Many Ole Miss basketball fans got the news they had been hoping for on Monday.
That’s when head coach Andy Kennedy announced his decision to step down as head coach, effective at the end of the season.
Rebel fans can exhale and hit the reset button.
This news didn’t come as a shocker. The writing was on the wall with this being the third straight year where Ole Miss is not near the NCAA tournament conversation. In fact, this is Kennedy’s worst team
— the 2017-18 Rebels are 11-15 overall and losers of six straight and eight of their last nine.
Kennedy also saw the writing on the wall. He would have been blind not to.
“The product is not good enough, and that’s my responsibility,” Kennedy said just last week.
Kennedy’s time in Oxford won’t be remembered as a failure. It was just time for a change.
After having built its new arena, Ole Miss needs a coach who can galvanize the fan base and make the NCAA tournament more than twice in 12 seasons.
So, where does Ole Miss go from here?
Well, the first call has to be to Mike White at Florida. It may not be a long call, but the Rebel brass has to try.
On the surface a coach moving from Florida to Ole Miss is laughable. But White still holds Ole Miss close to his heart after playing and serving as an assistant coach there.
If Rebel purists can get past his ties to rival Mississippi State (his father was the coach at State when Davis played two years of college ball there), this a guy they need to get behind as the coaching search starts.
His teams have advanced to the Round of 32 in each of the last two NCAA tournaments, with upset wins against Michigan State and Minnesota. It appears he has MTSU on track for another trip to the Big Dance this year.
Davis, who owns a 332-187 record at Middle Tennessee, is now 58 years old and may be facing a “now or never” decision on moving into a Power 5 league.
Here are some other names already being thrown around as possible replacements:
nJoe Dooley, Florida Gulf Coast coach.
nSteve Forbes, East Tennessee State coach.
nEarl Grant, College of Charleston coach.
nPenny Hardaway, Memphis East High coach/former NBA player.
nSteve Prohm, Iowa State coach.
Whoever gets the job has some things to work with, most notably The Pavilion gives him one of the better arenas in the SEC to recruit to. The SEC Network also provides great exposure for a league that seems to be getting better each year.
nContact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
