2008 Ole Miss Rebels Hoops Preview

Few coaches it seems have gotten more love on the job carousel without making the NCAA Tournament than Andy Kennedy. Thrust into his first head coaching job as the interim to replace Bob Huggins at Cincinnati, Kennedy promptly guided the Bearcats to the NIT in 2006. In his first two seasons at Ole Miss, he’s put the Rebels within sniffing distance of the NCAA Tournament twice, only to land in the NIT.

Kennedy’s first Ole Miss team logged the program’s first postseason appearance in five years, and his second team showed a three-game improvement in the win column. The next logical step is the four-letter tournament.

“We’ve proven we’re pretty good at home. We’ve got to become mentally and physically tough enough to win on the road,” Kennedy says. “Now we have to take that next step.”

A big component last season was freshman point guard Chris Warren. He excelled in a backcourt that was dangerously thin in experience and turned a question mark into a strength.

The roster flips for 2008. Three senior post players are gone, and the experience now is in the backcourt. Only one player expected to challenge for a starting role in the frontcourt, sophomore Malcolm White, has notable experience. No one else has been on a game-day floor.

Frontcourt 

Kennedy would be thrilled if one of his freshman post players emerged in the frontcourt like Warren did in the backcourt last season. Forwards Terrance Henry and Murphy Holloway, both rated among the nation’s top 150 players by Rivals.com, are the leading candidates. Both are strong around the basket, but their biggest contribution figures to be their ability to extend the defense — something the Rebs weren’t able to do with their bigs last season. Henry will be a 3-point threat, while Holloway is capable of shooting from out to 15 feet.

When Kennedy wants to add some bulk back to the lineup, redshirt freshman Kevin Cantinol and junior college transfer DeAundre Cranston will be his primary options. But all eyes early will be on White, a top 100 signee last year who averaged 2.2 points and 1.3 rebounds. With Dwayne Curtis, Kenny Williams and Jermey Parnell eating up most of the minutes, White was brought along slowly. “He’s athletic, and he’s above the rim. We saw that last year,” Kennedy says. “Typically, your most growth comes from year one to year two.”

Backcourt 

Warren was the team’s top scorer (15.8 ppg) and 3-point shooting leader in both makes (103) and percentage (38.9).

Junior David Huertas, the transfer from Florida, improved his game over the last third of the season and was instrumental in the team’s March success. He averaged 16.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and four 3-pointers made over the last eight games and scored 29 points in the Rebels’ SEC Tournament loss to Georgia.

Kennedy called Huertas’ strong finish a “tremendous transformation,” but now he needs the junior swingman to show consistency wire-to-wire. “I think I may have underestimated the impact on him from sitting out the transfer season,” Kennedy says.

Junior Eniel Polynice is an excellent penetrator who will be more effective if he fine-tunes a 15-foot jumper. He is the team’s best on-ball defender.

Sophomore Zach Graham can be a big shooting guard or an athletic match-up problem for opposing small forwards.

Final Analysis 

The Rebels have some of the same question marks they had at this time last year, though the inexperience is in the frontcourt now.

Bringing newcomers into the program and demanding a certain level of production is always tricky, but on paper it looks like Kennedy has attracted some talent that can provide some answers.

Ole Miss will depend on Warren, Huertas and Polynice to continue the pace they set at the end of last season. The Rebels should be able get effective post play by committee, and if Henry and Holloway make the jump to Division I play as well as expected, Ole Miss could challenge in a transitioning Western Division and line itself up for the school’s first NCAA Tournament bid since 2002.