Report: Tolu Smith cleared to return Sunday vs. Bethune-Cookman

Mississippi State star forward Tolu Smith has yet to play in 2023-24 due to injury, but that looks like it’s about to change.

Smith has reportedly been cleared and will be available for Sunday’s game against Bethune-Cookman, coach Chris Jans revealed, as reported by Jon Rothstein.

The 6-foot-11 senior averaged 15.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game last season, his best yet with the program.

But Tolu Smith has been a massive factor in the frontcourt for the Bulldogs now for the last three seasons. He has averaged at least 12.5 points per game in each of the last three seasons.

A foot injury suffered this fall sidelined him for the start of the season, though.

Smith had begun to ramp back up his activity level in recent weeks, indicating a return could be close. Jans spoke on that possibility two weeks ago.

“It’s entirely up to the trainers, the doctors, and Tolu himself,” Jans said. “He has got a progression that he has to go through. It’s still going to be a while. He has got a lot of things that he has got to do.”

It appears that Tolu Smith has crossed off most of the items on the checklist ahead of a potential return. It’ll be interesting to see where he picks up, with conditioning a potential issues as Smith returns to action.

The star forward was an All-SEC First Team selection last season, and he entered 2023-24 as a Preseason All-SEC selection, indicating how high the expectations are for Smith this season.

The Bulldogs have gotten off to a pretty good start to the season, sitting at 10-2 with one game remaining before conference play begins.

Mississippi State will take on Bethune-Cookman on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, with a broadcast slated for ESPN+ and SEC Network+.