Let's not forget the basketball team

Lost in the hoopla of the upcoming football season is a healthy, focused men's basketball team poised for redemption following a tumultuous 2008-09 campaign. Guards Chris Warren, Trevor Gaskins, have all been cleared for full practice and Zach Graham is on schedule as well.

The program got a big lift (literally) when big man DeMarco Cox committed to Andy Kennedy's program. He and PG Dundrecous Nelson give AK the first pair of 4* recruits in a single class since his arrival in Oxford. That's not including Indiana transfer Nick Williams, a highly-touted 3* guard who showed flashes of brilliance as a Hoosier last year and will be eligible to play as a Rebel in 2010-11. He's a raw talent though (those TO numbers are insane) and will definitely benefit redshirting this season and playing against Warren, Gaskins, and Terrico White in practice.

Considering the turnaround from the moribund late stages of Rod Barnes career, it will be exciting to watch what Kennedy and his staff can do with an even greater influx of talent. After a perfect storm of Murphy's Law last season, one would think that there's nowhere to go but up. The fluky injury situation must've run its course, right? From all accounts, Kennedy has severely toned down his... ahem.. lifestyle. If the Rebels get any sort of consistency on the blocks from DeAundre Cranston or newcomers DeAngelo Riley and Reginald Buckner, they could be very tough by the time SEC season rolls around.

Next year's starting lineup will be:
PG: Chris Warren
G: Terrico White
F/G: Eneil Polynice
F: Terrence Henry
F: Reggie Buckner
6th man: Zach Graham

And then there's quotes like this one that show why this group of guards has the chance to be very, very special:

Months before the season tips off, that sense of urgency already is apparent. It's evident in the way Warren responded to questions about whether he could return this season as the same type of player who opened so many eyes two years ago.

"I don't want to be the same," Warren said. "I want to be better."

Nice Terrico White feature on espn.com

Andy Katz has a nice article on espn.com about Terrico White. It talks a bit about his experiences winning gold in New Zealand earlier this month as well prospects for next season... including the NBA. It's good to see the basketball team getting some good publicity.

As an aside, there was one comment in the article I wanted to touch on.

White said he has no idea how Kennedy is going to handle having White and (Chris) Warren back together, since they barely played next to one another last season.

I'm not worried about that at all. Both he and Chris are cut from the same mold - quiet assassins who go about their business stoically. The White/Huertas backcourt never gelled because David was just not that into playing within the system last year. He was thrust into a difficult situation with all the backcourt play around him dropping like flies with knee injuries, but instead of using it as a rallying point to be a team leader, he seemed to mope around and feel sorry for himself. By the time he was ready to play again, Terrico had emerged as the star of the team.

I've said it before, but David, despite being a senior, would've been the odd man out of the starting rotation had he returned for next season. I wish him the best in Puerto Rico, but I'm not worried about replacing him at all. Malcolm White is a much bigger loss for us. Reginald Buckner is going to be a star, but it would've been nice to have Malcolm in there to help ease his transition.

Chris Warren and Terrico White: Inside the Numbers

In what can best be described as a remarkably frustrating basketball season, there is plenty to be excited about in the immediate future of Ole Miss basketball, not the least of which was the emergence of Terrico White as a legitimate star. He’s the best freshman guard we’ve had since… well, Chris Warren the year before. Andy Kennedy is really bringing in the talent.

As a whole, Chris’ numbers are gaudier than Terrico’s for their entire freshman seasons. Chris stepped onto the court as a starter with the departure of a trio of senior guards in Todd Abernethy, Bam Done, and Clarence Sanders. Terrico arrived with more hype, but most expected a reserve role playing behind wing guards David Huertas and Eneil Polynice. Three bum knees later and Terrico is our starting PG a few games into SEC play.

Here's how their freshman years compared in SEC games only:


Surprisingly, Chris scored a higher percentage of his points (16.4%) from the FT line than Terrico did (12.5%). Some of that had to do with Terrico's FT% being so poor, but it's something he can work on for next season - posting up smaller guards and taking slower ones off the bounce. Not surprisingly, Chris scored a higher percentage (54.9%) of his points from behind the arc that Terrico did (46.7%), meaning Chris was either jacking up threes or ducking his head and getting to the rim.He only scored 28.5% of his point from 2-point range, while Terrico scored 40.6%. When Terrico starts getting to the line more and starts hitting them more, he'll be an absolute beast.

All this adds up to what should be one of the best backcourts in the conference next season. With an added scorer and a viable inside presence, Warren should be much more effective than he was before tearing his ACL against Louisville this season. Watching him play, it’s easy to see that he feels that – at times – he’s the only viable scoring option we have. That led to a lot of questionable shots this year and last. With Terrico providing a more consistent scoring option than David, Chris' shots should be reduced/smarter, which normally spells success for the Rebels.

Last season, in conference games, we were 6-1 when Chris took 14 shots or fewer and just 1-8 when he up 15 shots or more. In our 3 NIT victories over UCSB, Nebraska, and Virginia Tech, he shot 13 times or fewer. Against Ohio State, he put up 17 shots, and we lost.

Regardless, the way I see it, David is the odd man out next year in regards to the starting lineup. He and Terrico never really gelled as a unit and David’s attitude took a severe nose dive as the season wore along. If we’re going to achieve everything we’re capable of next season, we’ll definitely need him to play well and within the system. But for now, he and his whining will most likely be on the bench, with EP starting at the 3. Terrico will certainly handle the ball a lot, but the primary PG duties will shift back to Chris and EP.

I can’t find the numbers to back this up, but I’ll say this… We return four guys who have hit seven 3s in a game before: David (2x), Chris (2x), EP, and Trevor Gaskins. I doubt any other team in the country can say that.

(H/T to the ever awesome statsheet.com for the researchability)