If you recall our story back in May, Coach Hugh Freeze teamed up with Rebel hoops great Sean Tuohy to raise some big bucks for charity in the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge. An additional $20K was added to the donation to bring Ole Miss' total contributions this year to $87,500. A Chick-fil-A Bowl Endowed Scholarship Fund houses $60K of that total.

Watch Freeze and Tuohy tee it up Sunday, as highlights of the tournament will air on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. CT. It will broadcast again on December 29 at 10 a.m.


Follow me on twitter @CampbellKyle.

The Rebels have done SEC Media Days and the ESPN Car Wash, and now it's the local media's turn. Rebel Media Day activities are set for Friday afternoon on campus, and this year, one fan can have their voice heard. During his press conference at 2 p.m., Coach Hugh Freeze will take one question tweeted by a fan. To propose your question, tweet it to @OleMissFB and use the hashtag #AskFreeze.

RebelVision subscribers can follow Media Day live starting with the press conference and followed by interviews with several key players. Coach Freeze's media rotation will also include a couple live radio interviews, and the list is below. Stay tuned for a lot of Rebel buzz in the air Friday, including a full recap on the official site.

2:50pm - ESPN Radio Chattanooga  - Listen
3:05pm - ESPN Radio Nashville - Listen


Follow me on twitter @CampbellKyle.

Most people think of professional tennis as an individual sport.  There is Davis Cup, which pits one country versus another in a team atmosphere and then there is World Team Tennis.  It features some of the biggest names in the world playing together in an innovative co-ed team format that offers exciting opportunities for players, fans, communities and sponsors.

Former Rebel Devin Britton is experiencing WTT for the first time this year as a member of the Springfield Lasers, one of eight teams in the pro league.  The Springfield Lasers are one of four teams in the Western Conference. 

Unlike most tennis professionals, Britton has some experience playing on a team.  In 2009, he was a member of the Ole Miss men's tennis team, helping lead the Rebels to an SEC Championship as well as the NCAA Elite Eight. 

Last night, the Mississippi native helped lead the Lasers to a win against the Kansas City Explorers, sending numerous fans home with souvenir tennis balls.  Here is a recap from the Springfield News-Leader. 

Golf is a game of inches.  Even the greatest champions have experienced the highs and lows.  We all saw it last Sunday, when Adam Scott had a four-stroke lead with four holes to play to win the Open Championship and let it slip away. 

Former Rebel golf All-American Jonathan Randolph hopes one day to be on that same stage.  Right now, the Mississippi native is riding a wave of momentum after finishing in a tie for 21st at last week's PGA Tour True South Classic in Madison, near his hometown of Brandon. 

This week Randolph is competing in the Colorado Open--one of the biggest state open championships in the country--on a sponsor's exemption.

Randolph was featured in Wednesday's edition of the Denver Post: Jonathan Randolph has game rolling in right direction heading into HealthOne Colorado Open. 

Randolph shot 66 in Thursday's first round at the Green Valley Ranch Club and was at the top of the leaderboard.

Former Ole Miss soccer player, goalkeeper Ann Shelton, is featured in the SEC's 40/40 series today.

Shelton, who played at Ole Miss from 2004-07, still holds the Rebel record for goals against average in a career (0.90) and GAA in a season (0.27).

An excerpt from the feature is below:

Ann Shelton is the ultimate team player. Even today, nearly five years since she last played in goal for the Ole Miss soccer team, Shelton remains the consummate team player. Getting Shelton to talk about herself, rather than her team, is tough because no matter the situation, she seems to take a team approach.  

Growing up in Tullahoma, Tenn., Shelton had eyes for another sport before soccer. "I had always played basketball, so I thought I was going to go to college and play basketball," she says. "Soccer wasn't big growing up in Tennessee, so I played basketball. Because I was so tall, they wanted me to play post, and I said 'no, I'm not going to be this tall forever, I'm the point guard, I'm not going to play post.' Basketball was my first love.

The feature was written by Tim Letcher.  Click here to read the full feature.

Ole Miss rising senior Isiah Young will represent Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. Young burst onto the international scene with a record-breaking junior year for the Rebels. He will run the 200 meters in London, an event in which he broke the school record, claimed an SEC title and was named an All-American earlier this year.

Fast Facts

Name: Isiah Young
Year: Rising senior
Hometown: Junction City, Kansas
Age: 22
Junior College: Allen Community College
Personal-best 200m: 20.16
Personal-best 100m: 10.08

Blog entry - July 26, 2012

My training in Europe has been great! I love getting to work with some of the professionals, and we give it everything we've got at practice. Europe has been good. I took some pictures. I head to the Olympic village on Thursday, and that's when I get to see everything and other athletes from other countries. So I'm just in Birmingham (England) training right now.

I'm most excited to see everybody that's going to be representing the USA at the Games and for when they call us to come up at the Opening Ceremonies. I plan on going to see as many of the sports and events as I can to get my mind off my race until it gets here. I've got to see the basketball team and see how big some of those players really are.

Ole Miss fans, thanks for the support. It's a true blessing to make it all the way here. All or nothing at everything u do!

Until next time,

-Isiah

Blog entry - July 18, 2012

Well, my flight to Europe was great!! That is, all three of them that it took to get over here. The two shorter flights I got the window seat, and for my 9-hour flight I got the whole row!! I flew into Houston, then to London. London is too nice! Then I got picked up and dipped off to Monaco.

All I'm doing for this meet in Monaco is just the 4x1 relay. (The meet is a Samsung Diamond League competition on Friday, July 20).

I'm just looking forward to how the living style is over here. I've seen a rich lifestyle up here. It would be an honor to even be a janitor in Monaco. And the food is different here. I don't know why, it just tastes different.

I will get to London probably on Monday.

That's all for now. Talk to you again soon. Go Rebels! Go USA!

-Isiah

It's been almost a year since Mississippi native and ex-Reb golfer Jonathan Randolph turned pro.  Sunday, he earned his biggest pay day as a professional, finishing tied for 21st at the PGA Tour's True South Classic in Madison and earning $26,700.

The Brandon native received a sponsor's exemption for the third year in a row.  The previous two years, Randolph played in the field as an amateur, and even made the cut last year.

Randolph has been traveling the country this summer playing on the NGA Tour for smaller purses and also playing in Monday qualifiers for Tour events.  This weekend, he nearly doubled his earnings on that tour.

The former Ole Miss All-American and three-time All-SEC honoree carded a 67 in the first round and followed up with a 69 in the second round.  After weather disrupted the schedule each day, Randolph spent about 14 hours on the course Saturday. When he left the course at 8:06 pm Randolph stood in a tie for sixth at -12 with just a few holes remaining in his third round.

A top 10 finish would have earned Randolph a spot in next week's Canadian Open, but it was not meant to be, as he struggled to get anything going in the final round.

"It was a frustrating day out there today," Randolph said after his final round 72.  "Still, it was a great week and I appreciate John Marovich (Tournament Director) and the committee of the True South Classic for giving me a chance to play this week.  It was an unbelievable experience."

Randolph had plenty of support this week from family and friends and even had one of his former coaches--current Ole Miss assistant coach Jack O'Keefe--caddying for him.

Head coach Ernest Ross enjoyed following his former player on TV.  "Everyone associated with Ole Miss and the state of Mississippi should be proud of Jonathan. He had a great week. It's always fun to test your game against the best players in the world.  I know he would have liked to have had a better final round, but he still had a great week.  I am really proud of him."

Even the Governor (Phil Bryant) made an appearance on The Golf Channel's coverage Sunday, and praised Randolph, who hails from the same hometown as Bryant.

It's the life Randolph always dreamed of when he was a standard bearer as a young teenager at the Mississippi PGA Tour event.  Clarion-Ledger sports editor Rusty Hampton wrote about Randolph in Sunday's edition.  Click here to read it.

 

 

             

             

              

The SEC media frenzy continues this week, as all 14 league coaches head to Bristol, Conn., for ESPN's second annual SEC Car Wash. Our own Hugh Freeze will be at the Worldwide Leader on Tuesday and will be jumping from platform to platform to spread the good word on the Rebels. His schedule is below, and follow @CoachHughFreeze, @mtjrolemiss and myself (@CampbellKyle) on twitter for updates during the day.

One note to fans, followers of ESPN's official college football feed, @ESPNCFB, are asked to tweet in questions to ask Coach Freeze while he is on campus. Questions will be retweeted and then answered in a tweet at some point throughout the day. Questions should be directed to @ESPNCFB with the hashtag #ESPNFreeze.

10:25 am CT - @ESPNCFB Questions
11 am CT - ESPN.com chat
11:35 am CT - ESPNU
12:15 pm CT - SportsCenter (tape)
12:30 pm CT - Twitter chat
12:45 pm CT - Playbook
1:20 pm CT - College Football Live
2 pm CT - Recruiting Nation


Follow me on twitter @CampbellKyle.

If you follow @OleMissFB or myself on twitter, we hopefully gave you a good feel for the circus that is SEC Football Media Days. However, it was definitely a successful debut in Hoover for Rebel head coach Hugh Freeze and player reps Mike Marry, Donte Moncrief and Charles Sawyer. There was a record 1,085 media on hand for the three-day extravaganza, and I had several tell me how impressed they were with the professionalism of the Rebel contingency. We posted a recap of the trip Thursday on the official site, including video and photos, and here are some of the early media reports from the appearance. I'm sure there will be more in the days to come.

Hugh Freeze not at a loss for words (James Carr, Fox Sports)

Moncrief pushing WRs harder this summer (Edward Aschoff, ESPN.com)

Hugh Freeze bringing new attitude to Ole Miss (Mike Herndon, Press Register)

Freeze enjoying the process of reviving Ole Miss (Brandon Shields, Jackson Sun)


Follow me on twitter @CampbellKyle.

Mississippi's annual PGA Tour stop begins Thursday at Annandale in Madison.  The True South Classic is held opposite the Open Championship again, but there will be plenty of young rising stars in the field, including former Rebel All-American and local product Jonathan Randolph. 

This is the third year in a row Randolph will tee it up in this event after receiving a sponsor's exemption.  He made the cut last year.

Randolph met with local media Tuesday after playing in the Junior Pro Am and talked about the competition.

"You know, I think it's a really solid field, not a whole lot of names that jump off the page at a lot of people but if you follow golf, you know everybody here. The guy who wins this tournament usually goes on and he's a great star. Billy Haas won the FedEx Cup a couple of years after he won this one. Some people think its diamonds in the rough, but there are a whole lot more diamonds out here than there is rough," Randolph stated.

Randolph, who set his name in the record books at Ole Miss, will tee off at 8:50 a.m. Thursday from the 10th tee.  He plays with veterans Parker McLachlin and Tom Byrum.