville. At my age I've chosen not to deal with those."

Unfortunately, what the entirety of the Bulldog Nation has had to deal with for most of the past three months is what happened to Schraeder and his team in the final 10 seconds of their NCAA championship game loss to Notre Dame. Having the game played on April Fool's Day probably made it worse, since the controversial finish surely had MSU fans hoping it was all a joke.

Recalling how Morgan William - the star of the previous year's stunning Final Four semifinal win over UConn - appeared to have been fouled with roughly seven seconds to play after a State steal, Schaefer said, "You get a steal, you think you're going to get a layup, then (voice stops). Sorry, but I'm not allowed to comment on officiating."

Instead, Notre Dame got the ball back, Arike Ogunbowale's 3-pointer with one-tenth of one second on the clock found nothing but net and the Irish won 61-58.

"I don't know that I'll ever get over it," Schaefer said. "I still haven't watched it. I'll look at it at some point. But not yet."

A lot of Mississippi State fans - like most of those gathered at the alumni dinner - are more than willing to comment on the officiating.

"I thought a foul would be called," said club president Patsy Fowlkes, who was in Columbus, Ohio, for the game.

Added her husband, Steve Brandon: "From my perspective, the referees didn't want to decide the game on a foul."

Said Schaefer, wishing to focus on the positive: "Regardless of that game, our season was pretty special. We won our first 32 games, finished 37-2 and could have gone 39-0. Probably never happen again."

Don't count on it. Though a senior class that went 126-22 - "I screwed them up 22 times," Schaefer said - is gone, including his daughter, Blair, who drew 90 charges in her career and was named the SEC's co-scholar-athlete of the year, 6-foot-7 Teaira McCowan returns and is a national player of the year candidate.

"We still haven't completed our nonconference schedule, because no one wants to go against 'T,'" Schaefer said.

It all started for Schaefer in 2012, when he succeeded Chattanooga native and longtime State coach Sharon Fanning-Otis.

"A Hall of Fame coach and person," Schaefer said of his predecessor. "She's someone I had a lot of admiration for when she was coaching and someone who's been so supportive of me and my family since I came to Mississippi State."

As he enters his seventh season in Starkville, Schaefer has become semi-famous for ending every media op with the words, "Praise the Lord and Go Dogs."

Because Cohen has asked his coaches to end all interviews with "Hail, State," Schaefer was briefly concerned he might have to alter his closing catchphrase.

Instead, his boss recently closed a department meeting by noting, "Vic, you can keep saying your deal."

Given Schaefer's recent land acquisition, as long as Starkville can continue to claim no crime and no traffic, State keeping its women's basketball coach should be no problem.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com

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