Ole Miss head basketball Coach Kermit Davis was Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year, but he coached like Kermit the Frog in his first two tournaments in his Division 1 debut season.
One and done in both the SEC tournament as well as the NCAA tourney, Davis did a double take after Oklahoma went up 12-0 in the first three minutes of the first-round NCAA tourney game and called a time out as if to say: “What are you guys doing out there?” Whether the question was for his Rebels or for the Sooners is unclear.
He never got an answer and Ole Miss trailed at halftime, 50-33, and lost, 95-72.
The Rebs were never in the game. Davis utilized every defensive alignment in the Ole Miss arsenal — man to man, 1-3-1 zone, 2-3 zone — and absolutely nothing worked. The Sooners were in a class of their own against the hapless Rebels.
The second half was a little better as the Rebs only lost the half by six, 45-39.
Nevertheless, I must say I am proud that the Rebels actually made the Big Dance, seeing how they were picked to finish last in the SEC. Former Ole Miss Head coach Andy Kennedy didn’t leave any hope when he departed and Davis rekindled Rebel hopes in his first season at the helm.
Davis swears that his team’s performance last Friday “is not going to define who we are,” saying: “With the season over and based on how much progress we’ve made in a year, I’m proud of these guys. They were unbelievable all year long. We didn’t play like we wanted to today. But to be with this group the whole year, I’m extremely excited about our future.”
As well he should be.
Ole Miss has one of two starting guards returning in Brein Tyree along with forwards Dominik Olejniczak and Bruce Stevens, who the Sooners exposed as less than SEC caliber talent. But they both had their moments during the season.
Davis is blessed with the fact that his Rebels play in The Pavilion, the newest basketball arena in the SEC, a recruiting gem, an arena any basketball player in the country will be proud to call home. And Davis proved while at Middle Tennessee State that he could recruit without it.
Ole Miss finished the regular season with 20 wins and 13 losses, playing into the Big Dance without being “on the bubble” once. Kennedy was good at getting the Rebels on the bubble but not to The Dance and, of course, his last season the bubble burst midway of the season.
Still, he was a good coach for a long time, keeping the Rebels in contention most of the time. He is now an ESPN talking head and is doing a good job in that capacity.
Davis’ father, Kermit Sr., was a good friend of former Clarksdale High School and Lee Academy head basketball Coach and Lee Academy headmaster Gene Barbour. Davis coached basketball at Jackson Murrah and Barbour would schedule games with him from time to time and I would get to sit in on some of the conversations they would have after the games.
They were educational, to say the least.
The two would discuss the game just played just like it happened. I never understood how they could do that, just like I don’t understand how professional singers can remember the lines of every song they ever sang. It’s part of being a professional singer, I guess. Anyway, Davis and Barbour could relive every play of every game they ever coached.
And the two men won more games than they lost, I guarantee you.
Hopefully, when Kermit Jr., retires, we can say the same about him.
I’m betting on it.
