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.

SEC Football Media Days are this week, which means media guides for all 14 teams will be unveiled. Below is a sneak peek of the front and back covers for the Rebels' 2012 edition, featuring first-year head coach Hugh Freeze. Guides are included in select UMAA Foundation membership levels and may also be purchased with ticket orders, or you can order a copy here.




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College basketball players are mostly known for their abilities to make jump shots, drive to the rim or play lock-down defense.

What hoops fans don't see is the tireless hours that their favorite athletes spend being a regular student. Their daily challenge is to balance their duties of going to class, attending tutor sessions and completing homework assignments with their responsibilities to watch film, practice and compete at a high level.

This year was a banner year for Ole Miss Hoops in the classroom, as the program continues to make great strides academically during Andy Kennedy's tenure as head coach.

Here are some of the Rebels' academic achievements in 2011-12:

- Prestigious Academic Progress Rate (APR) Public Recognition Award, along with women's basketball, women's golf and softball

- Top multi-year APR score (990) among SEC men's basketball teams

- Perfect APR score (1,000) for 2010-11

- Everyone is currently eligible

- 2012 Spring semester team GPA: 2.41

- Current resident team GPA: 2.47

- Will Norman made the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll for 2011-12

- Will Norman made the Chancellor's Honor Roll for fall 2011

- Aaron Jones and Jelan Kendrick made the UMAA Honor Roll for spring 2012

- Six players raised their resident GPA this semester

- Four players had their highest semester GPA since being at Ole Miss

- Terrance Henry (criminal justice) and Steadman Short (general studies) earned their undergraduate degrees

- Nick Williams (general studies) completed his graduation requirements and plans to pursue a second degree

Follow Rebel Hoops on Twitter @OleMissMBB

Ole Miss' second summer term is underway, and a few more members of the Rebels' 2012 football signing class have arrived on campus. Cody Core, Trae Elson and Anthony Standifer join the eight newcomers who enrolled in the first summer term. Players report for preseason camp on August 2, and here are some other key dates.

July 19, SEC Media Days Session (Marry, Moncrief, Sawyer)
August 2, Players Report
August 3, Rebel Media Day
August 18, Meet the Rebels Day
August 20, First Day of Fall Classes
September 1, Season Opener vs. Central Arkansas


Follow me on twitter @CampbellKyle.

If you watched the Olympic trials tonight from Eugene, Ore., you saw a pair of Rebels earn spots on the U.S.A. Track & Field team in junior sprinter Isiah Young and former long jumper Brittney Reese. They will join India tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi and U.S.A. women's basketball assistant coach Jennifer Gillom among the Ole Miss representation in London. In our history, they will make it 11 Rebels to participate in the Olympics across all sports, and this will mark the seventh games to feature at least one Ole Miss athlete. Here is a breakdown of the all-time list.

Women's Basketball
Jennifer Gillom (USA) - gold medalist, player 1988; assistant coach 2012
Peggie Gillom (USA) - gold medalist, assistant coach 2000
Van Chancellor (USA) - gold medalist, head coach 2004

Track & Field
Allan Ince (Barbados) - men's 400 meter hurdles 1988
Gary Kinder (USA) - men's decathlon 1988
Tony Dees (USA) - silver medalist, men's 100 meter hurdles 1992
Alvin Haynes (Barbados) - men's triple jump 1992
Savante' Stringfellow (USA) - men's long jump 2000
Brittney Reese (USA) - women's long jump 2008, 2012
Isiah Young (USA) - men's 200 meters 2012

Men's Tennis
Mahesh Bhupathi (India) - men's doubles 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012


Follow me on twitter @CampbellKyle.

Competing in the Canadian Women's Tour event in Niagara Falls, Ontario, former Rebel Natalie Gleadall fired the low round of the day, Wednesday, a 6-under 66 to finish with a 4-under 140, good enough for third place.  Gleadall finished as the low amateur, just one shot off the pace.  After opening with a 74, Gleadall carded six birdies and no bogeys to jump up in the standings.

Starting this summer and continuing throughout the season, women's basketball redshirt freshman Gracie Frizzell (Little Rock, Ark.) will be writing a blog letting fans and family members know about Ole Miss women's basketball and life in Oxford and at Ole Miss. Below is her first entry. Future entries will be posted on OleMissSports.com and can be found by clicking here.

Hotty Toddy Rebel Fans,

The first session of summer school is drawing to a close, but with that comes understanding that the first day of practice is drawing nearer...

"It's great to be a Rebel." Ever since I showed up here a year ago for my first experience of being at Ole Miss, I have heard how great it is to be a Rebel. It was really hard for me last year to get the full gist of how great it really was with my knee injury, but going through summer workouts and enduring preparation for what's to come is proving to me that I am lucky to be where I am.

Summer school is always a lot of fun, not only because classes are only two hours a day, but also because I have a lot of time to be able to get in the gym, workout, AND go shopping and hit the pool. Coach D, (Randall Dorvin) our strength coach, has really stepped up in teaching not only technique and agility, but also the mentality of what it takes to be an Ole Miss Rebel.

As a team, we are thankful for what is to come. It's not going to be easy...but what's the point of doing something if it's too easy? We thrive off of competition and the willingness to succeed.

In July, we get to meet our new teammates! We are excited to extend open arms to the newest members of our Rebel family. This team has always been close...like a sisterhood. We support each other on and off the court, and we will treat these newcomers the exact same way.

It's such a blessed opportunity to be here at Ole Miss. To be able to play basketball and get an education is the dream of many...it's great to be a student-athlete, and it's great to be a Rebel.

• G Frizzell 12