Rebel Trio Honored Among SEC's All-Time Best

Three Ole Miss Rebels were recently named among the SEC’s 25 all-time best athletes in a poll conducted by The Birmingham News.

Heading the Rebels on the chart was Archie Manning in the fifth spot, behind Billy Cannon, Pete Maravich, Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson in first place.

Don Kessinger, who starred for both the Ole Miss basketball and baseball teams in the 1960s, appeared on the list at No. 12, while another two-sport Rebel, Jake Gibbs (football and baseball) made the lineup at 22.

The Birmingham News asked 13 knowledgeable individuals to pick and rank their own lists. From those, The News calculated a composite list. The News made changes where the views of its sports staff differed greatly from the composite list. Only athletes’ accomplishments during college were considered.

The panelists included Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Joe Biddle, The Tennessean; Frank Broyles, former Arkansas athletics director and football coach; Joe Dean Jr., Birmingham-Southern College athletics director and former Mississippi State basketball player and SEC assistant coach; Pat Dooley, The Gainesville Sun; Bud Ford and Haywood Harris, Tennessee assistant athletics directors for media relations (joint vote); Derek Horne, Ole Miss associate athletics director; David Housel, former Auburn athletics director; Kent Lowe, assistant media relations directors at LSU; C.M. Newton, former Kentucky athletics director and basketball coach at Alabama and Vanderbilt; Tom Price, former South Carolina media relations director and historian; and Wimp Sanderson, former Alabama basketball coach.

Hailing from Drew, Miss., Manning was a two-time Heisman finalist and an All-American as a junior and senior. In 1969, before a national television audience, he helped spread the gospel of SEC football in the legendary 33-32 shootout loss to Alabama's Scott Hunter, live and in color from Legion Field.

A three-time All-SEC selection in both basketball and baseball, Kessinger capped his college career by earning All-American honors on the hardwood and the baseball diamond as a senior. The Forrest City, Ark., native went on to star for the Chicago Cubs.

A native of Grenada, Miss., Gibbs led the Rebels to national football titles as an All-American quarterback in 1959 and 1960. On the diamond, Gibbs played third base for Ole Miss before leaving school to play for the New York Yankees.

The complete list is as follows:

1. BO JACKSON, Auburn, 1982-85, football/baseball/track 

2. HERSCHEL WALKER, Georgia, 1980-82, football 

3. PETE MARAVICH, LSU, 1968-70, basketball 

4. BILLY CANNON, LSU, 1957-59, football 

5. ARCHIE MANNING, Ole Miss, 1968-70, football

6. SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, LSU, 1990-92, basketball

7. CHAMIQUE HOLDSCLAW, Tennessee, 1995-99, basketball 

8. BERNARD KING, Tennessee, 1975-77, basketball 

9. CHARLEY TRIPPI, Georgia, 1941-43,'45-46, football 

10. HARVEY GLANCE, Auburn, 1975-78, track 

11. TRACY CAULKINS, Florida, 1982-84, swimming 

12. DON KESSINGER, Ole Miss, 1961-64, baseball/basketball

13. EMMITT SMITH, Florida, 1987-89, football

14. RICHMOND FLOWERS, Tennessee, 1966-68, football/track

15. ROWDY GAINES, Auburn, 1978-81, swimming

16. REGGIE WHITE, Tennessee, 1980-83, football

17. DARREN McFADDEN, Arkansas, 2005-present, football

18. DOUG ATKINS, Tennessee, 1950-52, football/track/basketball

19. STEVE SPURRIER, Florida, 1964-66, football

20. DAVID PALMER, Alabama, 1991-93, football

21. KEN STABLER, Alabama, 1965-67, football/baseball

22. JAKE GIBBS, Ole Miss, 1959-61, football/baseball

23. MONICA ABBOTT, Tennessee, 2004-07, softball

24. WILL CLARK, Mississippi State, 1983-85, baseball

25. TERESA EDWARDS, Georgia, 1982-86, basketball

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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