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Three Things: Georgia Southern

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports Productions

Rebels Engram, Kelly Among 10 Senior CLASS Award Finalists

Photo by Randall Haley

Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram and quarterback Chad Kelly are among 10 NCAA® Football Bowl Subdivision student-athletes who excel both on and off the field and were selected Thursday as finalists for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate football.

Ole Miss is the only school with multiple finalists for the award.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Here is the complete list of finalists:

Zach Banner, USC

Jake Butt, Michigan

Jake Elliott, Memphis

Evan Engram, Ole Miss

Jordan Evans, Oklahoma

O.J. Howard, Alabama

Zay Jones, East Carolina

Chad Kelly, Ole Miss

Tyler Orlosky, West Virginia

Tre’Davious White, LSU

Engram tops all tight ends in the nation with 6.1 catches per game and an SEC-best 87.5 receiving yards per outing. He ranks second among tight ends nationally with six touchdown catches. The Powder Springs, Georgia, native has broken the Ole Miss career records in catches (146), yards (2,094) and TDs (13) by a tight end and has already broken his own single-season school record by a tight end with 700 receiving yards and still four regular-season games left.

Engram is an integrated marketing communications major with plans to go into broadcast journalism or marketing after his playing career. He is a standout in the Oxford community, showing a special heart for physically and mentally handicapped individuals as a supporter and volunteer with the Scott Center, Northeast Mississippi Regional Center and Special Olympics Mississippi. He was on the 2015 Southeastern Conference Community Service Team and is a two-time nominee for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

Kelly has broken all kinds of school records since taking over as the Rebels’ starting quarterback at the beginning of last season. Following last year’s campaign in which he was Sugar Bowl MVP and broke or tied 14 school records, he once again leads the SEC and ranks top 10 nationally in passing (316.5 yards per game) and total offense (355.1 yards per game). The Buffalo, New York, native has broken Eli Manning’s school record by throwing a touchdown pass in 21 straight games and has also established a school record with 12 career 300-yard outings.

In the classroom, Kelly maintains a 3.01 grade point average as a general studies major with minors in sociology, education and recreation administration. He was a member of the 2015 SEC Academic Honor Roll. Kelly has participated in two spring break mission trips to Haiti where he and other Rebels have helped the Camp Marie community gain access to clean water and sustainable farming. He regularly makes himself available to fans for autographs and photos, while also speaking with children about the values of a good work ethic and pursuing their dreams.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through December 12. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the football bowl season in early January.

For more information on all the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

Follow Ole Miss Football on Twitter (@OleMissFB), Facebook and Instagram. For more information, visit www.OleMissSports.com.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Ole Miss’ Women’s Basketball’s Sessom Earns Spot on Preseason All-SEC Team

2016-2017 Ole Miss Women’s Basketball
Photos by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics
Twitter: @olemisspix

Junior guard Shandricka Sessom (Byhalia, Miss.) earned a spot on the preseason All-SEC second team as taken by a vote of the league coaches, it was announced on Thursday. Sessom, Ole Miss’ leading scorer with 15.6 points per game last season, landed a spot on the team for the first time in her career and is the first Ole Miss player to earn preseason accolades since Tia Faleru in 2014.

Sessom had a breakout season in 2015-16 as she led the Rebels in scoring with 15.6 points per game, and was the No. 6 scorer in the SEC, after averaging just over 5.2 points per game as a freshman in 2014-15. Sessom posted 25 games in double figures and had seven outings of 20 or more points, including a career-high 28 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

For her career, Sessom is averaging 10.4 points per game and is shooting at a .362 clip. She enters her junior campaign with 632 career points and seems poised to become a member of the 1,000-point club before it is all said and done.

A 2016 C Spire Gillom Trophy finalist – awarded to the top women’s basketball player in Mississippi –Sessom is also quite involved off the court. She serves on Ole Miss’ Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was recently selected to represent Ole Miss on the SEC Basketball Leadership Council.

Also released on Thursday, were the SEC Coaches Poll and preseason predictors. South Carolina was picked to win the SEC in 2017 with Mississippi State and Tennessee rounding out the top three. South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson was voted preseason Player of the Year.

Fans can get their first glimpse of the 2016-17 Rebels on Friday, Nov. 4 when they take on Mississippi College in exhibition action at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and admission is free. Ole Miss opens regular–season action on Friday, Nov. 11 when they host Southeastern Louisiana at 2:30 p.m. at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.

For further ticket information, go to OleMissTix.com or call the Ole Miss Ticket Office at 1-888-REB-TKTS (732-8587). For all Ole Miss women’s basketball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com, and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWBB and on Facebook at Ole Miss Women’s Basketball. Fans can also follow Ole Miss women’s basketball head coach Matt Insell on Twitter at @minsell.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

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