The Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team represents the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

in the sport of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. The Rebels compete in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

and the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). They started the 2015–16 season playing home games at Tad Smith Coliseum on the university's

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

campus, but played their final game in that facility on December 22, 2015. The Rebels opened a new on-campus arena, The Pavilion at Ole Miss, on January 7, 2016. The Rebels were led by 12-year head coach Andy Kennedy until his resignation on February 18, 2018. Tony Madlock, an assistant under Kennedy, served as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. On March 15, 2018, the school hired former Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis as the new head coach and was formally introduced on March 19. Davis was fired in his sixth season on February 24, 2023, after posting a 2–13 conference record with two games remaining on the schedule. Assistant coach Win Case took over as interim coach for the remainder of the season. Ole Miss has appeared ten times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2025. The Rebels made their deepest tournament run in school history at the 2001 NCAA tournament and the 2025 NCAA tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 both seasons. The Rebels have participated in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) 11 times. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, they made it to the NIT Semifinals at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

. The Rebels have won the SEC Western Division five times.

History

Recent history

Rob Evans arrived in Oxford in 1992 as the school's first black coach in a revenue sport. He led the Rebels to only their second and third NCAA Tournament appearances in school history, in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. These were also the first 20-win seasons in school history; the Rebels had been one of the few longstanding members of a "power conference" to have never tallied a 20-win season. Evans left for Arizona State in 1998. His top assistant, Rod Barnes, took over at Ole Miss and compiled a record of 141–109 during his eight-year tenure. During his tenure, the Rebels reached the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

NCAA Tournaments. The 1998–99 team notched the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament win, while the 2001 team advanced all the way to the Sweet 16. His tenure crested at that point, however, and he would not have another winning season after 2002. Following the 2005–06 season, Ole Miss hired Andy Kennedy, and the Rebels tied for first place in the SEC West during the 2006–07 season. Led by the senior trio of Clarence Sanders, Bam Doyne, and Todd Abernethy, the Ole Miss men finished the year with a 21–13 record, including a 16–1 record at home inside Tad Smith Coliseum. They advanced to the second round of the NIT, before falling at Clemson. In his debut season with the Rebels, Kennedy was named the 2007 SEC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press after guiding Ole Miss, a preseason last-place pick in the SEC West, to its first division title and most wins since 2001. In the 2012–13 season, Ole Miss won just their second SEC tournament title and made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002. Ole Miss also set a school record for most SEC wins in a season. Kennedy was again named SEC Coach of the Year. On February 23, 2013, Kennedy became the all-time winningest coach at Ole Miss.

Active NBA players

* Terence Davis –

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

Active international players

* Romello White (born 1998) - basketball player for Hapoel Eilat of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Rebels have appeared in the NCAA tournament ten times. Their combined record is 7–10.

NIT results

The Rebels have appeared in the

(NIT) 13 times. Their combined record is 15–13.

All-Americans

References

External links

* {{Southeastern Conference men's basketball navbox