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Rebels Host Exhibition Monday Night
Nov. 3, 2012 EXHIBITION Ole Miss (0-0) vs. Montevallo (0-0) Date: Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 TIP OFF • Ole Miss officially opens the 2012-13 season at home on Nov. 9 against Mississippi Valley State. • Ole Miss was the only team in the SEC recognized by the NCAA last season for being in the top-10 percent of teams in the men's basketball Academic Progress Rate. • Ole Miss returns four full-time starters from last year's squad (Nick Williams - 32 , Murphy Holloway - 30, Jarvis Summers - 30, Reginald Buckner - 25) that started a combined 117 games last season and boasts 228 career starts. • Who are the Rebels' top returning statistical leaders? Murphy Holloway in scoring (11.2 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg) and steals (1.6 spg), Reginald Buckner in blocked shots (2.2 bpg) and Jarvis Summers in assists (3.4 apg). Ole Miss returns 67.2 percent of its scoring and 67.1 percent of its rebounding from a year ago. • Sophomore guards Jarvis Summers and LaDarius White finished the 2011-12 season on a tear, with Summers averaging 14.5 ppg over his final six games and White posting 11.8 ppg over his final five contests. • Senior forward Reginald Buckner already holds the Ole Miss career record in blocked shots (228) and ranks sixteenth in SEC history in that category. KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION BEGINS SEVENTH YEAR In six seasons under Mississippi native Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss has a 125-78 record (most wins by an Ole Miss coach in a six-year period), two SEC West championships, five 20-win campaigns and five postseason berths, which includes a pair of trips to the NIT Final Four. The Rebels have their sights set on challenging for the program's first NCAA Tournament bid since 2002, as Kennedy enters his seventh year at the helm. RETURNING REBELS • Ole Miss returns four full-time starters from last year's squad (Nick Williams - 32 , Murphy Holloway - 30, Jarvis Summers - 30, Reginald Buckner - 25) that started a combined 117 games last season and boasts 228 career starts. • Who are the Rebels' top returning statistical leaders? Murphy Holloway in scoring (11.2 ppg), rebounding (9.0 rpg) and steals (1.6 spg), Reginald Buckner in blocked shots (2.2 bpg) and Jarvis Summers in assists (3.4 apg). Ole Miss returns 67.2 percent of its scoring and 67.1 percent of its rebounding from a year ago. • Sophomore guards Jarvis Summers and LaDarius White finished the 2011-12 season on a tear, with Summers averaging 14.5 ppg over his final six games and White posting 11.8 ppg over his final five contests. • Senior forward Reginald Buckner already holds the Ole Miss career record in blocked shots (228) and ranks sixteenth in SEC history in that category. The Memphis, Tenn., native became the first player in school history to be named to the SEC All-Defensive Team in back-to-back seasons last year. BIG SHOES TO FILL Ole Miss lost 1,000-point scorer Terrance Henry (1,095 points) to graduation. Henry started all 34 games for the Rebels last season and led the team in scoring (12.5 ppg), while finishing second on the squad in blocks (35) and third in rebounding (4.3 rpg). his production each year of his four-year stay and finished with more than 1,200 career points. FRESH FACES The Rebels added six newcomers to this year's team - four freshmen and two junior college players - including the National Junior College Player of the Year in Marshall Henderson, who led South Plains College to the junior college national championship and No. 1 ranking in the NJCAA with a perfect 36-0 record after averaging 19.6 ppg. Ole Miss also added 6-8 junior college forward Jason Carter, who originally signed with Alabama out of high school. The Rebels signed four prep players highlighted by Martavious Newby, who averaged 23.1 points and 7.2 rebounds as a senior at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis and earned the Tennessee Class A Mr. Basketball honors. Terry Brutus comes to Oxford after averaging 17.0 points and 9.0 rebounds for coach Chad Myers at Massanutten Military Academy, while leading the Colonels to the eight-team National Prep Championships. Derrick Millinghaus averaged 28 ppg and shot 43 percent from beyond the arc for coach Tyson Waterman at Believe Academy (N.C.), while Anthony Perez, a native of Venezuela, averaged 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists per game as a senior at Montverde Academy (Fla.) where he helped lead the team to the NHSI Basketball National Championship game. SCOUTING THE FALCONS Montevallo, a Division II program in Montevallo, Ala., returns three starters from last year's team which advanced to the NCAA Division II national championship game. The Falcons also captured the Peach Belt Conference West Division title during the regular season before taking home the Peach Belt Conference Tournament and NCAA Division II Southeast Region Tournament Championship hardware in the postseason. Montevallo finished the season with a 29-8 record, with the program's 29 wins tying the record for the most in a single season set by the 2005-2006 squad. The Falcons dropped their first exhibition game of the season 70-61 at Purdue on Oct. 30. Junior Troran Brown contributed 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, including a 4-of-5 performance from beyond the arc, and six boards. Sophomore Ryan May, who also grabbed six rebounds, added eight points, while senior Drico Hightower chipped in seven points. ALABAMA REBELS Several members of the Rebel family call Alabama their "sweet home." Senior guard Nick Williams is a native of Mobile and was the 2008 6A State Player of the Year. Assistant coach Bill Armstrong is from Birmingham and played collegiately at UAB, while coordinator of operations Dayton Miller also hails Birmingham and was a three-year letterman at Montevallo from 2004-06, helping the Falcons go 78-22 during that span with three NCAA appearances, including a run to the D-II Elite Eight in 2006. In addition, head coach Andy Kennedy spent three years playing at UAB and later served assistant coaching stints for both the Blazers and the South Alabama Jaguars. PRESEASON PROJECTIONS Ole Miss was predicted to finish seventh in the SEC in the preseason media poll. The league eliminated the East and West divisions for the 2011-12 season. Kentucky was tabbed league champion, followed by Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama and Ole Miss. Rounding out the predictions were Georgia, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, LSU, Auburn, South Carolina and Mississippi State. Athlon also tabbed Murphy Holloway to the national All-Underrated first team. FIVE POSTSEASON BERTHS IN SIX YEARS With a selection to last year's NIT, Ole Miss earned its fifth postseason berth in six seasons. Andy Kennedy is the first coach in school history to lead the Rebels to five postseason appearances. Ole Missalso made NIT appearances in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011, reaching the Final Four in New York in 2008 and 2010. REBELS REACH 20 WINS ... AGAIN The Rebels reached 20 wins last year for the fifth time in the last six seasons under Andy Kennedy. Ole Miss had seven 20-win campaigns in the 96 seasons prior to Kennedy's arrival in Oxford. He is just the sixth coach in SEC history to guide his teams to 20+ wins in five of his first six seasons. The others: Joe. B. Hall (Kentucky), Don DeVoe (Tennessee), Rick Pitino (Kentucky), Tubby Smith (Kentucky) and Bruce Pearl (Tennessee). KENNEDY'S FIRST SIX YEARS RANKS AMONG ALL-TIME SEC GREATS With his 125th win vs. Tennessee last season, Andy Kennedy passed future Hall of Famer Billy Donovan and has the sixth-most wins by an SEC head coach in his first six years in the league. 1. Rick Pitino (Kentucky) - 150 KENNEDY HAS MOST OVERALL WINS AND SEC WINS IN A SIX-YEAR PERIOD With 20 wins last year, Andy Kennedy has the most overall wins by an Ole Miss head coach in a six-year span (125). With eight league victories last season, his total of 46 is also the most SEC wins over a six-year span. Kennedy already ranks third in Ole Miss career victories behind B.L. "Country" Graham (144 wins in 13 seasons) and Rod Barnes (141 wins in 8 seasons). DEFENDING HOME COURT Winning at home has been a trademark of Andy Kennedy's squads since he took the reins in 2006-07. Ole Miss is 84-18 (.824 win pct.) in games played at Tad Smith Coliseum during Kennedy's tenure, including a 12-3 record last season. Ole Miss has won 215 of its last 265 games (.811 win pct.) in Oxford dating back to the 1995-96 campaign. The Rebels have an all-time record of 448-197 (.695 win pct.) at Tad Smith Coliseum, which opened in 1965-66. NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS The Rebels boast a 75-21 record (.779 win pct.) against teams outside the SEC since Andy Kennedy took over in 2006-07, including a 51-2 mark at home. The Rebels went 10-4 against non-league teams in the regular season. WINNING SEASONS Ole Miss boasted a sixth straight winning season in 2011-12. The last time the school had six straight winning campaigns was the 1996-97 to 2001-02 seasons. Andy Kennedy is only the second coach in school history to guide the Rebels to six straight winning seasons. The other was R.L. Sullivan (1920-25). THE HOLLOWAY FACTOR The court presence of senior F Murphy Holloway was of measurable value for the Rebels last year. The second team All-SEC selection (Blue Ribbon) and All-SEC honorable mention pick (AP) was sorely missed after he sprained his ankle in the second half against Middle Tennessee (Dec. 21). The Rebels went on to drop that contest and two of the next three without him. He returned against Arkansas to score 19 points, grab 14 rebounds and effectively energize his teammates in leading the Rebels to victory. He was particularly effective in the SEC Tournament with a 13-point, 13-rebound effort in the first-round win over Auburn and 14 points and 10 boards in the win over Tennessee. Ole Miss was 19-10 last year when Holloway plays the whole game. HOLLOWAY IS MASTER OF THE GLASS Entering his final season at Ole Miss F Murphy Holloway has broken into the school's top 10 for career rebounds. He enters his senior season with 743 boards, which is ninth-most in school history. He needs 12 more to pass Coolidge Ball (754) for eighth place on the Rebels' all-time chart. Holloway become just the second Rebel (Dwayne Curtis - 9.6 in 2007-08) since 1980 to average 9.0 boards per game last season. SUMMERS, WHITE HEAT UP DOWN THE STRETCH Sophomore guards Jarvis Summers and LaDarius White both closed out their freshman campaign on a roll. Summers averaged 14.5 ppg over his final six games. He scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half to help the Rebels come from behind in a 77-75 road win at Arkansas and scored 17 huge points in the 77-72 overtime win against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. He posted 16 in the Rebels' NIT game versus Illinois State. White posted 11.8 ppg over his final five contests, including 13 points in the SEC Tournament semifinals against Vanderbilt and a career-high 25 points against Illinois State in the NIT. |
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