Here’s the link to the Ole Miss blog at our new website. Beginning today I’ll be posting on nems360.com. Bookmark the link and stay with us. Thanks.

– PA

The starting center on a guard-heavy team, Malcolm White, is leaving for what he termed personal reasons in the news release.

I don’t know more than that at this point, but I do know Malcolm is a hard kid to read — really high with the highs and low with the lows. This may have come as a bit of a surprise to the coaching staff. Malcolm showed some nice flashes on offense, but he struggled to hold the ball in traffic. And on a team that already had lots of guards who could score facing the basket, Malcolm’s style just wasn’t one that allowed him to post up with his back to the basket, make a move and score, the way Dwayne Curtis did so effectively before him.

That’s a style that would benefit this team going forward. I’m sure the staff is beating the bushes for a big man right now, but typically the best candidates are signed by now.

Guards already were the strength of this team, and that will apparently be even more pronounced next season. White was not overly consistent, but he was effective at times and now takes 27 games of low-post starting experience from the team.

This will no doubt require signee Reginald Buckner to grow up in a hurry next fall.

The returning experienced post players will be sophomore Murphy Holloway, senior DeAundre Cranston and sophomore Kevin Cantinol.

– PA

Ole Miss defensive tackle Peria Jerry goes through the cone drill for NFL scouts at the school’s indoor practice facility Thursday morning.

Special thanks to Brandon Speck of the Monroe Journal for this photo. Jerry went through all the drills while slowed a bit with a slight hamstring pull.

– PA

We’re sitting here at Pro Day in the IPF, which has lasted longer than anticipated.

Draft-eligible players have gone through about a half dozen tests for strength, speed and agility.

Some of us were timing players with cell phones, but we were asked not to publish times. Those times may be available later at NFL.com we were told.

A total of 45 scouts were on hand to represent every NFL team.

The first drill was the bench press where each player pressed 225 pounds as often as he could. The top three were Tony Fein at 29, Peria Jerry at 28 and Michael Oher at 25. Those figures are unofficial.

You can tell the scouts know Peria.

Jermey Parnell is also working out and has had a good day it appears. He’s been working in preparation for this day in Dallas, I was told.

Wide receiver Mike Wallace posted some excellent times at the NFL combine in February and has chosen not to work out today. He stands on those times. He’s walked around the IPF today in sweats with his Ipod.

Among the other Ole Miss players working out for scouts are Jamarca Sanford, Ashlee Palmer, Dustin Mouzon, Jason Cook and Maurice Miller.

– PA

From the press conference. Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt …
On Greg Hardy after offseason foot surgery: “He’s been doing great with his rehab. He’s made all the 5:30 meetings and just being a great teammate. He can’t run, but he’s got the cast off, and he’s in the walking boot. He’s doing everything the doctors ask him to do.”
On Melvin Harris, the 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman WR who faces surgery: “I can’t stand it that he won’t be out there. He will have the same surgery as Hardy, and he’ll miss the spring. He did so much for us on the scout team, and you could see him learning and getting better each week.”
On replacing Jason Cook at fullback: “Derrick Davis is a guy, just watch him, he changed his body, put on 16-18 pounds. He gives us that quickness we need back there, that tailback playing fullback. If he can be physical, he can really help Andy (Hartmann, currently first team). Andy is that big, tough guy. He did an excellent job of blocking in the Cotton Bowl, and we’re excited to have him.”
On redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Stanley: “I’m very anxious to watch him after seeing him for one year on the scout team, to see him now under the live bullets when the heat’s on against the first team defense, which he’ll see a lot. I want to see how he handles that, how he does when it’s third and six or third and seven. He’s competing for a job now. I think you’ll be real impressed with his fundamentals.

– PA

Some new names appearing on a 2-deep for the first time. 2nd team OL – LG Brandon Green, a juco transfer last season, RG Mark Jean-Louis, a juco transfer two years ago with little experience, LT Alex Washington, RT Logan Clair, a mid-year juco transfer.

Other depth chart notes. Brandon Bolden begins spring ahead of Cordera Eason at tailback. Dexter McCluster, who was either starting or playing a great deal at tailback at the end of last season, is listed No. 1 at flanker ahead of Lionel Breaux. Andy Hartmann is listed No. 1 at fullback ahead of Derrick Davis.

On defense, Greg Hardy is listed third at end. He’ll miss the spring anyway, recovering from offseason foot surgery. Marshay Green and Cassius Vaughn are listed No. 1 at the cornerbacks with sophomore Marcus Temple backing up Vaughn and junior Jeremy McGee behind Green. Remember, Ohio State transfer James Scott has been dismissed.

Some promising redshirt freshmen to watch are Gerald Rivers, listed No. 2 at one end behind Kentrell Lockett, Lekenwic Haynes, No. 2 behind Allen Walker at strong linebacker and Jason Jones, No. 2 behind Jonahthan Cornell at middle linebacker. These three guys were head-turners in practice last year as true freshmen.

Other redshirt freshmen to watch are safeties Derrick Herman (SS) and Jared Mitchell (FS) both listed second team.

– PA

It doesn’t bode well for the SEC, unhappy with the fact that only two of its teams reached with the NCAA tournament, that its NIT entries are down to one team with a shot to reach Madison Square Garden.

Kentucky, an NIT 4 seed, plays at Notre Dame tonight for the right to advance to New York.

Florida and Auburn, both NIT 1 seeds, lost on their home floors in the go game last night.

I did think two of the SEC’s NCAA entries, MSU and LSU, got jobbed in the seeding a little bit, but the lack of sustained NIT runs from Florida and Auburn doesn’t cry out injustice over the NCAA situation.

– PA

This from Ole Miss media relations.

– PA

Due to inclement weather in the Hattiesburg area, the baseball game between No. 11 Ole Miss (15-6) and Southern Miss (13-9) scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night has been postponed.

Inclement weather conditions that are not expected to clear by this evening forced the postponement of the contest between the two teams.

The game has been rescheduled for April 22 at 6:30 p.m. in Hattiesburg at Pete Taylor Park.

Ole Miss will continue play this weekend when the Rebels travel to Baton Rouge, La., to take on the second-ranked LSU Tigers in a three-game series beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday night.

*** UM athletics media relations

Press conference at 2. I’ll post some notes in the afternoon.

– PA

And it wasn’t even the Cardinals. Pitching problems carry over to mid-week. Next up is Southern Miss in Hattiesburg tonight on the way to Baton Rouge for the SEC series this weekend.

– PA

The Rebels’ football season opener against Memphis has been moved to an afternoon time slot on the Sunday before Labor Day to allow it to be shown on ESPN. Link.

– PA

Here’s the link.

– PA

The Florida quarterback’s impromptu speech following Ole Miss’ 31-30 win has been put on a plaque outside The Swamp. How does this make you feel as an Ole Miss fan?

I’ve never been clear if Tebow was more stunned that he lost or that he lost to Ole Miss.

– PA

Chris Warren played too many games to be considered for a medical redshirt and will be a junior when basketball practice begins next fall. Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy addressed Warren is a season-ending wrap with Jeff Roberson of the Ole Miss Spirit.

Says Kennedy: “We will appeal (to get Chris Warren another year), but he is one game over,” Kennedy said of the point guard’s situation. “We’ve researched it, and nobody has been able to win that appeal because the rule is the rule. It’s unfortunate for him, but it is what it is.”

– PA

Some day dreaming from Sunday when the score was climbing to 19-0.

– PA

Jordan Henry has been named SEC player of the week.

– PA

From SEC Media Relations
Henry continued to be a key component in the Rebel offense and critical to the Rebels posting a second straight series win in SEC play as he reached base safely in every game this week from the lead-off position … Henry was 7-for-17 with a team-leading seven runs scored and a team-leading five RBI on he week … He was also 5-for-6 in steal attempts.
# In the series opener against #24 Alabama, Henry again reached base safely in 4-of-5 plate appearances and went on to score in twice and also came up with two RBI…In comeback versus Memphis, scored three times and drove in winning run.

Ole Miss guards Terrico White and David Huertas join MSU center Jarvis Varnado as finalists for the Howell Trophy, which is awarded to the top men’s basketball player in the state.

On the women’s side, guard Bianca Thomas joins MSU guard Alexis Rack and USM forward Pauline Love as finalists for the Gillom Trophy.

– PA

Ole Miss jumps one spot to No. 11 in this week’s Baseball America Top 25.

– PA

According to Boyd Nation the Ole Miss RPI leaped from 70 to 34 with two wins over Alabama. The Tide’s RPI is currently 35. This weekend’s opponent, LSU, check in at 9.

Rankings update as that information becomes available later today.

– PA

Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco toyed with the idea of making Scott Bittle a starter from the get-go. He was more comfortable with Bittle in the pen, but now it looks like he has no choice.

Bianco named Bittle this weekend’s Sunday starter at LSU following the Rebels 19-6 loss yesterday.

The Rebels are at home against St. Louis Tuesday and at Southern Miss Wednesday.

– PA

Here are your lineups:

Alabama
LF Dugas
SS Rutledge
2B Wilson
RF Matthes
DH May
3B Smith
C DiFazio
1B Wes Henderson (new to the lineup, batting .438 in 16 at-bats)
CF Kubal
P Del Howell 1-0, 6 IP, 14 K, 1 BB

Ole Miss
CF Henry
2B Ferguson
LF Power
RF Travis
DH Hashman
1B Smith
3B Miller
SS Mort
C Basham
P Bukvich 3-0, 0.90, 20 IP, 19 K, 6 BB

About 7 minutes from first pitch.

– PA

Wild finish last night in Game 1. It was a deadline pusher, and that’s never a good thing.

It’s not often you see two good pitchers blow up at the same time. Fortunately for Ole Miss, the Rebels had the last at-bat.

Alabama right fielder Kent Matthes has been on a tear, but he was hitless last night. He’ll be one to keep an eye on today.

The Tide got big production from the bottom of the order last night. Seven-hole hitter Jake Smith was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run; eight-hole hitter Vin DiFazio had a solo home run; and nine-hole hitter Alex Kubal, who was at .214 when the night began, was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles, including a one-out hit off Bittle to start the rally in the ninth.

Thanks Matt for jumping in with the updates last night.

We’re about 30 minutes from the first pitch today, and the rain is coming.

Here are the lineups:

Alabama
LF Dugas
SS Rutledge
2B Wilson
RF Matthes
1B May
DH Odle (He was a pinch-hitter and walked in the eighth last night, then popped out against McKean to end the Tide ninth.)
3B Smith
C Trotter (Former Itawamba AHS and ICC standout, hitting .478 in 23 at-bats, his sixth start.)
CF Kubal

Ole Miss
CF Henry
2B Ferguson
LF Power
RF Travis
DH Henson (replaces Phillips)
1B Smith
3B Miller (replaces Button)
SS Mort
C Basham

– PA

Ole Miss signee Reginal Buckner had 19 points and 13 rebounds in his team’s semifinal win over Chattanooga Grace Friday in Murfreesboro.

Buckner in Class A title game vs. Chattanoona Tennessee Temple at 2
p.m. Saturday on CSS-TV. Buckner had 19/13 rebs in semifinal win over
Chattanooga Grace, 60-48, on Friday in Murfreeboro.

– PA

A few pre-game notes here.

Ole Miss lineup and batting order
CF Jordan Henry
2B Tim Ferguson
LF Logan Power
DH David Phillips
RF Jeremy Travis
1B Matt Smith
3B Evan Button
SS Kevin Mort
C Brett Basham

Zach Miller (hamstring) was expected to be available this weekend. He is listed on the 25-man roster.

– PA

Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco adjusts his pitching rotation this weekend as the Rebels open home SEC play against what might be the best offense in the league: Alabama.

The Crimson Tide is tied for the league lead in hitting at .346 and his second in home runs at 39.

Individually, Bama’s Kent Matthes is second in hitting (.431), first in slugging (1.159), second in runs (31), first in RBI (36) and first in home runs (13).

– PA

The Hattiesburg American says the real losers are the fans in Ole Miss’ decision not to schedule Southern Miss in football.

– PA

On the “consent” agenda at today’s college board meeting is to pass a recommendation from the Ole Miss chancellor Robert Khayat that will allow the university to enter into a contract with the City of Oxford that would have the city contribute $200,000 a year for 15 years to help finance the expansion/renovation at Swayze Field. This will come from money collected from the city’s tourism tax.

– PA

Nathan Baker picked up the the win in relief, and Scott Bittle got his third save as the Rebels downed Memphis 7-4 in non-conference action Wednesday night at Swayze Field.

Ole Miss gets back in SEC play this weekend at home against Alabama.

Speaking of the Tide, looks like it has some pop in the lineup this year. Alabama set a school home run record earlier this week against Alabama A&M. The Tide won twice against previously unbeaten and eighth-ranked Georgia to open SEC play last weekend.

In the print edition we wrapped up men’s basketball with an opinion piece.

There will be a lot of scenes to watch with this team in the off-season, rehabs to keep an eye on with Trevor Gaskins, Eniel Polynice and Chris Warren, the mending of a knee with Terrico White that will not require surgery and the knee of Zach Graham that will.

– PA

Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco

Sometimes it takes guys a while to develop, and it’s been interesting thus far in the baseball season to chart the development of junior right-handed pitcher Phillip Irwin.

Coaches go out and sign junior college players to fill immediate needs, and transfer pitchers Aaron Barrett and Chris Corrigan may yet do that for Ole Miss. Right now they are transitioning slowly to the college game, both with ERAs over 11.

Irwin is a fourth-year junior out of Collierville, Tenn., a guy who signed late in his class and then had Tommy John surgery early in his career.

He turned in a solid relief outing in an NCAA tournament elimination game against Bethune-Cookman last spring at Miami. Now Irwin (3-0) is second on the team with a 1.59 ERA and leads in innings at 22.

“In any sport you can look at guys like Chris Warren, who come in and adapt right away, then you look at other guys, and it takes them a while to mature physically and mentally,” Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. “I don’t know if any of us as coaches are good enough to know who’s going to do it right away, and who will need time to mature. In Phillip’s case, was it the surgery that set him back or did he just need time to mature? It was probably a combination of both.”

Bianco said Irwin’s strong outing in Miami turned into a solid summer of a work, then a “terrific” fall. He compared Irwin to former Ole Miss pitchers Will Kline and Eric Fowler who started their careers slowly and blossomed later. …

Elsewhere, Barrett, a weekend starter since the season began, will be replaced in the rotation by another program veteran, Brett Bukvich this Sunday against Alabama. Bukvich currently leads the team with a 0.90 ERA in 20 innings. Bianco believes Barrett will make big contributions this season if he can get his confidence back, and he’ll try to work the player into some mid-week opportunities. …

Junior infielder Zach Miller, who moved from third base to second base, is expected to be available for the Alabama series. Miller, who suffered a slight hamstring pull last at Vanderbilt, has been held out of mid-week action mostly as a precautionary measure. He has been fielding balls in practice. …

With all the football strength of schedule talk, here are some baseball numbers to ponder, courtesy of Boyd Nation at boydsworld.com. He was doing college baseball when college baseball wasn’t cool.

In the strength of schedule rankings, the top 24 teams were on the West Coast. The 25th team is Oklahoma.

SOS Rankings for SEC teams. (302 teams total)
Arkansas 32
Florida 39
Auburn 49
Tennessee 54
South Carolina 56
Vanderbilt 57
Ole Miss 61
Georgia 62
Kentucky 64
Mississippi State 66
LSU 74
Alabama 81

Current RPI ratings for SEC teams and teams of interest (302 teams total)
LSU 7
Kentucky 10
Arkansas 13
Auburn 18
Georgia 36
Alabama 37
Mississippi State 39
Southern Miss 40
Florida 44
Ole Miss 70
South Carolina 71
Tennessee 75
Memphis 95
South Alabama 116
Mercer 117
Vanderbilt 164
Austin Peay 189
Arkansas State 193

More at boydsworld.com

– PA

Terrance Henry, one of multiple freshmen to play key roles this season, drives on an Auburn defender in Oxford.

It’s been a while, but I’m back at DJ Central catching up on accumulated messages on the office phone and a collection of regular U.S. Mail.

The NCAA tournament begins in earnest tomorrow. The NIT has already begun and has done so without the Rebels.

This is not a bad thing. It’s unlikely David Huertas would have been at full strength any time soon. With his bruised foot the Rebels finally had the injury they could not overcome.

To take a collection of largely inexperienced players to a 7-9 SEC record is impressive, but there are pros and cons to the idea of continuing the season.

Without Huertas at full strength the chance for the Rebels to be very good offensively are slim. To continue on at less than your best against what would likely have been a solid mid-major who was excited to play and also healthy … That’s not a good mix for Ole Miss and would likely have resulted in one more loss to end a season in which the Rebels were running on fumes at the end.

Had the bid come you accept it to continue a string of postseason appearances, give your young guys that experience and build some tradition.

But take it and lose, and suddenly you’ve ended the season with losses in five of your last six games, and the memory of how well this team played for two-thirds of the conference season fades a bit.

More on this in the print edition Thursday.

– PA

Ole Miss 7, ASU 1

I wonder if Brett Bukvich might become a weekend option. Freshman Kyle Barbeck continues to pitch well also.

Rebels take on Memphis at Swayze Field today at 6:30.

– PA

Ole Miss is No. 12 this week in the Baseball America Top 25 following an SEC-opening series win at Vanderbilt.

Also in the rankings is this weekend’s opponent, Alabama. The Tide enters at No. 24 after winning twice against previously unbeaten Georgia.

– PA

I’ve been watching basketball for a fifth-straight day, this time the Globetrotters and the Generals.

Here’s the AP All-SEC team. Terrico White and David Huertas both made the second team. White is newcomer of the year for the second time.

BTW: Trotters 74, Generals 69

– PA

†FIRST TEAM
u-Marcus Thornton, LSU, G, 6-4, Sr.
Devan Downey, South Carolina, G, 5-9, Jr.
Jodie Meeks, Kentucky, G, 6-4, Jr.
Tyler Smith, Tennessee, F, 6-7, Jr.
t-Jarvis Varnado, Mississippi State, F-C, 6-9, Jr.
t-Nick Calathes, Florida, G, 6-6, So.
t-Tasmin Mitchell, LSU, F, 6-7, Jr.
†SECOND TEAM
Patrick Patterson, Kentucky, F, 6-9, So.
Korvotney Barber, Auburn, F, 6-7, Sr.
Alonzo Gee, Alabama, G, 6-6, Sr.
David Huertas, Mississippi, G, 6-5, Jr.
Terrico White, Mississippi, G, 6-5, Fr.
Michael Washington, Arkansas, F, 6-9, Jr.
†HONORABLE MENTION
Dominique Archie, South Carolina, F, 6-7, Jr.; Wayne Chism, Tennessee, F, 6-9, Jr.; Chris Johnson, LSU, 6-11, Sr.; A.J. Ogilvy, Vanderbilt, C, 6-11, So.
___
PLAYER OF THE YEAR _ Marcus Thornton, LSU
COACH OF THE YEAR _ Trent Johnson, LSU
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR _ Terrico White, Mississippi

Northern Arizona fills the elusive 12th game spot. Only one open date on the schedule, and it’s early, on Sept. 12.

– PA

As Ole Miss continues in search of a 12th football game I spoke with a beat writer who covers Colorado, who said the Buffs are also in need of a game with a sudden opening on their schedule, but an Ole Miss official told me yesterday that there are no on-going negotiations between the two schools. He didn’t indicate that would change. I believe both schools are looking for a home game.

– PA

After splitting a Sunday doubleheader with Vanderbilt, the Rebels left Nashville with a road series win on the opening SEC weekend. That’s not bad, of course, but you always want a sweep when you have the opportunity, and Mike Bianco will do some evaluation of his SEC rotation, I reckon.

In the meantime the Rebels are at Arkansas State Tuesday and at home against Memphis on Wednesday.

They play their first SEC home series this weekend against Alabama. The polls come out later today.

Brad and I are traveling, so it will be a while before I post again.

– PA

If you were holding out hope for an NIT berth for Ole Miss, the fact that the school was contacted about playing in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) may indicate that the Rebels won’t be receiving an NIT bit.

Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy says the school told the CBI it will not play in that event because of the current injury situation.

Athletics director Pete Boone told me a while back he didn’t envision the Rebels playing in the CBI. At that time the opinion was not based solely on the cost for playing in the event. It was more of what do you gain for the cost of playing in a tournament that crowns a champion from teams that don’t play in the NCAA or NIT?

– PA

No date has been set for surgery for guard Zach Graham. He played most of the season with a torn patella tendon. Rehab will be roughly half a year, so a date will be set soon.

Hopefully there will be no surprises with the surgery as there was with Eniel Polynice that ultimately kept him out all of this season.

Graham will be an interesting case next season. He improved as a defender this season, though his scoring was average for a player of his ability. Part of that had to do with concentration on defense — the Rerbels immediate need whe Polynice went down — and part had to do with his knee injury.

Graham would basically get treatment during practice and miss time on the floor just to get ready from game to game through the grind of the season. Graham isn’t as quick as Polynice, but hes a player who gets to the lane and generally finishes well. Absence from practice affected his timing on offense.

On a team full of guards he’s a bigger guy and now has a defensive rep. That could help him get minutes next year when the hurt guys are back.

– PA

We’re about an hour from tip of the SEC tournament final between MSU and Tennessee.

Attendance is down, as expected, running about 12,209 on average in a building that seats about 20,000 for basketball. The primary tenant for the building is the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL.

Attendance hasn’t been helped by the fact that the two biggest draws — Kentucky and Florida — were both gone by Friday. The Gators, the local favorite, lost on opening day.

Media attendance is down about 15 percent. That has less to do with geography than economy. A lot of newspapers have cut back on travel. Others have joined forces for story swapping, and chains that had been sending people from all their papers have cut back there too.

The economy hasn’t helped things from a fan standpoint, but whether Tampa actually resides in the “SEC footprint” is debatable. We were out driving a few days ago and approached the University of South Florida campus. In the distance I could make out players on a practice field, then helmets. I said, “Look Brad, it’s spring football. You want to watch the Bulls?” As we got closer it was actually lacrosse. This is the SEC?

This is the only place within the true “footprint” that this event will not draw. New Orleans, Atlanta and Nashville will turn out fans. Perhaps one day Memphis will get back in that mix.

There’s no long-term gain from TV or recruiting to have the tournament here once. If the intent is to extend a favor to Florida, do you extend the same courtesy to Arkansas, because Little Rock has a nice arena too?

In terms of putting on an event, there have been a few glitches, most notably the inconsistency of wireless internet access. Little else has been a major problem, and you certainly can’t complain about sunshine and temperatures in the low 80s.

In the end this tournament is about basketball and growing your sport. In a year when the league is down it would have been better served by being in an area where it would have been covered more.

– PA

The practice dates are very tentative but as right now they are as follows:

Spring Practice Dates
March: 26-28. 30.
April: 1, 3-4, 6, 8, 10-11, 13, 15, 17.
Spring Game: March 18.
Pro Day: March 26
Coaching Clinic: April 3.

– PA

Today’s game rained out in Nashville. Ole Miss, Vanderbilt will play two seven inning games beginning tomorrow at noon.

– Pa

Looks like Pomeranz was OK, but the bullpen was stellar and the bats consistent. On paper it looks to be an impressive SEC-opening win in challenging weather conditions. Game 2 is at 3 p.m. today.

– PA

Here’s a happy ending for one couple caught in the Alabama killling rampage Tuesday, a story that yielded much more tragedy in the big picture. This is the daughter of Hugh Nall, who coached offensive line at Ole Miss and Auburn under Tommy Tuberville.

– PA

70 percent chance for rain tonight, 70 percent tomorrow in Nashville. Chilly too. First pitcher between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt is scheduled for 6 p.m. tonight.

Forecast

– PA

I spoke with an administration official last night. They’re getting really mum on the 12th football game for next season. No light at all shed on who the opponent might be. It will be an FCS team (Formerly I-AA. Don’t see the need for change. I-AA worked fine for years). There is the possibility an announcement will come next week. I was told it will be a school that I’ve heard of and not one that will send me to Google to learn its name, location, etc.

– PA

It was a tale of two halves. Unfortunately for Ole Miss, the second one carried the day.

– PA

On the subject of next year, as Matt mentions below, I submit a projected first five.

F – Malcolm White
PG – Chris Warren
2G – David Huertas
3G – Terrico White
4G – Eniel Polynice

I don’t see M White, Holloway or Cranston transforming into a back-to-the-basket guy during the off-season.

The strength of this team will be guards. Polynice can guard a power forward.

You have four guys in that lineup who can score, and if it’s that balanced, Malcolm will score more often. Hopefully chemistry will develop smoothly.

Thoughts?

– PA

This from the SEC. They list Ole Miss as TBA on Sunday. Earlier in the week Mike Bianco said he’d use Aaron Barrett, the Friday starter since the beginning of the season, on Sunday.

– PA

OLE MISS (9-3, 0-0 SEC) at VANDERBILT (10-4, 0-0 SEC)
FRIDAY (6:00 p.m. CT)
SATURDAY (3:00 p.m. CT)
SUNDAY (1:00 p.m. CT)

OLE MISS
So. LHP Drew Pomeranz (1-0, 2.57 ERA)
Jr. RHP Phillip Irwin (2-0, 1.72 ERA)
TBA

VANDERBILT
Jr. LHP Mike Minor (1-0, 2.21 ERA)
So. RHP Caleb Cotham (3-0, 1.29 ERA)
Sr. RHP Nick Christiani (2-0, 3.71 ERA)

Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy following the Rebels’ 71-58 loss to Kentucky in the SEC tournament.

“Typically, if you look at our team, if we can come out with the right approach to start the second half, we can be in it till the end. I thought we had a couple of key mistakes early which allowed Kentucky to stretch. We could never get the game back to where we were putting real pressure on their shots.” …

“We had a couple of breakdowns in transition against the press allowing Meeks to go for an and one. We leave him in the zone, and when you leave him in the zone, he’s going to make you pay.” …

“I told our guys in the locker room that I’m really proud of them, honestly, with what they’ve had to go through. They’ve continued to fight. No one likes to lose, and it’s been a hard year from the standpoint of each and every night know you have to play the maximum just to give yourself a chance. But I’m really proud of these guys. I think many of them grew up throughout the course of the season, and that will bode well for the future of our program.” …

“I didn’t see David visibly imping nearly as bad as he has in the prior two games. He told me he could go. We went with him. We tried to get him involved in the offense. He wanted to play. He realized it was win or go home. I thought he gave great effort. Again, shooting is such that without those game reps I think sometimes you can get out of rhythm. Basketball is a game of rhythm and flow. I think he lost a little of that at the end of the season.”

– PA