The Pavilion’s opening on Thursday night was fifteen years over-due.
The Tad Pad was old. The Tad Pad leaked. The Tad Pad gave a home to squirrels. Seriously, ask John Calipari.
Sure, they had teams that could win in Tad Smith. Sure, Marshall Henderson hit barrages of threes in that building. Sure
But it was impossible to recruit there. If there was a word stronger than “impossible”, I’d use it.
“Honestly, we didn’t bring many guys in (Tad Smith Coliseum),” head basketball coach Andy Kennedy said about recruiting before the Pavilion’s opening. “We didn’t go in there a lot. We didn’t talk about it a lot.”
Kennedy has done yeoman’s work during his time at Ole Miss. Taking over a program that went 4-12 in SEC play in 2005, Kennedy took them to an SEC Western Division Title in 2006
I won’t bore you with facts and numbers about Kennedy’s career. He’s the winningest basketball coach that Ole Miss has ever seen. He’s the second longest tenured coach in the SEC.
He’s kept a program that had no business being competitive, competitive. He’s kept Ole Miss on the NCAA bubble most years. He’s had a winning record every year, even when three starting guards went down to knee injuries and another played with his meniscus hanging by a thread.
He’s done this while playing at an arena that is more akin to a UFO than a domain for a college basketball arena.
Photo: Logan Kirland
When the Pavilion opened on Thursday, it gave Ole Miss basketball life. It gave them an opportunity. Frankly, it gave them a chance. It gave Andy Kennedy a chance.
“Thursday night is the start of a new chapter in Ole Miss basketball,” Kennedy said. “This is a complete game changer.”
So they played Thursday night. They erased a double digit deficit to Alabama and won 74-66. It was a big win for the 2015-2016 Rebels, a team that looks poised to make another post season run.
The energy in the Pavilion Thursday was palpable. The students, located next to the floor, created a home court advantage that Ole Miss had been lacking for several years.
“I actually saw students running to the game instead of from the game,” Kennedy said after the victory.
“It’s awesome,” senior forward Sebastian said of the energy after Thursday’s win. “It’s a totally different team. All the games in the Tad Pad, the energy wasn’t there. “
“This is awesome. We’ve got some of the best fans in the country, and now they’re going to start coming out to all the games.”
Ole Miss had a quick turn-around. They played again Saturday night, 48 hours later, against a solid Georgia team.
They found themselves trialing multiple times by double digits in the second half of the game. They came back. Stefan Moody hit a shot. They won.
“The students being around the court is huge,” Kennedy said after the Ole Miss’ 72-71 victory over Georgia. “Without that energy so close to the court, where it’s almost tangible, I’m not sure we’re sitting here 2-0 in the building.”
I believe in my heart of hearts that Ole Miss loses on Saturday night if the game is at Tad Smith Coliseum.
The game wasn’t at Tad Smith Coliseum. The game was at the Pavilion at Ole Miss.
I echo Kennedy’s sentiments. The building is a game changer for Ole Miss. The building is more than the two wins that Ole Miss garnered the past 72 hours. Ole Miss will lose games at the Pavilion. It will happen. It’s inevitable
That isn’t the point. The point is for the first time in Andy Kennedy’s ten years at Ole Miss he isn’t bogged down by a horrible game day facility. The point is that for the first time in Andy Kennedy’s ten years he has a chance to recruit elite national kids. The point is, for the first time in a long time, Ole Miss basketball has a chance.
