Andy Kennedy Head Coach
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COACHES/STAFF ANDY KENNEDY HEAD COACH 12th Season UAB, 1991 Andy Kennedy has certainly left his mark on Ole Miss Basketball. In 2016, the Rebels recorded their eighth 20-win season under Kennedy as When Kennedy returned to his home state in March 2006 to take over as senior Stefan Moody became the first SEC player since Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins head basketball coach at Ole Miss, he was admittedly facing a formidable task. in 2011-12 to earn back-to-back consensus first team All-SEC honors. Moody led Despite some notable spurts of success in the Rebels’ hoops history (the the league and finished fifth in the nation in scoring, while becoming just the 26th 1981 SEC Tournament Championship and 2001 NCAA Sweet Sixteen berth come player in league history to top 700 points in a single season. He also finished just to mind), it was a program with only seven 20-win seasons and nine postseason 17 assists shy of joining Pete Maravich as the only two players in SEC history with victories in its nearly 100 years of existence. 700 points and 150 assists in a single season. Eleven postseason wins, eight postseason berths, nine 20-win seasons, two The Rebels also opened the brand new, $96.5-million Pavilion at Ole Miss to NCAA Tournament appearances, two NIT Final Fours, two SEC West titles and an rave reviews and sellout crowds. Ole Miss opened the first class, on-campus SEC Tournament Championship later, the two-time SEC Coach of the Year has arena with a thrilling 74-66 victory over Alabama in front of a ruckus, sellout cemented his name throughout the Rebel record book as the winningest coach crowd of 9,500 on Jan. 7, 2016. in school history. In 2015, Ole Miss finished third in the rugged Southeastern Conference and Not only has Kennedy left his mark on Ole Miss, but SEC basketball as a won 20-plus games for the seventh time in nine seasons under Kennedy. The whole. Some notable accomplishments by Kennedy as a head coach include: Rebels made another trip to the NCAA Tournament and faced BYU in Dayton, Ohio. Ole Miss mounted a furious second-half rally to overcome a 17-point defi- • Fourth-most wins in SEC history by a coach in his first 11 years in the cit and knock off the Cougars 94-90 in the highest scoring game of the tourna- league at one school (234) ment. The 17-point comeback was the biggest in the Big Dance since 2012. • One of five coaches in SEC history to post at least nine 20-win seasons in All of Kennedy’s perseverance paid off in a huge way for the Rebels in 2013, first 11 years in the league, joining Billy Donovan (Florida), Joe B. Hall as “AK” led Ole Miss to its second SEC Tournament title, a school record-tying 27 (Kentucky), Nolan Richardson (Arkansas) and Tubby Smith (Kentucky) wins and the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002 en route to SEC • Only coach in SEC history to post 11 consecutive winning seasons after Coach of the Year honors. taking over a program coming off four straight losing seasons “For me personally, our late-season run taught me the lesson that I try to • One of eight active head coaches with 12 or more consecutive winning teach my own children as well as the guys on our team, that is, perseverance is seasons to start career: Jim Boeheim (41), Roy Williams (29), Tom Izzo (22), valuable,” said Kennedy after the Rebels knocked off Florida for the SEC Mark Few (18), Jamie Dixon (14), Sean Miller (13), Andy Kennedy (12), Dave Tournament title. “I try to preach perseverance, staying the course, but it’s hard Rose (12) to live it. I am so very proud that this team got to experience it.” Kennedy and the Rebels marched through the regular season with a school Kennedy enters his 13th season as a head coach with an overall record of record-tying 12 league victories, including a school-best 6-0 start en route to a 255-153 (.625). The Louisville, Mississippi, native is 234-140 (.626) in 11 second-place finish in the regular season, before sweeping through the SEC seasons at Ole Miss, and his 234 wins rank 18th in SEC history. Under Kennedy, Tournament, capped by a victory over Billy Donovan’s top-seeded Gators in the Ole Miss is one of only 20 programs in the country to finish in the top 100 of title game. the RPI for 11 consecutive seasons. Ole Miss earned a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament and pulled off the Throughout his tenure on the Rebels’ sideline, Kennedy has developed tal- upset in the second round by knocking off No. 5 seed Wisconsin, making Kennedy ent and brought out the best in the basketball players that decide to continue just the second coach in school history to win an NCAA Tournament game. The their careers at Ole Miss. He has coached Ole Miss’ all-time leader in rebounding Rebels’ 15 SEC victories (12 regular season and three SEC Tournament) also (Murphy Holloway), 3-pointers (Chris Warren) and blocked shots (Reginald marked a school record. Buckner). Over the last 11 seasons, 12 Ole Miss guards have earned All-SEC The Kennedy-led Rebels have also claimed a pair of SEC Western Division honors; only two other schools have accomplished that feat. Titles (2007, 2010) and made the first two NIT Final Four appearances in school Last season, Ole Miss recorded 22 wins and made a run to the NIT history (2008, 2010). Along with wins and postseason appearances, Kennedy Quarterfinals after knocking off Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. The Rebels were has brought a renewed passion for Ole Miss Hoops founded on an exciting brand led by All-SEC forward Sebastian Saiz, who set the school record with 409 of full-court, fast-paced action and lots of twine being tickled. Since Kennedy rebounds in a season while averaging 15.1 points and 11.4 points per game. arrived, the Rebels have set season records in almost every offensive statistical Saiz capped off his career ranked second all-time in rebounds at Ole Miss with category and several defensive ones, and led the SEC in scoring for the first time 1,008 and became the seventh player in SEC history with 1,000 points, 1,000 in school history at just under 80 points per game in 2013. rebounds and 11 blocked shots. Ole Miss again cracked 20 wins with another 20-14 campaign in 2011-12, 28 COACHES/STAFF making another appearance in the NIT. On the back of All-SEC senior Terrance Henry, the team finished 8-8 in league play and advanced to CAREER RECORD AS A HEAD COACH: the SEC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2007. 255-153 (.625 winning pct. / 12 Seasons) Led by sensational senior scorers Chris Warren and Zach Graham, the 2010-11 Rebels again reached the 20-win plateau and a postsea- son berth. Warren garnered first team All-SEC distinction, ranking sec- RECORD AS OLE MISS HEAD COACH: 234-140 (.626 winning pct. / 11 Seasons) ond in the league with 19.1 points per game and leading the NCAA in THE KENNEDY FILE free-throw shooting with an Ole Miss and SEC record percentage of 92.8. He led the way for an Ole Miss team that finished 20-14 and made COACHING HONORS the first round of the NIT. 2013 SEC Coach of the Year (NBCSports.com) In 2009-10, the Rebels were again among the league’s elite 2009 Clair Bee National Coach of the Year Finalist squads as they claimed their second division title under Kennedy. They 2007 SEC Coach of the Year (Associated Press) matched the 2007-08 team with a 24-11 record. Ranked in the polls for nine weeks, Ole Miss just missed out on an NCAA Tournament berth 2006 BIG EAST Coach of the Year (CBS Sportsline, before storming through the first three rounds of the NIT with wins over New York Post) Troy, Memphis and Texas Tech en route to an NIT Final Four trip to New 2004 One of nation’s “Top 10 Assistant Coaches” (Athlon) York for the second time in three years. 2004 One of nation’s “Top 20 Recruiters” (Rivals.com) Injuries riddled the Ole Miss lineup in 2008-09, but the Rebels still managed to register a winning 16-15 record and a 7-9 mark in SEC COACHING CAREER play. Despite the fact that it was the first time in four seasons as a head Season School Position Record/Postseason coach that Kennedy had not led his team to 20 wins or postseason play, 1994-95 So. Alabama Assistant Coach 8-15 he was named a finalist for the Clair Bee National Coach of the Year 1996-97 UAB Assistant Coach 18-14/NIT award and tabbed by CollegeInsider.com as the SEC Coach of the Year. The short-handed Rebels upended nationally ranked Kentucky and 1997-98 UAB Assistant Coach 21-12/NIT SEC East champ Tennessee at home and would-be tourney champ 1998-99 UAB Assistant Coach 20-12/NCAA Mississippi State on the road, while Terrico White flourished as the 1999-00 UAB Assistant Coach 14-14 league’s freshman of the year after Kennedy moved him to the starting 2000-01 UAB Assistant Coach 17-14 point guard role. 2001-02 Cincinnati Asst. Coach/Recruiting Coordinator 31-4/NCAA After breaking the string of four consecutive losing seasons, the 2002-03 Cincinnati Asst.