It was exciting news this week as Rebel favorite Tom Luke returned to the Ole Miss football program as Assistant A.D. for Player Development. A second-generation Rebel and the brother of fellow Ole Miss standout and staffer Matt Luke, Tom quarterbacked the Rebels to some memorable wins in the early 90s. A few of those games along with many other great moments from the past are available for RebelVision subscribers in the "From the Vault" channel. There are game replays and classic coaches' shows from the 50s to the 2000s. Below are some of Tom Luke's games, and I highly recommend checking out the rest of the content From The Vault.
A little more than a year into his first term as Ole Miss Athletics Director, Ross Bjork made his first trip to Starkville this week but did so for a good cause. Bjork and Bulldog AD Scott Stricklin joined forces Tuesday to headline the Golden
Triangle Friends of Scouting Leadership Dinner held at MSU's Hunter Henry
Center. The annual event is a fundraising effort for the Pushmataha Area
Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which serves some 1,300 young people in
10 counties in east Mississippi. Bjork and Stricklin spoke jointly to the group
on attributes of leadership and the worth of programs like Scouting in
preparing future NCAA student athletes. Shown with the pair are Pushmataha
Council president and MSU Vice President for Student Affairs Bill Kibler,
second from left, and Starkville Boy Scout Troop 14 Eagle Scout Austin Kibler,
second from right. (Photo
by Beth Newman-Wynn, MSU University Relations)
Despite losing the All-American twin duo of Marcel and Chris Thiemann and playing in the toughest conference in America, Ole Miss finished the 2013 regular season with a ranking of No. 7 in the nation.
The regular season was highlighted by Ole Miss' 4-3 win over No. 3 ranked Georgia. The loss was the Bulldog's only SEC loss of the year. The Rebels also own two wins over No. 6 Tennessee, two wins over No. 12 Mississippi State and a win over No. 13 Baylor.
The Rebels claimed their 10th SEC Western Division title, giving them the title in 10 of the 12 years it has been awarded. In addition, Ole Miss also finished in the top four overall in the SEC for the 17th time in 19 years.
All of Ole Miss' success this year has come in the toughest conference in collegiate tennis. The SEC features 11 of the top 25 teams in the country, with four in the top 10. The conference also boasts many of the top players in both singles and doubles. Seven of the top 25 singles players are from the SEC and Ole Miss' Nik Scholtz and Jonas Lutjen are ranked No. 15 and No. 20, respectively. In fact, Ole Miss is the only SEC school and only one of two schools in the nation (the other four-time defending national champion Southern Cal) to feature two top 20 ranked players. The SEC is even stronger in doubles, featuring seven of the top 10 teams including Scholtz and Lutjen at No. 4.
The 2013 regular season came to a conclusion as Ole Miss hosted the SEC Men's Tennis Championship at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center this past weekend. Thirteen of the nation's best teams descended upon Oxford for an exciting weekend of tennis. Following the tournament's conclusion, 12 of the 13 SEC teams are expected to make the NCAA Championships, which begin May 10.
The Rebels are in line to host the first and seconds round of the NCAA Championships. They have been selected to the NCAAs 20 consecutive years and hosted the first and second rounds 10 times.
Injuries have riddled the Ole Miss football team this spring, and after evaluating the situation this week, the coaching staff determined a full scale scrimmage would not be an option for this year's BancorpSouth Grove Bowl. As a result, the format will be a mix of practice drills and scrimmage periods, and the script is below. Players expected to miss Saturday's action include Darone Bailey, Issac Gross, Chase Hughes, C.J. Johnson, Patrick Junen, Collins Moore, Christian Morgan, Aaron Morris, Vince Sanders, Charles Sawyer, Bo Wallace and Taz Zettergren, while Donte Moncrief and Ontario Berry will be limited in their participation.
FG/PAT 1-on-1 (QB, WR, DB)/ Insides (OL, DL, RB, LB) Scrimmage (-35) Red Zone 1-on-1 (QB, WR, DB) Punt Scrimmage (50) Red Zone Skelly (7-on-7) Scrimmage (+30) Overtime (+25)
Former Ole Miss All-Americans and collegiate top-10 doubles duo Kristi Boxx and Abby Guthrie have reunited to compete in the $25,000 USTA St. Dominic Pro Circuit women's event in Jackson. The event, which began
Sunday, will run through April 7 at the River Hills Club.
The pair will begin their tournament in the main draw doubles Tuesday.
Boxx, a former two-time All American in both singles and doubles, became
the second player in Ole Miss history to achieve 200 wins combined in
singles and doubles and became the second player in program history to
earn All-SEC first team honors all four years. Boxx and Guthrie ended
their senior year at No. 7 in the nation in doubles.
Guthrie, a
doubles specialist, helped lead the Rebels to four straight NCAA
tournament appearances. She finished her senior year ranked No. 15 in
the Southern Region in addition to ranking top 10 in doubles with Boxx.
Boxx
graduated from Ole Miss in 2012. Guthrie is finishing up her degree
and remains active with the Ole Miss women's team as a student
assistant.
Also in the field this week is former Rebel Nika
Koukhartchouk, who is competing in singles. The former All-SEC honoree
is currently ranked 467 in the world.
They have since returned to Oxford and been knee-deep in schoolwork and football practices, but I was able to catch up with senior linebacker D.T. Shackelford, who shared his thoughts on the experience:
"It was life changing. To be able to influence others, it's just a blessing that God enabled us to use our platform to affect others in a positive way. That's something Coach Freeze stresses a lot - use your life for something positive and not anything negative. There are a lot of people in this town that look up to us."
I asked D.T. after this past Wednesday's practice what lessons he and the other guys learned from the trip.
"Gratefulness. I don't think it's a coincidence that I went. Being away from the game for two years, I have to be grateful that I don't struggle like some people in the places that we went. Gratefulness that I don't miss meals. Your perspective on life changes.
"We just finished practice and we're about to go eat a full breakfast and get a free education. Everything's basically free. All of us have cars. We're not missing meals. It's the little things you can take for granted that a lot of people around the world don't get on a daily basis."
Ole Miss' run to the SEC Tournament title and the Big Dance received national coverage for the team and university during the March Madness. Below is just a sampling of mountain of press the Rebels have gotten including a tweet from King James himself.
Michaela Quinn, a member of the 2013 Ole Miss track & field signing class, turned in a great performance at the World Junior Cross Country Championships over the weekend.
Competing as a member of Team Australia, Quinn placed 25th in the girls' 6K race with an impressive time of 19:39. She crossed the line ahead of 61 other competitors, including four of the best American female high school distance runners.
As a point of reference, 19:39 would have been the best 6K time of an SEC cross country runner in 2012 and would have placed her fifth at the 2012 NCAA Championships.
What made Quinn's race even more impressive was that she and her teammates traveled from the heat of the summer in Australia to below-freezing temperatures in Bydgoszcz, Poland, for the meet.
Looks like the Rebels found a great addition for next year's team!
Colton Walls, a sophomore linebacker who started his
career at Clemson, is among the non-scholarship players to join the Ole Miss football
team this spring.
Rebel fans will be quite familiar with his last name. Colton's
father, Wesley Walls, was an All-America tight end/linebacker for the Rebels in
1988 and went on to a successful 14-year NFL career that included five Pro Bowl
appearances. Just last week, Wesley was one of 77 players named to the ballot
for the College Football Hall of Fame.
Colton is the next in a long line of father/son combos to
play for Ole Miss through the years. Names like Archie, Cooper and Eli Manning
come to mind. And others, like Poole, Luke, Shows, Kinard. Current Rebel wide
receiver Jordan Holder is the son of two-time Ole Miss captain Jamie Holder.
Spring practice starts this Sunday at 3 p.m. All practices
are open to the public. Here's a link to the full spring schedule.
The up-to-date 2013 roster entering spring practice is online
at OleMissSports.com. Other walk-ons joining the team this spring include DB Josh
Gregory, OL Tyler Mt. Joy, RB Darryan Ragsdale and OL Park Stevens.
GREAT JOB THIS YEAR GUYS - WISHING THE REBELS THE VERY BEST IN THE COMPASS BOWL - LETS PICK A FIGHT WITH PITT AND SHOW THEM WHAT OUR REBELS ARE ALL ABOUT. HOTTY-TODDY - GO REBELS. BE BLESSED AND GOOD LUCK!
Very awesome to hear Dori!! I am a very fortunate to be able to caddie in Portland's Safeway Classic every year and this year had caddied for a good friend of yours (Lacey) and met you. I see great things in your future Dori. Keep up the good work
Rumor has it that Paul Dongieux will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this fall. The Rebels would be wise to study his legacy. Heart of a lion and a will to win against any odds. I can still hear the thousands chanting his name after his murderous tackle beat LSU in 69.
Colton Walls, a sophomore linebacker who started his
career at Clemson, is among the non-scholarship players to join the Ole Miss football
team this spring.
