Rebels' Greatest Passer?

Great read by Ron Higgins on the SEC's all-time assists leader - the Rebels' very own Sean Tuohy. Higgins calls him the best passer in Ole Miss history - which is sure to draw out a few comments from Manning fans. Entertaining and informative stuff on SECSports.com...

SEC NATION: Tuohy Can Still Dish

Past NCAA Champions Clash Down Under

Former Ole Miss NCAA Doubles Champion Mahesh Bhupathi will be vying for his 12th grand slam title Saturday, as he and his partner, Leander Paes, battle the two-time defending Australian Open Champions, Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan for the doubles title. The match will air on the Tennis Channel at 4:30 a.m. CT.

Bhupathi and Paes, seeded No. 3, advanced to the final with a close three-set win over the No. 2 seeds, Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Daniel Nestor (CAN). The Bryan twins easily defeated Eric Butorac (USA) and Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO) in straight sets to reach their third straight Australian Open final.

While at Ole Miss, Bhupathi helped the Rebels to the NCAA Final in 1995 and teamed up with Ali Hamadeh to win the ’95 NCAA Doubles Championship.

The Aussie Open doubles final includes three former collegiate All-Americans, as the Bryans helped lead Stanford to the NCAA team title in 1998 and won the NCAA doubles crown as well.

Ole Miss Headed To The LPGA Tour

Former All-American Dori Carter will be carrying Ole Miss with her everywhere she travels during her rookie season on the LPGA Tour this year. Check out her newly designed golf bag.

Sowell Among SEC's Most Improved

College football season is essentially a year-round sport now, especially for bloggers like ESPN.com's Chris Low who churns out new content everyday. Today he looks back at the SEC's most improved players in 2010, and Rebel OT Bradley Sowell ranked No. 5 on his list. Here is what he said.

Remember Sowell trying to block South Carolina’s Eric Norwood early during the 2009 season? It was a mismatch, but Sowell came back strong later that season and even stronger this season, settling into his left tackle spot and earning second-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press.

Strong Showing For Masoli In All-Star Game

A pair of Rebels competed in all-star games this month with Ted Laurent playing in the East-West Shrine Game and Jeremiah Masoli taking part in the Eastham Energy College All-Star Game. Masoli got the start in his contest and led his squad to victory. He also posted some solid numbers, completing 13-of-27 passes for a game-high 229 yards with one TD and no interceptions. He also rushed six times for 25 yards.

Bianco Visits NWCC Kick Off Dinner

Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco attended the second annual Kick Off Dinner at Northwest Community College on Wednesday night where he was the keynote speaker. He took some time after the dinner to speak with Kevin Maloney of NWCC. You can watch the video below.

G'Day Mate

Former Ole Miss men's tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi is enjoying success down under at the Australian Open. The 1995 NCAA Doubles Champion recently reunited with his fellow countryman and former doubles partner, Leander Paes, to try and win the only doubles grand slam trophy he doesn't have in his trophy case. The duo advanced to the semifinals with a straight set win over the eighth seeded team of Michael Llodra (FRA)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) in the quarterfinals. Bhupathi and Paes will face the No. 2 seeds, Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Daniel Nestor (CAN) in the semifinals. In 1999, Bhupathi and Paes won the French Open and Wimbledon and then won the French Open again in 2001, before splitting up for nine years.


Photo by Wayne Taylor

Bhupathi will have two opportunities to win a grand slam this week, as he is also in the Mixed Doubles quarterfinals with Australia's Anastasia Rodionova.

While at Ole Miss, Bhupathi led the Rebels to the NCAA team finals. He became the first Rebel tennis player to win an NCAA title when he captured the Doubles Championship in 1995 and ended the year as the No. 1 doubles team in the nation.

Master Scorer: Chris Warren

Attention Ole Miss fans: If you haven't seen Chris Warren and the Rebels play this season, you don't want to miss your chance to see one of the best scoring guards ever in the Southeastern Conference suit up in the Red and Blue for the last few times.

As I’m writing this blog post, Warren has the second-best scoring average among SEC players (18.3 ppg) and ranks among the league leaders in several other categories, as well.

There are a lot of superlatives one can write about the Rebels’ 5-foot-10 point guard, who has been spectacular in his senior season. Here’s one of the more impressive ones: If Warren averages 21.8 points for the rest of the season (not including postseason), he will score 2,000 career points. If he can reach that number, he will become the fourth member of an incredibly elite group of SEC players with 2,000 points and 400 assists. Only LSU’s Pete Maravich, Tennessee’s Allan Houston and Georgia’s Litterial Green reached those prestigious numbers in their college career. (Warren already has 405 assists.)

A few more impressive notes about Warren …
- SEC’s active career leader in points, 3-pointers, assists and 20-point games.
- Leads the nation with a 94.8 free-throw percentage, which would set the school and SEC record if the season ended today.
- Already set the school record for career 3-pointers and currently ranks sixth in SEC history with 293.
- Could become only the third player in school history to score 2,000 points.
- Has done all of this while missing 20 games with an ACL injury his sophomore year.


(he can even dunk!)

Rebels In The Super Bowl

As the Pittsburgh Steelers advance to Super Bowl XLV with Sunday's 24-19 win over the Jets, it means an Ole Miss Rebel will once again play on football's grandest stage. As I tweeted last night, Mike Wallace is set to make the 23rd appearance by a former Ole Miss player in the Super Bowl and first since Eli Manning guided the Giants to the crown in SB XLII. Below is the full list of Rebels that have been active on Super Bowl rosters (this does not include players from practice squads such as Jermey Parnell with New Orleans last year).

I Allen Brown, TE, Green Bay
II Allen Brown, TE, Green Bay
III Larry Grantham, LB, New York Jets
VII Jim Dunaway, DT, Miami
XII Norris Weese, QB, Denver
XVI Paul Hofer, RB, San Francisco; Jim Miller, P, San Francisco
XXII Barry Wilburn, DB, Washington; Andre Townsend, DT, Denver
XXIV Wesley Walls, TE, San Francisco; Andre Townsend, DT, Denver
XXX Alundis Brice, DB, Dallas
XXXII Willie Green, WR, Denver
XXXIII Willie Green, WR, Denver; Nate Wayne, LB, Denver
XXXVIII Kris Mangum, TE, Carolina; Tutan Reyes, OG, Carolina
XXXVIII Derrick Burgess, DL, Philadelphia; Nate Wayne, LB, Philadelphia
XL Chris Spencer, C, Seattle
XLI Terrence Metcalf, OL, Chicago
XLII Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants

Check out OleMissSports.com on Tuesday for a recap of how all of our NFL Rebels fared this season.

UPDATED: Rebels Picked All-Senior All-SEC

ESPN.com's Chris Low chose his top seniors of the 2010 SEC football season on his blog today, and Rebels Jerrell Powe and Jonathan Cornell both made the defensive unit. Picking from a talented linebacker class, Low defended his selection of Cornell, noting his 14 TFLs in 11 games. Here is Low's complete 2010 All-Senior, All-SEC team:

OFFENSE

• QB – Greg McElroy, Alabama
• RB – Derrick Locke, Kentucky
• RB – Mario Fannin, Auburn
• WR – Denarius Moore, Tennessee
• WR – Chris Matthews, Kentucky
• TE – D.J. Williams, Arkansas
• OL – Derek Sherod, Mississippi State
• OL – Lee Ziemba, Auburn
• OL – James Carpenter, Alabama
• OL – DeMarcus Love, Arkansas
• C – Ryan Pugh, Auburn

DEFENSE

• DL – Drake Nevis, LSU
• DL – Jerrell Powe, Ole Miss
• DL – Antoine Carter, Auburn
• DL – Pernell McPhee, Mississippi State
• LB – Kelvin Sheppard, LSU
• LB – Chris White, Mississippi State
• LB – Jonathan Cornell, Ole Miss
• DB – Ahmad Black, Florida
• DB – Zac Etheridge, Auburn
• DB – Mike McNeil, Auburn
• DB – Rudell Crim, Arkansas

SPECIAL TEAMS

• PK – Josh Jasper, LSU
• P – Chas Henry, Florida
• KR – Demond Washington, Auburn

UPDATE (1/27/10): Auburn's McNeil was actually a fourth-year junior, so Johnny Brown has taken his place on the team.

Spirit Squad Highlights

The Ole Miss Spirit squads traveled to Orlando, Fla., this past weekend to represent the University and compete in the Universal Cheerleaders Association and Universal Dance Association national championships. The squads overcame adversity and injuries during the competition to turn in solid performances as representatives of Ole Miss.

The Rebelettes finished in the top 10 in Jazz and advanced to the semi-finals in the hip hop routine, while the Cheerleading squad finished 14th in the national competition.

Check out some video of the competition. Rebelettes compete in hip hop:


Cheerleaders do their routine:

All-Rookie Jerry Leads Strong Rebel Class

Pro Football Weekly announced its 2010 NFL All-Rookie team, as voted by the Professional Football Writers of America, and former Rebel John Jerry was one of two offensive guards on the squad. Baby J started 10 games at right guard for Miami this season and played in a reserve role twice. He was inactive four games while recovering from an illness. Jerry was one of several Rebel rookies that showed out this season. Here is how they did:

Dexter McCluster, Kansas City: Played in 11 regular-season games with seven starts (plus played in playoff game) ... Totaled 21 catches for 209 yards and a 31-yard TD ... Rushed 18 times for 71 yards ... Returned 13 punts for 202 yards and a 94-yard TD ... Returned 26 kickoffs for 527 yards.

Kendrick Lewis, Kansas City: Played in 12 regular-season games with 10 starts (plus started in playoff game) ... Credited with 30 tackles, seven pass break-ups, three interceptions and a forced fumble.

Greg Hardy, Carolina: Played in 15 games ... Credited with 30 tackles, three sacks, one safety and one pass break-up.

Cassius Vaughn, Denver: Played in 13 games ... Returned two kickoffs for 125 yards with a 97-yard TD ... Credited with eight tackles.

Marshay Green, Arizona: Promoted to the active roster for the final six games but was not activated on gamedays ... Credited with five tackles in four preseason games.

Shay Hodge, Cincinnati: Promoted to the active roster for the season finale but did not see action.

A Team To Watch

Rebel golf is on the rise. Golfweek named the Ole Miss women's golf team one of five teams to watch this spring. Click here to see what Golfweek's Asher Wildman had to say about the Rebels.

Spring Football Nears

Ole Miss' spring practice slate will open on March 28. Tentative dates include March 28, 29, 31, April 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 (Grove Bowl). Time for the Grove Bowl has been tentatively set for 1 p.m. CT on April 16.

Stay tuned for some exciting new events surrounding Grove Bowl week. Other sports competing on campus that weekend include Baseball hosting Kentucky in a three-game set and Women's Tennis facing rival Mississippi State on Saturday.

Moore Highlights

As just announced over on OleMissSports.com, JUCO athlete/return specialist Philander Moore will join the Rebels later this month and will have three years of eligibility beginning with the 2011 season. Below are some highlights of Moore that are floating around the worldwide web.

From redshirt freshman season at Blinn C.C. (2010) ...


From senior season at Bowie H.S. (2008) ...


From junior season at Bowie H.S. (2007) ...


Please excuse any objectionable language in the highlight music.

Lee Proven QB Developer

As we announced Monday evening on the main site, the Miami Dolphins' David Lee has been tapped to direct the Rebels' offense and coach quarterbacks. While many regard Lee as the man that revived the Wildcat offense in the NFL, he has also proven to be very proficient in developing QBs in his 35 years in the coaching biz (29 in college, six in NFL). Six of his quarterbacks were drafted or signed free-agent deals following their collegiate careers, and in the pros, he helped develop Tony Romo from an undrafted free agent in 2003 to a Pro Bowler in 2006.

Perhaps the greatest example of Lee's teaching skills came during last year's Senior Bowl, when he helped prepare Tim Tebow for the 2010 NFL Draft. Check out a great article on Lee's influence on Superman from the Miami Herald last March.

Masoli Trending Tonight

As Oregon plays for the national championship tonight, our own Jeremiah Masoli's name is trending for obvious reasons. The former Duck idol was the topic of a John Canzano article in Sunday's Oregonian, and he was featured in an ESPN.com feature and this corresponding Gameday piece on his role in the journey of current Duck QB Darron Thomas.

Strother Featured On ESPNU

Check out a feature on soccer player Jenna Strother from the ESPNU SEC Weekly special Stories of Success, which aired in December and is narrated by our good friend Cara Capuano.

Belated Birthday Wishes To Eli

Our own Eli Manning turned the Big 3-0 last Monday, and unfortunately he had to celebrate at home as his Giants narrowly missed the playoffs. Eli just completed his seventh NFL season, and the New York Times' Andy Barall took an interesting look at Manning's legacy in his blog this week.

Former Rebel Heads Local HS Baseball Team

Former Rebel Kary Bridges was named the head baseball coach for Water Valley High School this week. A three-year letterwinner (1991-93) from Hattiesburg, Bridges was a second team All-SEC outfielder in 1993, when he batted .362 with 14 doubles, 31 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He was drafted in the 10th round by the Houston Astros and spent 10 years in the minors.

Kendrick Highlights

It has been nothing but excitement surrounding the Rebel hoops program since last week's signing of Jelan Kendrick. Here is a look at Kendrick in action from his days at Marietta's Wheeler High School.