For the first time since the 2008-09 season, Ole Miss will have neither Reggie Buckner nor Murphy Holloway on the roster. A key to replicating last season’s NCAA Tournament appearance will be replacing two of the most decorated players in Ole Miss history.
The two combined to play in 264 games for the Rebels. Buckner has the most blocks in program history, and the top four single-season totals of blocked shots.
Holloway finished up with over 1,000 points and rebounds, the only Rebel to accomplish that feat. He also ended up second all-time in steals at Ole Miss. Last season, the two averaged 23.9 points and 17.3 rebounds per game.
“Those are not easy numbers to replace, and I’m not going to ask (just) two guys to do it,” head coach Andy Kennedy said.
Junior forward Aaron Jones and senior forward Demarco Cox will be coming back from injuries that kept both of them off the court since February. Jones tore an ACL, while Cox suffered a stress fracture in his foot.
New to the team will be freshman forwards Sebastian Saiz and Dwight Coleby. Both come to Ole Miss as three-star recruits, according to Scout.com.
“We’re going to ask those four guys to do it by committee,” Kennedy said. “I think they are certainly capable of doing it; they just haven’t done it.”
Jones has been back to full contact for about two and a half weeks, while Cox returned a month ago, according to Kennedy.
Before his knee injury, Jones played in 20 games last season, averaging 16.9 minutes and 3.45 points. Jones had the third-best rebound percentage on the team at 12.6. For comparison, Buckner and Holloway posted rebound percentages of 14.5 and 16.9 last season.
Cox only played in seven games last year, but two seasons ago he averaged 13.4 minutes, 3.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 33 games.
Kennedy is expecting the freshman to have an immediate impact at the very least in backing up Jones and Cox.
“These two guys are as talented of (forwards) as we’ve brought into this program,” Kennedy said of Saiz and Coleby.
In practice on Tuesday, Saiz showed off his bank shot from about 15 feet, a skill that could give Ole Miss a forward that could stretch the floor with a jump shot.
That is all Ole Miss has for depth in the post entering the season. Sophomore Terry Brutus will miss the entire season with a torn ACL and sophomore Anthony Perez will move back to a wing position. Perez was an emergency post player for Ole Miss last season when depth on the frontline became an issue.
None of the forwards expected to replace Buckner and Holloway played during the Rebels run late last season as Ole Miss won the SEC Tournament and advanced to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
The most noticeable flaw in Buckner and Holloway’s game was their poor free throw shooting. Buckner finished his career at 48 percent from the line, while Holloway was slightly better at 51 percent.
Jones and Cox will be slight upgrades, as they have shot 58 and 54 percent from the free throw line, respectively.
Saiz, a native of Spain, played in two international tournaments this summer for Spain. From the line, he was 38 of 59 (64 percent) in those games.
Finding second and third scoring options behind senior guard Marshall Henderson will be critical for the Ole Miss offense. At least one of the forwards will need to become an offensive threat for Ole Miss to avoid a significant drop off.
