Basketball
Rebels Land Talented JUCO Power Forward For 2017 Class
The Rebels season ended last Tuesday with a loss to Georgia Tech in the NIT, and their offseason is off to a strong start. Bruce Stevens, a 6-8 Power Forward from Jones County Junior College, committed to play for Ole Miss.
Originally from Bay Springs, Mississippi, Stevens chose to stay in-state to play, picking Ole Miss over Memphis, Oregon State and even Georgetown. Also working in the Rebels’ favor was Steven’s coach at JCJC being former Ole Miss All-American Rahim Lockhart. Lockhart told the Ole Miss Spirit that Stevens was impressed by the energy around the program.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the facility Ole Miss has now. He went up for a game this past year, and he was just really impressed with the facility, the atmosphere and the crowd. I think Ole Miss has done a great job building its program with not just success on the court, but you get on campus and look at the facilities. It’s impressive,” Lockhart said.
According to JUCOrecruting.com Stevens is the #6 ranked player in their top 100 after averaging 16.2 PPG and 11.2 RPG last season. What’s noteworthy there is his comparison to the departing Sebastian Saiz, who averaged 15.1 PPG and 11.4 for the Rebels during his senior season.
Stevens can come in and make an immediate impact and minimize the impact of Saiz’ departure. Stevens can add a level of versatility to the Rebel offense as he finished last season hitting 37.5 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Stevens joins SG Devontae Shuler, SG Parker Stuart and PF JaMarko Pickett in the Rebels 2017 recruiting class. The Rebels chemistry seemed to click later in the 2016-17 season, especially during the SEC tournament and the NIT. With proven scorers Deandre Burnett and Terrence Davis returning alongside rising sophomore PG Breein Tyree, this has a chance to be one of Kennedy’s most talented groups during his tenure at Ole Miss.
Steven Gagliano is a writer for HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at steven.gagliano@hottytoddy.com.
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