Twanny Beckham Signs With Mississippi State

The Mississippi State basketball team got a late addition to the 2008 signing class with G Antiquawn "Twanny" Beckham. Beckham, from Louisville KY, originally signed with IUPUI out of high school, but decided to go the prep school route instead. He had offers from Bradley, UAB, Wichita State, and a few other mid-major level schools. Twanny is rated a 3 star on both Rivals and Scout. He's also the 15th ranked post graduate according to Scout. (Dee Bost is 4th on that list, just FYI.)

At 6'5, Beckham is big for a guard and could wind up as either a PG or SG. According to an ESPN evaluation, Beckham is a pass first guard who got most of his points around the basket. He is good at penetration, but his jump shot is a major weakness, although he has apparently improved in that area. Also a good rebounder and defender.

From that evaluation, he sounds like a classic point guard. They even mention that Beckham compliments Bost very well, as Bost is more of a scorer and Beckham more of a distributer. Maybe MSU will finally have a true point guard??

Here is some numbers for any stats fanatics out there. As a senior at Ballard HS, Beckham averaged 16.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists. In prep school, he averaged 15 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds.

Strong pickup, especially this late considering the 2008 recruiting is essentially over. Mississippi State definitely needed another guard with the departures of both Gordon and Hansbrough, along with the fact they still had 3 open scholarships for next year. I'm leery of the fact that this guy isn't a shooter seeing as the Mississippi State cupboard is pretty bare in terms of shooters. We know how much emphasis Stans puts on rebounding and defense though, and looking at the stats and reports, Beckham can do both. He seems to fit nicely into the MSU style of play and into this class, assuming Bost and Osby will be able to put up the points. Don't know how much he'll contribute next year, but I can see him running the point his sophomore year on. (Personally, I always assume freshman won't contribute at all and anything you get out of them in Year 1 is gravy.)