The University of Mississippi Athletics
Basketball Begins Practice Saturday
10/12/2000 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 12, 2000
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss men's basketball team will hold its first preseason practice Saturday, Oct. 14, the first official day of practice for basketball teams across the country. The Rebels will have two practice session Saturday.
"We're excited about the start of practice Saturday," said head coach Rod Barnes, who begins his third season at the helm of the Rebel program. "The players have worked extremely hard in their individual workouts, but we still have more work to get done before the season starts. We have a talented team and we are young, so we're going to concentrate on team chemistry during the preseason drills.
"We have the opportunity to have another successful season, but we just need to get better every day we get on the court."
The Rebels return nine letterwinners from last year's team that posted a 19-14 overall record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The winning season was the Rebels' fourth straight, and the postseason tournament appearance was also the program's fourth straight.
Leading the way for Ole Miss in 2000-01 will be the senior tandem of Jason Flanigan and Rahim Lockhart. Flanigan averaged 8.4 points and 3.1 assists last year, while Lockhart posted averages of 12.2 points and 8.4 boards per game. Junior Jason Harrison, who averaged 9.4 points and 3.5 assists a year ago, also returns for the Rebels.
In addition, Ole Miss has one of its most heralded recruiting classes in Rebel basketball history joining the returnees. The class of newcomers includes Derrick Allen, Aaron Harper, Justin Reed and David Sanders. The class was ranked No. 10 in the nation by Hoop Scoop magazine and No. 23 by The Recruiting Beat.
The Rebels open exhibition play Nov. 6 versus Spirit Express at Tad Smith Coliseum. Game time is 7:00 p.m. (CT). Ole Miss hosts its season opener versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff Nov. 18 at 7:00 p.m. (CT).
