On Jan. 7, Ole Miss opened the Pavilion, a $96 million arena that is second-to-none when it comes to college basketball facilities across the country. It didn’t seem to matter that the Rebels were already 13 games into a season that began in November. This was it. This felt like the beginning of the season.
“Thursday night will be my 323rd basketball game at Ole Miss, and honestly, walking in this building yesterday, I feel like it’s my first,” head basketball coach Andy Kennedy said before the inaugural game against Alabama. “Thursday night is a new chapter for Ole Miss basketball. This is a game changer.”
The view inside of the Pavilion, the new basketball arena. (Photo: Logan Kirkland)
This was the symbol that showed the University is sold on basketball, and gave an often-overshadowed program new life. It was almost a rebirth of a program that desperately needed a new facility for reasons beyond just having a place to play a game.
It needed a recruiting tool, something iconic to lure kids to come play basketball at Ole Miss. Kennedy had already made this program relevant with an near-empty tool box, and now he will be able to continue to build with a fully replenished one.
It’s already paying dividends. Ole Miss had more recruits on hand to witness the opening of the Pavilion than it had ever had at a single game during Kennedy’s tenure.
The Rebels beat Alabama 74-66 to christen the new building, and 48 hours later, four star forward and 80th-ranked player in the 2017 class Jatrious Smith was sold. He announced his verbal commitment to the Rebels.
Since then, the team has struggled, losing four of their last five games. Injuries have depleted a team that already lacked depth and the Rebels are sliding. The latest slip came this past weekend in Starkville as the Bulldogs handed the Rebels, who were down three starters, an 83-77 loss for their fourth consecutive defeat.
“Confidence never comes before performance. You have to perform,” Kennedy said of the team’s struggle and lack of depth. “I will try to put you in a position where you can perform, and play to your strengths and make a play, but I don’t think the confidence can come first.”
Stefan Moody is suffering from a strained hamstring, and Sebastian Saiz and Martavious Newby are each dealing with eye injuries. The Rebels are 12-6 (2-4). There are 12 games left this season, and the Rebels have dug themselves in a hole in regards to earning an NCAA tournament berth.
But make no mistake about it, the future is bright for this program. Andy Kennedy has been at Ole Miss for 10 years. He has won 204 games, 202 of those in an outdated game facility, and a sporadic fan interest to say the least.
“We didn’t take many kids in there,” Kennedy said of the Tad Pad. “We didn’t go in there a lot, and we didn’t talk about it a lot.”
He has won more games than any coach in Ole Miss history. He’s waited years for this new arena, and now it’s the fans’ turn to wait. He finally has the resources at his disposal necessary to build a program, and it is now time to wait and watch him work.
“It gives us an opportunity to say ‘What’s the excuse now?’ We’ve got everything we need to be successful, and it puts us in the game.” Kennedy said.
The current state of this team might be a little somber due to the recent struggles, but the future is extremely bright for this program that was born again on Jan. 7.
