HottyToddy.com’s Daily Ole Miss Sports Roundup

HottyToddy.com is giving readers a roundup of all the commentary and information about the Ole Miss Rebels from various publications around the Web.

Readers will be able to check out the latest information in a single post every day throughout the year. Here at HottyToddy.com, we are doing all the leg work to find the information that people may want to hear about Ole Miss sports.

Today’s roundup feature stories from Ole Miss.247sports and Ole Miss Athletics

Ben Brown Back at Ole Miss

HottyToddy.com file photo

Ole Miss 2017 offensive line commit Ben Brown returned to his future home on Friday to take part in the Rebels’ elite camp.

The 6-6, 290-pounder out of Vicksburg (Miss.) St. Aloysius easily passed the eyeball test as a future SEC offensive lineman. Broad at the chest, slim at the waist and with powerful arms, Brown stood out in all categories among a dozen or so offensive line prospects at the one-day camp.

“I’ve been trying to get a lot faster and get as strong as I can,” Brown told Rebels247. “I think I’ve gained some more muscle but lost some fat.”

Brown, who is a multi-tiered Ole Miss legacy with his dad, uncle and two grandfathers having played for the Rebels, says he is still hearing from other schools but it really doesn’t matter.

“Ole Miss is the school that I’ve alays wanted to play for, so none of that stuff really matters any more,” said Brown.

Courtesy of David Johnson and OleMiss.247sports.com

Woodman Earns All-America Status  

J B Woodman
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics@olemisspix

After a memorable 2016 campaign, Ole Miss center fielder J.B. Woodman was named an All-American by Baseball America, the national publication announced Tuesday morning (June 7). Earning Second Team All-America accolades, Woodman became the 23rd All-American in Ole Miss Baseball history.

One of three team captains, Woodman led Ole Miss to a 43-19 record in 2016, which included another postseason appearance for the Rebels. The Orlando, Florida native hit .323 during the season with team highs in runs scored (53), RBI (55) and slugging percentage (.578), cracking the SEC’s top 10 in all three categories. He is the SEC’s home run leader with 14 blasts, looking to become the first Rebel to pace the conference in home runs since Mark Barnthouse in 1977. The smooth swing and strength at the plate earned Woodman a spot on the All-SEC First Team.

Woodman showed his speed throughout the season, leading the Rebels with 12 stolen bases and tracking down balls in the outfield gaps from his center field position. He certainly earned his spot on the SEC All-Defensive Team, recording nine outfield assists throughout the year, which leads the league and ranks third nationally. Seven of his nine outfield assists occurred at the plate to keep runs off the board. Woodman threw three runners out at the plate and hit .500 against LSU to be named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s National Hitter of the Week and SEC Player of the Week (May 3).

The junior was also honored as one of the best collegiate baseball players in the state of Mississippi when he was named a finalist for the Ferriss Trophy (May 16).

Along with etching his name as the Rebels’ 23rd All-American, Woodman is also the 13th All-American during the Mike Bianco era (16 seasons). Over the past five years, Ole Miss has had seven Rebels that have earned All-America status.

This is the second time Baseball America has chosen Woodman as an All-American, naming him a Freshman All-America honoree in 2014.

For the latest news and updates involving Ole Miss Baseball, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissBSB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Baseball and on Instagram at olemissbsb.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Volleyball to Play 2016 Season in The Pavilion at Ole Miss

Courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

While their current home, the Gillom Sports Center, undergoes a major renovation, the Ole Miss volleyball team will move to The Pavilion at Ole Miss for the 2016 season. The schedule includes eight matches against six NCAA Tournament teams from 2015.

“We are excited about this year’s schedule,” head coach Steven McRoberts said. “It is a lot more challenging than the previous two years, which should help our young team be more prepared for SEC play. Also, between our preseason schedule and the SEC schedule we have this year we should have plenty of opportunities to get quality wins as we keep building this program for postseason play.

“This year will be quite the adjustment going from Gillom to The Pavilion. We are blessed to have the best on campus basketball facility to compete in for our 2016 season while we await the renovation of the Gillom Center for 2017.”

Schedule at a glance…
• The Rebels will open the season Aug. 26-27 at the North Dakota tournament in Grand Forks, North Dakota. There they will face UC-Davis, North Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha.
• Ole Miss will host the Rebel Classic Sept. 2-3 at The Pavilion, opening the home schedule with a match against UT-Arlington Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. Other teams in the field include McNeese State, coached by Rebel alum Ashleigh Fitzgerald, and NC State.
• All matches at The Pavilion will be free.
• A challenging early season non-conference match against 2015 NCAA participant Arkansas State awaits on Sept. 6 at 6 p.m.
• The Rebels will close out the non-conference part of the schedule with back-to-back tournaments in Tennessee at 2015 NCAA tournament participant Lipscomb (Sept. 9-10) followed by Chattanooga (Sept. 16-17).
• SEC home matches include Florida (Sept. 23), Arkansas (Oct. 2), LSU (Oct. 5), Texas A&M (Oct. 9), Auburn (Oct. 19), Alabama (Oct. 23), Tennessee (Nov. 11), Kentucky (Nov. 13) and South Carolina (Nov. 25).
• Make your Black Friday plans now, as the Rebels host South Carolina the day after Thanksgiving and the day before football hosts Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.
• The Rebels will play six conference foes twice, traveling to Tennessee (Oct. 14), Kentucky (Oct. 16), Florida (Oct. 28), LSU (Nov. 4), Auburn (Nov. 6) and Alabama (Nov. 23). Other road matches include Missouri (Sept. 25), Mississippi State (Nov. 16) and Georgia (Nov. 20).

The Rebels are coming off back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time in nearly three decades, and return four starters from last year led by rising senior setter Aubrey Edie. The Fayetteville, Arkansas, native enters her final campaign needing just 275 assists to become the career leader at Ole Miss.

In July, the Rebels will welcome a six-member recruiting class that received highest honorable mention and features All-Americans Jordan Fate, Emily Engelken and Nicole Purcell.

For more information on Ole Miss Volleyball, follow the Rebels on Twitter, @OleMissVB, on Facebook at OleMissVolleyball and on Instagram at OleMissVB. Also follow Coach McRoberts on Twitter, @CoachMcRoberts.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Ole Miss’ Mattix Named to SEC Community Service Team

2015-2016 Track
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics

For her exceptional level of volunteer work in her community, Ole Miss sophomore Mercedes Mattix has been named to the 2016 Southeastern Conference Track and Field Community Service Team.

A 400-meter runner for the Rebels on the track, Mattix has been involved in several volunteer efforts off the track during her first two years in Oxford. The Columbus, Mississippi, native has helped with donation drives for Books and Bears and for South Carolina flood relief in the greater Columbia community. She has participated in the Mississippi Diabetes Walk, a Trunk or Treat Halloween event and Hope to Dream, which is a mini-sports camp for children in the Oxford-Lafayette Boys and Girls Club that also included a surprise reveal of beds for many of their homes.

In her other “spare” time, Mattix has volunteered as a tennis coach back home in Columbus.

2016 SEC Track & Field Community Service Team:

MEN:

Devin Randall, Arkansas

Redatu Semeon, Auburn

Marques Burgman, Florida

Zack Sims, Georgia

Fred Dorsey III, Kentucky

Morgan Wells, LSU

Jaquarius Wilson, Mississippi State

Ian McGinn, Missouri

Kaleb Zuidema, South Carolina

Weldon Wright, Tennessee

Wade Karam, Texas A&M

WOMEN:

Taliyah Brooks, Arkansas

Marshay Ryan, Auburn

Amber Johnson, Florida

Kendell Williams, Georgia

Beckie Famurewa, Kentucky

Rebecca Little, LSU

Mercedes Mattix, Ole Miss

Madison Milhoan, Mississippi State

Bailey Hession, Missouri

Maya Evans, South Carolina

Cassie Wertman, Tennessee

Shelbi Vaughan, Texas A&M

Skyler Carpenter, Vanderbilt

For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissTrack, as well as Facebook and Instagram.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

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