R.I.P. SEC Basketball

[done]

Now that the SEC men's basketball season has mercifully been taken off of life support, I think we need to realize that we have gradually, but surely, become the weakest basketball conference from top to bottom of all the major conferences. The CUSA may be the only reason I am not saying that we are the weakest top to bottom of ALL the conferences period!

Here is a thought...I know we can't drop basketball and still be a major conference...but maybe we could take the Vanderbilt approach to athletics one step further as it relates to basketball.

1) Cease giving basketball scholarships

2) Field teams of walk ons who are only on the court because of their love of the game and love of Ole Miss and the other SEC schools (not because the NCAA is now the NBA farm system)

3) Use some of the freed up scholarship money to create full baseball scholarships and some to help our Title IX standing.

4) To save money, do like high schools and schedule boys and girls games on same day and have them travel together...of course to keep the SEC crowds, we may want to play the boys games first.

5) Get faculty volunteers to coach the basketball team and pay them a nominal stipend on top of their teaching salary like high school coaches get. We should require them all to attend a week long coaching seminar in the summer to be conducted by Pat Summit.

6) Re-engineer the new Ole Miss practice facility and use it as a game venue for the women's volleyball team (also looks good for Title IX compliance)

7) Add any remaining net savings to the football budget...


just a thought.....

[OMNOB]

Wow. I sure am glad that you are not running the athletic dept. and am doubly glad that there is no way in looney green hell that will ever happen.

[hottytoddyrebel]

Now that the SEC men's basketball season has mercifully been taken off of life support, I think we need to realize that we have gradually, but surely, become the weakest basketball conference from top to bottom of all the major conferences. The CUSA may be the only reason I am not saying that we are the weakest top to bottom of ALL the conferences period!

Here is a thought...I know we can't drop basketball and still be a major conference...but maybe we could take the Vanderbilt approach to athletics one step further as it relates to basketball.

1) Cease giving basketball scholarships

2) Field teams of walk ons who are only on the court because of their love of the game and love of Ole Miss and the other SEC schools (not because the NCAA is now the NBA farm system)

3) Use some of the freed up scholarship money to create full baseball scholarships and some to help our Title IX standing.

4) To save money, do like high schools and schedule boys and girls games on same day and have them travel together...of course to keep the SEC crowds, we may want to play the boys games first.

5) Get faculty volunteers to coach the basketball team and pay them a nominal stipend on top of their teaching salary like high school coaches get. We should require them all to attend a week long coaching seminar in the summer to be conducted by Pat Summit.

6) Re-engineer the new Ole Miss practice facility and use it as a game venue for the women's volleyball team (also looks good for Title IX compliance)

7) Add any remaining net savings to the football budget...


just a thought.....

I'm pretty sure Florida just got done winning not one but two national titles.... I'd love to hear what they think of your idea.

[done]

Now that the SEC men's basketball season has mercifully been taken off of life support, I think we need to realize that we have gradually, but surely, become the weakest basketball conference from top to bottom of all the major conferences. The CUSA may be the only reason I am not saying that we are the weakest top to bottom of ALL the conferences period!

Here is a thought...I know we can't drop basketball and still be a major conference...but maybe we could take the Vanderbilt approach to athletics one step further as it relates to basketball.

1) Cease giving basketball scholarships

2) Field teams of walk ons who are only on the court because of their love of the game and love of Ole Miss and the other SEC schools (not because the NCAA is now the NBA farm system)

3) Use some of the freed up scholarship money to create full baseball scholarships and some to help our Title IX standing.

4) To save money, do like high schools and schedule boys and girls games on same day and have them travel together...of course to keep the SEC crowds, we may want to play the boys games first.

5) Get faculty volunteers to coach the basketball team and pay them a nominal stipend on top of their teaching salary like high school coaches get. We should require them all to attend a week long coaching seminar in the summer to be conducted by Pat Summit.

6) Re-engineer the new Ole Miss practice facility and use it as a game venue for the women's volleyball team (also looks good for Title IX compliance)

7) Add any remaining net savings to the football budget...


just a thought.....

I'm pretty sure Florida just got done winning not one but two national titles.... I'd love to hear what they think of your idea.

Lighten up, it was a joke....mostly.

But I do believe that we are the weakest basketball conference and do not see that changing anytime soon. Florida was a one team success where they had five special players stay in school together, but that one team doesn't disprove our weakness as an overall basketball conference anymore than Memphis disproves CUSA's overall weakness.

We are weak.

[oxfordrebel]

Now that the SEC men's basketball season has mercifully been taken off of life support, I think we need to realize that we have gradually, but surely, become the weakest basketball conference from top to bottom of all the major conferences. The CUSA may be the only reason I am not saying that we are the weakest top to bottom of ALL the conferences period!

Here is a thought...I know we can't drop basketball and still be a major conference...but maybe we could take the Vanderbilt approach to athletics one step further as it relates to basketball.

1) Cease giving basketball scholarships

2) Field teams of walk ons who are only on the court because of their love of the game and love of Ole Miss and the other SEC schools (not because the NCAA is now the NBA farm system)

3) Use some of the freed up scholarship money to create full baseball scholarships and some to help our Title IX standing.

4) To save money, do like high schools and schedule boys and girls games on same day and have them travel together...of course to keep the SEC crowds, we may want to play the boys games first.

5) Get faculty volunteers to coach the basketball team and pay them a nominal stipend on top of their teaching salary like high school coaches get. We should require them all to attend a week long coaching seminar in the summer to be conducted by Pat Summit.

6) Re-engineer the new Ole Miss practice facility and use it as a game venue for the women's volleyball team (also looks good for Title IX compliance)

7) Add any remaining net savings to the football budget...


just a thought.....

I'm pretty sure Florida just got done winning not one but two national titles.... I'd love to hear what they think of your idea.

Lighten up, it was a joke....mostly.

But I do believe that we are the weakest basketball conference and do not see that changing anytime soon. Florida was a one team success where they had five special players stay in school together, but that one team doesn't disprove our weakness as an overall basketball conference anymore than Memphis disproves CUSA's overall weakness.

We are weak.

So? The SEC can't be the best in everything. I'm sure other conferences say the same thing about their conferences in other sports.

[OMNOB]

Currently weak, yes.

Although, the future looks bright. Billy Donovan is a good coach and will have Florida back in the hunt soon enough, Kentucky will rid it'self of it's coaching woes and be back sooner than later, If Arkansas is lucky and retains Pelphry, they will be good too. Alabama has in recent time been strong and I believe will remain so. Georgia has the cash and seems commited to their Basketball program. LSU already commited and will prolly be tough for years to come. Programs like your Vanderbilt and South Carolina will also bounce back. Mississippi State is also there year in and year out. Tennesee and Bruce Pearl will continue to win.

Not to mention, wether you like it or not, Andy Kennedy has our program looking as good for the upcomming season as Houston Nutt has for the football season. And as far as National success is concerned, he is prolly better off than Nutt.

You may have been kidding, but your thought process to get there is failed, miserably.

[done]

Currently weak, yes.

Although, the future looks bright. Billy Donovan is a good coach and will have Florida back in the hunt soon enough, Kentucky will rid it'self of it's coaching woes and be back sooner than later, If Arkansas is lucky and retains Pelphry, they will be good too. Alabama has in recent time been strong and I believe will remain so. Georgia has the cash and seems commited to their Basketball program. LSU already commited and will prolly be tough for years to come. Programs like your Vanderbilt and South Carolina will also bounce back. Mississippi State is also there year in and year out. Tennesee and Bruce Pearl will continue to win.

Not to mention, wether you like it or not, Andy Kennedy has our program looking as good for the upcomming season as Houston Nutt has for the football season. And as far as National success is concerned, he is prolly better off than Nutt.

You may have been kidding, but your thought process to get there is failed, miserably.

I hope you are right, but I do not see it. I see KY as a shell of what it once was, Arky, GA and Alabama as well...I think that LSU, Florida and TN have the potential to win consistently....and as for us I don't think the Nutt/AK analogy is accurate. We have some good athletes (one great athlete) and the potential is there, but I do not have the confidence in AK that I have in Nutt and Bianco yet and I still believe the style of play will keep us from having any consistent success.

And I stand by my belief that quality of SEC basketball has dropped dramatically. The BIG 12, Big 10, ACC, Big East, Pac-10 are all significantly better top to bottom. But we are still the best in football and IMO one of the best in baseball.

I hope you guys are right, because it is embarrassing to not have even one team playing after the first weekend of the tourney.

[oxfordrebel]

Until Kennedy starts teaching his guys defense you can hang up any big plans for the b-ball team. The offense is popping, no doubt, but basketball is just like football. Offense draws the crowd (and it certainly does), but defense wins the games. Just my opinion of it.

[wildthang80]

Maybe you missed the Kentucky and first MSU game (at the hump), but I do beleive defense was played pretty freakin well. Now having said that, the team is the youngest in the SEC, so inconsistency will be there without a leader (Warren, Polynice). We have a VERY talented team, more talented than Sesay and company, way more talented than Lockhart and company, and evern more talented than the provine posse. Just give it a year, these are 18 year old kids, but they will soon mature.

[dgmcdowe]

We have some good athletes (one great athlete)

We had one great athlete playing this season. With Warren back in the mix, we'll at least have two.

Why not wait a bit and find out about a team that we thought was young LAST YEAR.

[/quote]

[rebeljim]

Currently weak, yes.

Although, the future looks bright. Billy Donovan is a good coach and will have Florida back in the hunt soon enough, Kentucky will rid it'self of it's coaching woes and be back sooner than later, If Arkansas is lucky and retains Pelphry, they will be good too. Alabama has in recent time been strong and I believe will remain so. Georgia has the cash and seems commited to their Basketball program. LSU already commited and will prolly be tough for years to come. Programs like your Vanderbilt and South Carolina will also bounce back. Mississippi State is also there year in and year out. Tennesee and Bruce Pearl will continue to win.

Not to mention, wether you like it or not, Andy Kennedy has our program looking as good for the upcomming season as Houston Nutt has for the football season. And as far as National success is concerned, he is prolly better off than Nutt.

You may have been kidding, but your thought process to get there is failed, miserably.

Rumor is Izzo will leave Mich. St. after the tourney and come to bama for a 8 yr. $16,000,000 deal.

[done]

We have some good athletes (one great athlete)

We had one great athlete playing this season. With Warren back in the mix, we'll at least have two.

Why not wait a bit and find out about a team that we thought was young LAST YEAR.

[/quote]

I think that the athletes are there, but I agree with OxfordReb that the style will never result in consistent winning because of the lack of defense. There are games when the athletes have great defensive efforts, like KY and MSU, but the undisciplined style doesn't seem to promote good defense (regardless of the age of the players)...

Having said that, of course AK deserves time to prove himself....I just don't have much confidence in what I have seen...combine that with the off the court crap and I am less enthused about Ole Miss basketball than I have been in a long long time.

It is frustrating to me and at times embarrassing.

[OMNOB]

"embarerresed' is a tough word, and if you have followed Rebel athletics for as long as I think you have, it is also inaccurate.

Really, save a very, very brief time in the early 80's, Rebel basketball was an absolute joke. Hiring Rob Evans elavated the program, Barnes helped the process, and now Kennedy is doing his part.

Ole Miss will be an elite 8 team next season easy.

To my knowledge, that would be a vast improvement.

[rrlynch]

Currently weak, yes.

Although, the future looks bright. Billy Donovan is a good coach and will have Florida back in the hunt soon enough, Kentucky will rid it'self of it's coaching woes and be back sooner than later, If Arkansas is lucky and retains Pelphry, they will be good too. Alabama has in recent time been strong and I believe will remain so. Georgia has the cash and seems commited to their Basketball program. LSU already commited and will prolly be tough for years to come. Programs like your Vanderbilt and South Carolina will also bounce back. Mississippi State is also there year in and year out. Tennesee and Bruce Pearl will continue to win.

Not to mention, wether you like it or not, Andy Kennedy has our program looking as good for the upcomming season as Houston Nutt has for the football season. And as far as National success is concerned, he is prolly better off than Nutt.

You may have been kidding, but your thought process to get there is failed, miserably.

Rumor is Izzo will leave Mich. St. after the tourney and come to bama for a 8 yr. $16,000,000 deal.

I'll beleive that when pigs fly, Hell freezes over, and/or Ross Perot is elected president.

[Redbluedude]

Currently weak, yes.

Although, the future looks bright. Billy Donovan is a good coach and will have Florida back in the hunt soon enough, Kentucky will rid it'self of it's coaching woes and be back sooner than later, If Arkansas is lucky and retains Pelphry, they will be good too. Alabama has in recent time been strong and I believe will remain so. Georgia has the cash and seems commited to their Basketball program. LSU already commited and will prolly be tough for years to come. Programs like your Vanderbilt and South Carolina will also bounce back. Mississippi State is also there year in and year out. Tennesee and Bruce Pearl will continue to win.

Not to mention, wether you like it or not, Andy Kennedy has our program looking as good for the upcomming season as Houston Nutt has for the football season. And as far as National success is concerned, he is prolly better off than Nutt.

You may have been kidding, but your thought process to get there is failed, miserably.

Rumor is Izzo will leave Mich. St. after the tourney and come to bama for a 8 yr. $16,000,000 deal.

I doubt that that will happen but Izzo and Nick Saban are best of friends from when Saban was at Mich. State.