State sophomore Josh Hubbard adds new advantages to his game

Josh Hubbard made his presence felt early and often last year on the college basketball scene. His freshman season was filled with several postseason honors along with etching his name on some of the school’s record charts.

So what did the Mississippi State guard do to celebrate his breakout season? Well, for those that know Hubbard well, the answer is not surprising. He simply went back to work, focusing on his weaknesses and fine-tuning his strengths on and off the court.

This offseason his head coach Chris Jans has complimented Hubbard often for his improved quickness and improved athleticism from last season. And to that aspect, Hubbard deflected the credit to State’s strength and conditioning program, which is headed up by Dominick Walker.

“I think it all started with our strength and conditioning coach, Coach Dom (Walker),” recalled Hubbard. “He’s helped me tremendously since I got here my freshman year. After my freshman season, he got with me and helped me with my speed and my athleticism.”

There was also the data side of things for Hubbard this offseason. A year ago he led the Bulldogs in scoring at 17.1 points a game and set a school record with 108 made 3 pointers. But he continues to look for any advantages he can collect on both ends of the court. So that consisted of a lot of film study along with breaking down analytics shortly after his freshman season concluded.

“Analytically, we looked at a lot of numbers,” said Hubbard. “Being more efficient, I think that was the main thing. Improving my numbers from every aspect of the game whether it’s driving left, driving right and left towards right and things like that.”

To aid that process for Hubbard and all of his teammates, this summer saw Jans add Jordan Sperber to the coaching staff. Sperber serves as the senior director of basketball strategy and has spent most of his life dealing with analytics and data revolving around the sport of basketball.

“He’s helped tremendously,” Hubbard said of Sperber. “He’s a genius. He’s a huge addition to our team, to our staff, and we are very grateful to have him. Once you go back and you are shown the numbers and you go back to recent games and how you could’ve been better and improve, it’s just an eye-opening experience.”

There was another “eye-opening experience” for Hubbard’s new backcourt mates this summer, as well. Jans and his staff upgraded the offensive talent in the backcourt this offseason through the transfer portal, adding such proven scorers in Kanye Clary, Riley Kugel, Claudell Harris and RJ Melendez.

But inside Humphrey Coliseum, defense has always come first for a Jans-led program and this year is no exception. To get on the floor, the newcomers will have to display consistent defensive efforts, first and foremost. And that message was delivered quickly not long after summer practice sessions began.

“I think it was the second week of practice,” recalled Hubbard. “Jans always instills in you that you’re not getting on the court unless you play defense. So that’s always a friendly reminder. By now they already know that. I think it was that second week after everyone got there and it was pretty much the expectation.”

But make no mistake, the offensive potential and team speed in the backcourt has improved. How quickly it all comes together is another story and that will eventually dictate success or not in the 2024-25 season. But Hubbard has already taken note of the possibilities for this season based on his experiences in practice.

“It changes the potential, for sure,” Hubbard added. “Offensively, we can space the court out. We are all so talented to where we can get a bucket ourselves. Having that talent is amazing. Defensively, we can fly around, use our speed to our advantage. Once we figure it out and put the pieces together, I feel like it’ll be an advantage for us.”