Andy Kennedy's Rebels an exercise in patience

On Friday night Ole Miss will tipoff the 2010-2011 campaign in Oxford against John Brady’s Arkansas State. Yet there’s already pessimism within the Rebel fan base in regards to this season’s basketball squad. I understand. Fans have seen Ole Miss teams who perform well in non-conference play only scratch .500 in Southeastern Conference play and finish the season in the National Invitational Tournament.

We want it all, baby. NCAA Tournament berths every season should be the norm. Rebel fans have every right to strive for the best for their school just as the coaches and players expect the best from themselves. However, maybe patience is a virtue best suited for the current situation. 

It’s all right to be disappointed in missing out on such highly touted recruits as Cleveland, MS standout Johnny O’Bryant or Lepanto, Ark. native Ky Madden. By the way, recruitment for both of the aforementioned prospects is not yet over. 

Some on the various Ole Miss message boards have even posted about Kennedy and his staff having lost their touch at recruiting. So I ask, when has Ole Miss ever been in contention for blue chip recruits such as O’Bryant or Madden, prior to the current staff taking over?

The answer is never.

According to Rivals.com, Ole Miss’ own Terrico White received offers from Ole Miss, Arkansas, Georgia State and Valparaiso. White’s hometown school, Memphis, didn’t recruit him until it was too late. And, yet, White was drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons and subsequently signed a professional contract. Only one other school in the SEC can say that they had a player sign a contract following the 2010 draft: Kentucky.

Take a look at Chris Warren. The very same Internet recruiting site states that Warren’s offers coming out of Orlando’s Dr. Phillips High School were Ole Miss, Florida Atlantic, James Madison, Old Dominion, Central Florida and Virginia Commonwealth. That’s one high-major offer for a guy that comes into the season ranked 15th on Ole Miss’ all-time scoring list. And while I am sure there wasn’t jubilation over Warren’s signing from the fan base, it’s hard to ignore the fact that he will go down as one of the best players to wear a Rebel uniform.

Even after signing recruits that seemingly flew under the radar in high school, this Ole Miss staff has churned out three 20-plus win seasons in four years. That’s not to mention that this same staff has won two SEC West Division titles in that same time span.

Some might think there would be tons of support coming from every direction of the fan base. To an extent there is, but by and large there is not.

All Kennedy has to lure kids into playing at Ole Miss is the new Basketball Practice Facility, the recent 20-win seasons and a player in the NBA. That’s it. The staff already has a dilapidated Tad Smith Coliseum and a lukewarm at best fan base working against them.

Certainly Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I would argue that rebuilding Ole Miss’ basketball program might be a far greater task.

Remember, this is a program that, prior to White being drafted by the Detroit Pistons, had just one player selected in the NBA Draft this decade. The program’s winningest coach, B.L. “Country” Graham, has an overall losing record and the only coach who came close to passing Graham’s record of 144 wins, Rod Barnes, left the Ole Miss program in mostly shambles following his departure in 2006.

And with that, Kennedy and staff have produced 85 wins in four seasons with a chance to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011.

Let’s just hope the fan base shows up to see it.