Ole Miss Basketball: Who is the Rebels’ most important player in 2017-18?

Who will lead the Ole Miss Rebels in 2017-18 after the departure of Sebastian Saiz?

The Ole Miss Rebels will feel slighted after they barely missed out on the 2017 NCAA Tournament and played in the NIT instead, but should have high expectations for the 2017-18 season.

Few teams in college basketball will boast as exciting of a group of guards as the Rebels. Deandre Burnett, Terence Davis, and Breein Tyree among others should be explosive and fun to watch.

However, Ole Miss will lose their most important player in Sebastian Saiz and must find a way to replace and possibly even improve on his ridiculous 15.1 points and 11.4 rebounds per game average.

Unfortunately, I think the scariest part about the Rebels’ 2017-18 campaign is that I do not believe they have a player who can replace Saiz on the inside or even come close. Their player who probably could have helped, JaMarko Pickett, decided to go to another school after initially choosing Ole Miss.

That being said, the lack of proven, experienced forwards means that one of Ole Miss’ exciting guards will have to take a step forward and make this offense even more potent. While it would be easy to say that one of the non-leading scorers should step up, Burnett could easily average 20 or more points per game.

Last season, Burnett, a transfer from Miami, averaged 16.5 points per game over 30 minutes per game, scoring over 20 points 10 times – including a 40 point outburst over Oral Roberts.

Past guards like Marshall Henderson and Stefan Moody have led this team through their scoring, and Burnett could do the same. In fact, he has to improve on his numbers from last year if this team is to have success and compete in the SEC.

Next: Ranking top coaching moves of the offseason

Even if Ole Miss struggles, Burnett should be one of the most explosive players in college basketball and a must-watch for any fan of the sport.