| NFL | |
|
NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
|
| NBA | |
|
Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
|
|
Rebels With A Cause By Ron Jumper The Ole Miss Rebels have been playing great basketball this season, and they are starting to get recognized as a dangerous team in the SEC. With the SEC West relatively up for grabs, one would have to like the Rebels odds of winning the division, something that seemed almost unthinkable when Andy Kennedy came to Oxford. While the Rebels are playing well on the court, the key to this team's success was built off the court. Kennedy has done a phenomenal job of putting this roster together and making use of the talent already on campus. This could be a sleeper in March to make an unexpected run deep in the NCAA tournament. How did this happen? Could we have seen this coming? Well, you would have had to do your homework and read between the lines (fortunately for you, that is what I'm here for). At first glance, Andy Kennedy has had mediocre success on the recuiting trails but then you dig deeper. You start to realize how superb he is at evaluating talent. In my opinion, there best player is Eniel Polynice. Since he was a late academic qualifier, he fell through the cracks a little during the recruiting process, despite being named All-State, the AAAA MVP, and MVP of the state tournament in Florida. Kennedy jumped on him a notch faster than the rest of the bunch and won himself a great recruit. Polynice was considered raw and didn't get looked at by the majority of the major schools, but Kennedy loved his versatility. His high school coach Derrick Kirce said it best, "Not only did he run our offense, he would usually guard the other team's best player, whether it was a center or a guard, and would shut them down." This wasn't Kennedy's crowning recruiting achievement however, that came in the signing of point guard Chris Warren. Also from Florida, Warren was undersized and listed generously at 5'11" 165 so the big schools didn't offer him a scholarship. Warren had offers from Flordia A&M, Florida Atlantic, George Mason, James Madison, Old Dominion, and Virginia Commonwealth. Not exactly a list of who's who in college basketball. Kennedy came in and signed the kid anyway and it has paid huge dividends. Warren is averaging 15.9 points and 5.4 assists so far this season, as he leads this Rebel team during its 13-1 start. Interestingly, one recruiting expert forecasted how good Warren would be. Scout.com's Dave Telep knew Ole Miss had themselves a great young point guard: "I really believe, in the grand scheme of things, Ole Miss was way ahead of the curve in evaluating Chris Warren. He had some terrific Mid-Major teams, teams that pride themselves in evaluation, teams that go to the NCAA Tournament and usually advance every year, after him, but a lot of the bigger schools missed the boat with him," said Telep. "Andy had Devin Downey last year at Cincy. They built a special bond and won a lot of games together. Chris is another Devin Downey." So Ole Miss' rise to prominence wasn't completely random, you could have seen this coming if you had put together all the pieces. That still isn't enough for the doubters out there, as they say they really haven't beaten anyone yet. I beg to differ. Early on, they got wins against South Alabama and New Mexico. They also beat Winthrop and Depaul. Then came their biggest non-conference win, taking down Clemson 85-82 in the Championship Game of the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico. If you are still not convinced, if there was ever such a thing as a "good loss" then they had one last Wednesday against Tennessee. Losing to the 9th ranked team in the country on the road by only 2 points is certainly something to be proud of. The only concern for me is seeing how they will respond after suffering their first loss of the season. Many times, it takes a team some time to rebound after getting that first loss. They have 3 winnable games coming up with LSU and Florida at home, then @Auburn. If they can bounce back, I see them being a force to be reckoned with in the SEC West and down the line in March. January 11, 2008 |
| NCAA Football | |
|
Be Careful What You Wish For
|
| NCAA Basketball | |
|
Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
|