DO NOT MISS REBEL BASKETBALL

Basketball Related Discussions

Moderator: Rebel Security

Post Reply
User avatar
rebeljim
Rebel Legend
Rebel Legend
Posts: 6315
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2002 12:16 pm
Location: Southaven, Ms.

2017-18 Ole Miss Men's Basketball Season Preview

There is a lot of buzz surrounding Ole Miss Basketball, and it’s for good reason. After all, the Rebels return a plethora of talent that combined for 118 starts last season.

“I like this group. I like what I have seen to this point. I think we have a good mix of old with new. I think we are athletic and have some versatility,” said head coach Andy Kennedy, the Dean of the SEC who enters his 12th at Ole Miss as the winningest coach in program history.

Four starters are back in Deandre Burnett, Terence Davis, Justas Furmanavicius and Breein Tyree. Add in Marcanvis Hymon, who started 24 contests before becoming a focal point off the bench, and the Rebels return a deep corps from a squad that won 22 games and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

Averaging a combined 31.4 points per game last season, Burnett and Davis will be the 13th-highest scoring duo in the country. After sitting out a year due to transferring from Miami (Fla.), Burnett made an immediate impact on the Rebels during the 2016-17 campaign. The guard averaged a team-high 16.5 ppg and finished fifth in the SEC in both free-throw percentage (88.1) and three-point percentage (37.6).

“This is the first time in his collegiate career he is going to play back-to-back years,” said Kennedy.

Davis burst onto the scene as a sophomore, averaging 14.9 ppg after only providing 1.8 ppg as a freshman. Shooting 48.2 percent from the field, the Southaven, Mississippi, native ranked fourth in the league and recorded 20+ points in six different games. He quickly became a playmaker on both sides of the floor, leading the Rebels with 50 steals as well.

Throughout summer workouts and the first few weeks of practice, Kennedy likes what he sees out of his talented guard. “TD (Davis) is probably playing better than he ever has been at this point,” said Kennedy.

Another Rebel who emerged as an important piece to the offense was Tyree. Tearing his ACL before arriving in Oxford, he slowly gained experience at the start of the 2016-17 season. As he continued to get healthier, Tyree played a more prominent role and started the final 20 games as the Rebels’ point guard. He averaged 9.3 ppg during SEC play and provided a career-high 24 points in a overtime win at rival Mississippi State. A year removed from being cleared to play, Tyree is now 100 percent and ready to make another jump similar to what Davis did last year.

“He was a phenomenal athlete when we recruited him, and he wasn’t even cleared to play until November of last year,” said Kennedy, who has the fourth-most wins in SEC history by a coach in his first 11 years in the league at one school, trailing only Joe B. Hall (Kentucky), Billy Donovan (Florida) and Wimp Sanderson (Alabama). “He was being introduced to college basketball as a freshman when the games started, which is a very difficult transition. He barely played early and then ended up being our starting point guard. He was not close to the athlete, even though he made some athletic plays, to where he is now.”

Adding to the depth of the guard group is someone who is a veteran on the court but a newcomer to Oxford. Markel Crawford will spend his final year of eligibility as a Rebel after earning his bachelor’s degree at the University of Memphis. For the Tigers, Crawford averaged 12.8 ppg and led the team with 42 3-pointers, while shooting 47.8 percent from the floor.

“Breein (Tyree) is back healthy for year two, and Terence Davis, who had a monster sophomore year, is much more comfortable in his role making decisions with the ball. Deandre Burnett, after being in the program now over a year as a fifth-year senior is a guy that we trust with the ball. Then you bring in a guy like Markel Crawford, who’s basketball IQ is off the charts, who can play a multiple positions and for the most part makes good decisions with the ball. I think overall it gives us a lot of good playmakers on the perimeter, which leads to our versatility.”

While Ole Miss has plenty of contributors back, one major piece of the puzzle will be missing with the graduation of Sebastian Saiz. The Madrid, Spain, native was a fan favorite and etched his name throughout the program record book. As a senior, Saiz was a double-double machine by averaging 15.1 ppg and 11.4 rpg, the only player in the league to average a double-double. He set the school record for rebounds in a single season by pulling down 409 boards. Saiz also became the seventh player in SEC history with 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 100 blocked shots for a career.

Kennedy will look to a number of Rebels to help fill the void left by Saiz. Furmanavicius and Hymon have the most experience in the frontcourt. In his first season at Ole Miss, Furmanavicius averaged 6.3 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Hymon also pulled down five boards per game, and the duo registered a combined 78 blocks; Hymon led the Rebels with 40 rejections last season. Another returner is Karlis Silins (6-11, 245), who played in eight games before suffering a torn ACL to missing the rest of the season.

Ole Miss also has Dominik Olejniczak (7-0, 255) available, who sat out last season after transferring from Drake. A native of Torun, Poland, Olejniczak is the first 7-footer on any Ole Miss roster during the Kennedy era.

“Dom gives us a big presence at the basket,” Kennedy said. “I don’t think Dom is going to do what Reggie Buckner did, Reggie is still top five in the history of the SEC as far as shot blocks, but he does give us a real presence as far as length and athleticism, which allows us to be more aggressive defensively.”

Another newcomer that is expected to make an immediate impact is Bruce Stevens (6-8, 252), a transfer from Jones County Junior College. The No. 6 rated junior college player in the nation according to JUCORecruiting.com, Stevens averaged 16.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game last season en route to first team All-America honors from the NJCAA. The Louin, Mississippi, native shot 51.3 percent from the field, 81.6 percent from the free throw line and 37.5 percent from 3. Kennedy is looking to use Stevens’ versatility in the team’s frontcourt.

“Bruce is a guy that we are trying to get where we can play he and Dom together,” Kennedy said. “Bruce came here as a five. He is 6-foot-8, 260 pounds, athletic, he can shoot it. If you had to categorize it, he is probably a stretch five and we need him to play some stretch four.”

Stevens’ Jones County teammate, David “D.C.” Davis, joins the team as well after averaging 15.9 ppg for the Bobcats last year. While he comes in as a sophomore, a pair of freshman guards will look to find their roles in the rotation.

Devontae Shuler (6-2, 192) joins the Rebels as a composite four-star guard out of perennial powerhouse Oak Hill Academy. The top shooting guard signee in the SEC by HoopSeen.com as well as the No. 100 player in the nation by 247 Sports and Scout.com, Shuler averaged 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.7 steals per game as a senior. The dynamic guard also helped lead Oak Hill to a 45-1 record and a national championship during his junior campaign.

“He’s got a chance to lead the SEC in scoring one day,” Kennedy said. “It won’t be this year, but down the road. His role will be a little different as a freshman.”

A late signee, Ilya Tyrtyshnik makes his way to Ole Miss via Ukraine. The 6-3 guard, nicknamed “Mouse,” represented his country in the FIBA U20 European Championships over the summer and adds more depth to the Rebel backcourt.

It’s no secret that Kennedy has taken the Rebels to new heights. Ole Miss has an all-time record of 1,281-1,282 and has a chance to go over .500 as a program for the first time since 1958. Ole Miss was 95 games under .500 all-time when Kennedy arrived in Oxford. Now, with arguably his deepest team since he’s been at Ole Miss, the sky is the limit for this year’s squad.

“Really the things you judge at this stage is to make sure everybody’s attitude is right and that we’re getting great effort, and we are certainly doing that,” Kennedy said. “We have been together long enough now that we are starting to establish an identity as a team. I think we are athletic, versatile and have a number of interactive pieces, and now it’s just a matter of continuing to figure out a way to be successful.”

The Rebels will play 18 games, including nine SEC games, inside the $96.5 million Pavilion at Ole Miss. It will be the second full season in one of the best arenas in college basketball.

Ole Miss lifts the lid on the 2017-18 campaign Nov. 10 against Louisiana in The Pavilion, while the always-challenging Southeastern Conference slate begins at home New Year’s Eve versus South Carolina.

http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-b ... 17aaa.html
u can never judge a book by how it chews its food
User avatar
GtownRebel
All American
All American
Posts: 1742
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2002 3:40 pm
Location: Zionsville, IN

Just win.
Post Reply