Thursday, July 28, 2011

One Week Till Preseason

And just like that, summer vaca is over and the season is here -- or at least preseason, which for an SID is the same thing. The fun begins in exactly one week as freshmen report on Thursday, August 4. The following is an expanded look at the Rebels' preseason schedule. Fans, make note that the first full week of afternoon practices are open to the public once again this season (Saturday, August 6 through Saturday, August 13). Practices are 4:30 p.m. each weekday and TBA on the weekend, and I will tweet out the location and other details each day. An interesting item you will be hearing more about soon is RebTalk moving to 6:30 p.m. on the Grove Stage for home weekends, and you can expect new festivities to surround that.

Thursday, Aug. 4: Freshmen report
Friday, Aug. 5: Varsity report
Saturday, Aug. 6: First practice
Monday, Aug. 8: Media Day
Wednesday, Aug. 10: First practice in full pads
Saturday, Aug. 20: Meet The Rebels Day, Noon (IPF)
Monday. Aug. 22: Fall classes begin
Sunday, Aug. 28: Captains are announced
Thursday, Sept. 1: First RebTalk radio show, 6:30 p.m. (Grove Stage)
Saturday, Sept. 3: Season opener vs. BYU, 3:45 p.m. (VHS)


Follow me on Twitter at @CampbellKyle.

Snyder Recovering From Injury, Returns To Field

Justin Granit with the ABC affiliate in Winchester, Virginia, recently did a piece on Ole Miss baseball player Matt Snyder and his return to the field after suffering a potentially career-ending injury earlier this summer. Snyder was hit in the face by a pitch that broke several bones.

You can read the story here or watch the piece that aired on television here.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Beats and Tweets

As we do every summer, it's time for us to update our gameday music system for the upcoming football season. So I decided to poll some of our staff and see what kind of music get's them pumped up for football gamedays. I got everything from CCR to Usher so I wanted to share a few. We also want to get input from you the fans and see what your favorite songs are. Be sure to comment on this post with your favorite gameday songs or just songs that get you pumped up. You can also tweet @rebelgameday. Be sure to listen this fall as your song may be played at Vaught Hemingway Stadium! Hotty Toddy!

Staff Picks:

Brandon Hudspeth-Marketing



Connie Braseth-Marketing





Dan Pelligrino- Athletics Graphic Designer



Kyle Campbell-Asst. AD Media Relations





Joey Jones-Media Relations



Bill Bunting-Media Relations



Kim Ling-Media Relations





Kristen Saibini-Media Relations





Angela Robinson-AD Business and Finance





Cathy Pate- Athletics Business Office



Ally Slivka-Business Office Intern



Katherine Thornton-Senior Staff Assistant



Michael Thompson- AD Marketing and Communications



Women's Hoops Heads To Canada

The Ole Miss women’s basketball team will get an early start to the 2011-12 season, playing games the first week of August as part of a seven-day, four-game trip to Vancouver, Canada.

Under NCAA rules, teams are allowed a foreign trip once every four years. This will be the first foreign tour for the Rebels since the 2006-07 team went to the Bahamas. The Rebels will be in Canada from August 2-8.

“We are very excited and so appreciative to our administration for giving us this opportunity,” head coach Renee Ladner said. “With 10 practices, we get a head start for the upcoming season. Having such a young team comprised of mostly underclassman, it gives us a chance to practice, play and travel together. We have already seen so many great things in a short period of time.”

The Rebels will fly to Vancouver on Tuesday, August 2 and will play its first game on August 3 against the University of Fraser Valley. Ole Miss will also face Canadian World University Games on August 4, the University of Fraser Valley again on August 5 and Thompson Rivers University on August 6.

A daily player blog, photo gallery and game recaps will be available on OleMissSports.com.

For more information on the trip, click here.



Photo credit: vancouver.ca

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Washing Cars In Bristol

College football head coaches are converging on Bristol, Conn., this week for day long tours of the ESPN campus, knocking out interviews on the Worldwide Leader's various platforms. The "Car Wash" for the SEC is Monday and Tuesday -- six coaches each day -- and our own Houston Nutt will be in the spotlight tomorrow. To give you a little insight, here is his schedule for the day (in central time), and note the two live appearances. I'll try to tweet some updates throughout the trip.

10:10 am: ESPNU (Taped)
10:40 am: ESPN2 First Take (Live)
11:05 am: GameDay Radio (Taped)
11:20 am: ESPN RISE (Taped)
11:45 am: ESPN.com Page 2
12:15 pm: College Football Live (Taped)
12:40 pm: ESPNU College Football Podcast (Taped)
1:15 pm: SportsCenter Tonight Radio (Taped)
1:30 pm: ESPN.com Chat
2:00 pm: SportsNation (Taped)
2:20 pm: Social Media (Facebook.com/ESPN, Youtube.com/ESPN, Twitter.com/ESPN)
2:40 pm: ESPNNEWS SportsCenter (Live)
2:50 pm: Twitter Chat (Twitter.com/SportsCenter)

Follow me on Twitter at @CampbellKyle.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Media Days Wrap-up

SEC Media Days 2011 has come and gone, and the best was saved for last as the Rebels were in the final team pairing of the event. As expected, the trio of players we took to Hoover represented Ole Miss well, and several media members personally told us that our guys were some of the most enjoyable to interview. It helps when you bring seniors -- 6th-year senior Kentrell Lockett, fifth-year senior Bradley Sowell, fourth-year senior Brandon Bolden -- who have been through the media grind for a few years. While Bolden was a Media Days rookie, Lockett and Sowell joined Jeff Herrod (1986-87), Eli Manning (2002-03) and Patrick Willis (2005-06) as the only Rebels to attend multiple SEC Media Days.

Lockett's big personality has made him a celebrity at the event, and his impression of our head coach was singled out as a highlight of Media Days by the Opelika-Auburn News, which also listed Bolden as Best Dressed. The running back was also labeled Best Interview by the Gainesville Sun. Following the trip to Hoover, some good articles on Lockett have popped up on ESPN.com (Edward Aschoff), the Clarion-Ledger (Ross Dellenger) and the Commercial Appeal (Geoff Calkins), while Bolden, who was named the SEC's most underrated player by ESPN.com (Chris Low), was also featured in the CA (Veazey). Sowell and the offensive linemen were highlighted by the Daily Journal (Parrish Alford).

In case you didn't see it on the main site, Ole Miss had six players named to the Media Days preseason All-SEC teams, which ranked seventh-most in the league and doubled the number of picks for Kentucky, MSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. That same article also has press conference transcripts and links to great videos of our group. Here is the media weighing in on Coach Nutt's comments and the Rebels' chances in 2011: Clarion-Ledger (Rick Cleveland), Daily Journal (Alford), Commercial Appeal (Veazey) and Press-Register (Mike Herndon).

BTW, our creative czar Micah Ginn tagged along on the Bama excursion and got some great footage of the Rebel contingency in action. We will share that footage with you in the near future.


Follow me on Twitter at @CampbellKyle.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Football Memories

Rebel fans - as we continue to produce exciting content for this football season, we would love to hear from you. Follow the survey link below to answer 3 simple questions related to some of your favorite Ole Miss football memories.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Johnson In Second Year In Pro Ranks

Former Rebel soccer player Danielle Johnson is in her second season playing professional soccer with the Sky Blue FC of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS). The team is located in New Jersey and played all of its home matches at Rutgers University.

Johnson, a native of Baton Rouge, La., has played in four matches this year and her team is 3-5-4 this season with three if the team’s five losses coming by just one goal. Last year, Johnson made six starts for the team in her first season. She was taken by Sky Blue FC in the fourth round of the 2010 WPS Draft and was the 35th pick overall.

At Ole Miss, Johnson was a four-time All-SEC First Team honoree, and is the only player in Rebel history to accomplish that feat. She finished her career in 2009 and started 82 games during her career with the Rebels. Johnson recorded 11 goals and nine assists during her career at Ole Miss.


Photo credit: Howard C. Smith, ISI Photos

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Warren Officially A Pro

Chris Warren signed with the Adelaide 36ers of Australia's National Basketball League on Wednesday, becoming the most recent in a long list of former Rebels to extend their careers to professional basketball.

One of the most prolific scorers in Ole Miss and SEC history, Warren could become a star in Australia's top hoops league.

Ole Miss had at least 11 former players on professional teams in 2010-11, including Terrico White of the NBA's Detroit Pistons, the Bulgarian League's Player of the Year Aaron Harper, All-Germany first teamer Derrick Allen and All-Hungary first teamer Bam Doyne.

Next up could be recently graduated 1,000-point scorer Zach Graham, who has worked out with several NBA teams in recent months.

Ole Miss press release on Warren's signing
Adelaide 36ers press release on Warren's signing

Monday, July 18, 2011

Cozart Homers

Former Rebel shortstop Zack Cozart got his first MLB home run over the weekend to help the Cincinnati Reds claim a series win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The shot to left field extended the lead to 3-1 for the Reds in Sunday's game. Cozart scored two of the three runs for the Reds.

On the flip side of things, it came at the expense of former Rebel pitcher Lance Lynn who was on the mound for the Cardinals at the time.

Fans can check out the home run here.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Media Guides Coming

You know the season is drawing near when the media guide comes out. Ole Miss' 2011 edition returns from the printers next week, and you can pre-order a copy on the official site. Many schools across the country have gone away from printing guides, but for media and fans who have collected them through the years, it's invaluable. Hats off to our staff for a job well done! Here is a sneak peek of the cover.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Rebel Hoops In The Pros

While Chris Warren and Zach Graham were leading the way in Oxford this past season, Ole Miss Hoops displayed quite a presence in the global basketball community, as well. With most of the overseas hoops seasons now concluded, we decided to update all you fans on how our former Rebels are doing professionally.

In 2010-11, there were 11 former Ole Miss players competing professionally in 12 different countries. Among them was Terrico White of the NBA's Detroit Pistons, the Bulgarian League's Player of the Year Aaron Harper, All-Germany first teamer Derrick Allen and All-Hungary first teamer Bam Doyne. Additionally, former Rebel Elston Turner was an assistant coach with the NBA's Houston Rockets.

Below is a complete list of former Rebels in professional basketball in 2010-11.

Todd Abernethy
Team:
Politekhnika-Halychyna
League/Country: Ukraine
Notes: 10.9 ppg, 5.2 apg (2nd in league)

Derrick Allen
Team:
ALBA Berlin
League/Country: Germany
Notes: First team All-Germany, All-Import Team; 13.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg; helped ALBA to 24-10 record, runner-up in playoff finals

Dwayne Curtis
Team:
CE CIP Lleida, Limoges CSP Elite
League/Country: Spain, France
Notes: 11.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg (2nd in Spanish league)

Bam Doyne
Team:
Charleville-Mezieres, Falco-Szova
League/Country: France, Hungary
Notes: First team All-Hungary, All-Import Team; 21.8 ppg (2nd in league), 5.2 rpg

Tommie Eddie
Team:
Academica de Coimbra
League/Country: Portugal
Notes: Second team All-Portugal; 18.2 ppg (4th in league), 9.0 rpg (4th in league); helped Academica to 16-6 record

Aaron Harper
Team:
Levski Sofia
League/Country: Bulgaria
Notes: Bulgaria Player of the Year, Forward of the Year, Import of the Year; 23.6 ppg (league’s top scorer), 5.5 rpg, 3.0 apg; helped Levski Sofia to 22-6 record, league runner-up

David Huertas
Team:
Marousi BC, Quebradillas Pirates
League/Country: Greece, Puerto Rico
Notes: 11.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg (Greece); 13.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg (Puerto Rico)

Justin Johnson
Team:
Quebec City Kebs
League/Country: Professional Basketball League (PBL)
Notes: Played in one game

Elston Turner
Team:
Houston Rockets
League/Country: NBA
Notes: Assistant coach

Terrico White
Team:
Detroit Pistons
League/Country: NBA
Notes: Injured in preseason, DNP as a rookie

Kenny Williams
Team:
Walter Tigers Tuebingen
League/Country: Germany
Notes: 7.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg

LaTaryl Williams
Team:
Leicester City Riders
League/Country: United Kingdom
Notes: 9.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg

Note: Information collected from NBA.com and Eurobasket.com.


Terrico White

Randolph Has The Last Word

In case you haven't seen it, former Rebel Jonathan Randolph sat down with Rebelvision for his "Last Word." Head on over to OleMissSports.com and check it out. Also, Randolph is featured in today's edition of the Daily Mississippian. Click here to read what the All-American had to say about his future and this week's Viking Classic.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Preparation Spot

In case you were out of pocket over the weekend, here is the new football tickets spot everyone has been buzzing about. Kudos to Matthew Graves and the folks over at UM Media and Documentary Projects and Micah Ginn and our creative staff here in Athletics on an awesome collaboration.

"Preparation" - Ole Miss Football Spot from UM Media Documentary Projects on Vimeo.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Viking Classic To Have Mississippi Flavor

Former Rebel golfer Jonathan Randolph recently finished up an outstanding run to the semifinals at the U.S. Amateur Public Links, and late Thursday night he was rewarded yet again with his second sponsor's exemption to the PGA TOUR's Viking Classic to be played July 14-17 at Annandale in Madison. Check out this blog entry from the Clarion-Ledger's Ross Dellenger.

Tennis Center Getting A Facelift

The 2011 tennis season is in the books, but there is plenty going on at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center these days. Construction has begun on the renovation/expansion of the tennis center. Read about the plans and see the photo gallery of what's taking place at www.OleMissSports.com.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

UPDATED (Again): Summer Brings More New Rebels

There has been a change in plans since yesterday's post. While Tobias Singleton was admitted for Ole Miss' second summer term, he had already missed the first three days of both of his classes and felt it would be best to hold off on beginning classes until the fall semester. His eligibility -- like all of our newcomers that are enrolled -- is not a concern. Tobias simply wants to get a fresh start in August.

Original post on July 5:
We mentioned in our original blogpost that there could be additions to our list of newcomers enrolled in the second summer term, and today brought one -- All-American wide receiver Tobias Singleton. That means 21 of the 23 football signees are already on campus. I'm looking at you strength coach Don Decker!

Original post on June 30:
Ole Miss' second summer term got underway today, which brought 16 additions to the Rebel Family. Among the new scholarship student-athletes admitted for the session are six from baseball, four each from football and women's basketball and two from men's basketball. Notable in the group is Murphy Holloway, who is beginning his second stint on the Ole Miss hoops squad, and Boston Red Sox draftee Senquez Golson, who is opting for Vaught-Hemingway Stadium instead of Fenway Park. It should be noted that students have until Tuesday to enroll in the term so there could be additions.


Baseball
Auston Bousfield
Hawtin Buchanan
Chris Ellis
Josh Laxer
Chase Reeves
Sikes Orvis

Football
Nickolas Brassell
Senquez Golson
Keith Lewis
Jamal Mosley

Women’s Basketball
Amber Bryant-Singletary
Jordan Frizzell
Monique Jackson
Danielle McCray

Men’s Basketball
Maurice Aniefiok
Murphy Holloway

Friday, July 1, 2011

What A Week For Randolph

Former Ole Miss golfer Jonathan Randolph had a quite a week in Bandon, Ore., site of the U.S. Amateur Public Links. The Brandon, Miss., native finished second in the stroke play qualifying and then advanced to the semifinals of match play, in just his first ever appearance in the prestigious field. David Shefter, senior writer for USGA.org, caught up with the 2010 All-American prior to his semifinal match against UNLV's Derek Ernst. Click here to read the article.