Vassallo: Ole Miss Basketball Is Soaring Again!

Photo by Joshua McCoy of Ole Miss Athletics

For the second straight year Andy Kennedy has brought the best player in the league to the Ole Miss campus.

This has never happened previously, to this writer’s knowledge, regarding two different players. Who would have thought after Henderson’s departure that someone with the skills and abilities of 5-10 Stefan Moody would appear?

I have nicknamed him the Dexter McCluster of the basketball court. And they’re both from Florida. As a Freshman at Florida Atlantic Stefan averaged 31 minutes per game scoring 16 points in the process. This weekend against Tennessee his 22 points were terrific however his six steals were sensational! What a player!

Kennedy knows how to push all the right buttons at the right time. It was wonderful seeing Jarvis reemerge as a force on the court. His 8 assists versus the Vols were also a major factor in the nail biter not to mention his 13 points.

Looking ahead with only 4 conference games remaining (Georgia; at LSU; at Alabama; and finally Vanderbilt) we will be favorite in three of these. And if we can win three of these, this Rebel team will have accomplished 13 league victories for the first time.

Also previewing the tournament in Nashville we’re in a bear fight with Texas A&M for the number three seed. Why this is important is because the number four seed could face the Cats in the semifinals opposed to the championship game. The longer any team can postpone that nightmare is welcoming news.

Next year’s team (2015-2016) will also be a good one as the potential starting lineup as of right now looks something like this:

• Stefan Moody – guard
• Martavious Newby – guard
• Sebastian Saiz – forward
• Anthony Perez – forward
• Dwight Coleby – center

As all five of these players are part of the rotating nine this year, the four missing links to replace Summers, Smith and White and Rhett are the focus.

I fully expect 6-4 Junior Roderick Lawrence to earn one of those spots. Kennedy understands how to reload as well as any coach in America. And thank God he’s on our sidelines! What a coach!

Steve Vassallo is a HottyToddy.com contributor. Steve writes on Ole Miss athletics, Oxford business, politics and other subjects. He is an Ole Miss grad and former radio announcer for the basketball team. In addition, he is a certified economic and community developer and currently, a highly successful leader in the real estate business with Premier Properties of Oxford.You can contact Steve at sovassallo@gmail.com or call him at (985) 852-7745.