The Ole Miss Rebels are quietly one of the better teams in the SEC. Could Andy Kennedy’s squad be a potential NCAA Tournament team in the waiting?
The Ole Miss Rebels earned a trip to the NIT last season and bring back many key players from that team. Five players who logged over 19 minutes per game have returned which includes two of their top three scorers. The Rebels have also added a highly ranked recruit and three impact transfers. With this mix of experience and incoming talent, you would think that Ole Miss would be considered a potential NCAA Tournament team, but they are nowhere to be found in preseason projections.
One reason why Ole Miss is excluded from NCAA Tournament projections is that they failed to make the tournament last season. However, this should not be a factor whatsoever since Virginia Tech, Creighton, South Carolina, St. Mary’s, Florida State, and Florida all participated in the 2016 NIT and then earned a berth in the 2017 NCAA tournament.
All of those teams were in the same position as Ole Miss. They all mixed a strong group of returners with a few talented newcomers. For example, Florida lost their leading scorer, Dorian Finney-Smith, but returned almost everyone else and added a key player in Canyon Barry. This formula led Florida to a high seed and a deep tournament run.
While Ole Miss will probably not be as good as Florida was last year, the point is still valid. Do not overlook a team just because they played in the NIT the year before. A team like Ole Miss who returns and adds quality players should be included in preseason tournament fields.
The Rebels’ Strong Backcourt
The other reason why people are down on Ole Miss is that they lost their best player from last season, double-double machine Sebastian Saiz, and two other rotation players (Cullen Neal and Rasheed Brooks). What these people are overlooking is that the Rebels return four quality starters from last season.
Deandre Burnett, Terrence Davis, and Breein Tyree were the starters on the perimeter, and all three of them return. Burnett is a transfer from Miami who led Ole Miss in scoring and assists. The combo-guard averaged 16.5 points, 3.2 assists, and shot 37.6% from three. Davis was one of the most improved players in the country last season, improving his scoring average from 1.9ppg to 14.9ppg. Davis also led Ole Miss in steals with 1.4 per game and was second in rebounding with 5.3 per game. Lastly, Tyree earned a place in the starting lineup even though he was a freshman which shows how highly regarded he was in the eyes of the coaching staff.
These three players form a formidable backcourt that is underrated nationally, but they have more help on the way. Transfer Markel Crawford has averaged over 20 minutes per game in each of his three seasons with Memphis and will be immediately eligible as a grad transfer. The 6’5 guard had a great junior season where he averaged 12.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
The Ole Miss backcourt will definitely be improved from last season since adding a quality veteran like Crawford will provide a major boost to an already talented and experienced group. Also, when you include highly regarded freshman Devonte Shuler (109th in 247 composite rankings), Ole Miss has five legitimate options on the perimeter.
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 6th 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.
How Experts View Ole Miss
Even though the Rebels’ talent and experience is clear when you break down their roster, experts continue to look past Ole Miss.
CBS Sports recently released their early SEC power rankings and Ole Miss was picked to finish 12th in the conference. The Rebels were picked behind South Carolina who lost their three perimeter starters including their two best players Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier.
They were also picked behind Georgia who lost JJ Frazier. Frazier did a majority of the scoring and creating for Georgia and was their lone perimeter scoring threat. Both Georgia and South Carolina should be much worse than they were last season as they do not have suitable replacements for their departed star players. As described above, Ole Miss has improved their team significantly and should definitely finish higher than these teams.
It would be foolish to say that CBS’s opinion is definitively wrong, especially in August, but it is hard to see the logic for ranking Ole Miss 12th behind teams like Georgia and South Carolina that lost so much and are considerably less talented.
Teams Ranked Ahead of Ole Miss
Wisconsin, Florida State, Arkansas, and Michigan are included in preseason NCAA Tournament fields, but, when you compare these teams to Ole Miss they do not seem superior. Ole Miss should be ranked ahead of these teams, or at least grouped with them, but the Rebels don’t even seem to be in consideration
Wisconsin was a No. 8 seed and lost four starters including Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes. Florida State lost their three best players, Jonathan Isaac, Dwayne Bacon, and Xavier Rathan Mayes. Arkansas was a No. 8 seed and lost Dusty Hannahs and Moses Kingsley, two of their best players. Michigan also lost their three best players in DJ Wilson, Derrick Walton, and Zak Irvin.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has all four of these teams in his projected field. He has Wisconsin as a No. 8 seed, Florida State as a No. 6 seed, Arkansas as a No. 11 seed, and Michigan as a No. 7 seed. Lunardi even has Iowa State who lost their four best players as a No. 10 seed while Ole Miss isn’t even in his first eight out. It seems like the Rebels were not even under consideration.
Jerry Palm from CBS also included the previously mentioned four teams in his projected bracket. He has Wisconsin as an 8 seed, Florida State as a 12 seed, and Arkansas and Michigan as No. 10 seeds, but no mention of Ole Miss.
How can teams that lost so much be ranked ahead of the Rebels? These teams are not bringing in Kentucky or Duke caliber recruiting classes where they can just reload. Only time will tell, but it definitely seems like Ole Miss deserves more national respect.
I’m not saying these teams are not tournament caliber teams. In fact, I have some of them in my preseason projected field. However, if they are considered tournament caliber teams, then Ole Miss should be considered one as well.
Next: Ranking top coaching moves of the offseason
Ole Miss is a team that improved both their backcourt and frontcourt and returns key players from a solid NIT team. When comparing Ole Miss to teams in similar situations with similar talent it is clear that the Rebels are not getting the respect that they deserve. We will find out in November, but this Ole Miss team is NCAA tournament caliber and the evidence is overwhelming.