MSU basketball announces new strength coach

Mississippi State announced a changing of the guard Tuesday afternoon. After 33 years as MSU's basketball strength and conditioning coach, Richard Akins retired.

Mississippi State announced his replacement, David Deets, on Tuesday as well.

"I am excited to be back in the SEC and at a school like Mississippi State with the tradition they have in basketball," Deets said. "Being able to join Coach (Ben) Howland and his staff, who have a great record of success, is very exciting."

Deets' official title is Director of Basketball Performance for both the men's and women's basketball teams.

Deets, 39, spent last year in Oklahoma as the director of rehab and strength & conditioning for the Tuttle Public School district. Prior to that position, he was on Mike Anderson's staff at Arkansas for three years as strength and conditioning coach.

"There's going to be a lot of change here, and it's going to be for the good," Deets said. "I can't wait to get with our players and start our training to get ready for next season."

During his time with the Razorbacks, Deets helped design a new weight room.

Prior to his stint at Arkansas, Deets spent five years with Anderson at Missouri. He helped with the renovations of the Sally O. Nichols Weight Room and mentored four National Strength and Conditioning All-Americans.

After graduating from Northeastern State University in 2000, Deets went on to a graduate assistantship at Oklahoma State. After one year with the Cowboys, he landed his first full-time job at Northwestern State. As head strength and conditioning coach, Deets oversaw all the aspects of strength training for NSU's 14 intercollegiate sports. Deets worked at Texas Christian and Oklahoma State before settling in at Missouri prior to the 2006-07 season.

Conact Michael Bonner at mbonner@gannett.com. Follow @MikeBBonner on Twitter.