Ole Miss Basketball: Rebels overlooked as NCAA Tournament team

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 30: Mississippi Rebels head coach Andy Kennedy directs his team during the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during their championshiop game of the Barclays Center Classic at Barclays Center on November 30, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

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LEXINGTON, KY – JANUARY 6: Head coach Andy Kennedy of the Mississippi Rebels reacts to a call in the second half of the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on January 6, 2015 in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky defeated Mississippi 89-86 in overtime. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Ole Miss’ New Look Frontcourt

While there is not one frontcourt player on the roster who can make up for Sebastian Saiz’s production, collectively the Ole Miss frontcourt may be stronger this season even without their star big man. The Rebels return 2/3 of their frontcourt rotation from last season and throw in two potential starters. The Ole Miss frontcourt looks very strong on paper, especially for an area that is supposed to be a weakness.

Marcanvis Hymon and Justas Furmanavicius played prominent roles last season as they both averaged over 21 minutes per game. This means that two-thirds of last year’s frontcourt rotation are better this season because, at the very least, Hymon and Furmanavicious will benefit from an additional year of experience.

The two potential starters who will bolster the Ole Miss front line are Dominik Olejniczak and Bruce Stevens. Olejniczak is listed at 7’0 and 255 pounds and should step into the starting center role immediately. He averaged 6.5ppg and 4.1rpg in 16.2 minutes and shot 72.2% from the field at Drake in 2015-16. However, Olejniczak really found his groove towards the end of the season which is a good sign for Ole Miss. In the last 11 games, he averaged 23.6 minutes, 10.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks. Stevens is very talented in his own right as he was rated the 6^th best JUCO transfer in the country.

This shows that the Ole Miss frontcourt is much better than people think. Stevens, Olejniczak, Hymon, and Furmanavicius form a deep and experienced unit who should hold their own among the top frontcourts in the SEC.

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