The University of Mississippi Athletics
100 YEARS FLASHBACK: 1928 Southern Conference Tournament Champions
12/10/2008 | Men's Basketball
As part of this season's celebration of the first 100 years of Ole Miss Basketball, there will be feature stories and insider content on www.OleMissSports.com throughout the year that look back on some of the great moments, teams and players of the past. Ole Miss began its varsity basketball history on Jan. 28, 1909, when UM took on the Memphis Physicians (Medical School) in a game believed to have been played outdoors on a court located behind the Lyceum on the Oxford campus. Ole Miss, then known as the Mississippians, continued improving as a program for the next couple of decades, leading up to one of the great moments in the team's early history in 1928. Coach Homer Hazel led his troops into the Southern Conference Tournament (Ole Miss would join the Southeastern Conference as a charter member in 1932) and the team overcame many odds to claim its first league title.
Printed below is the compelling story as it was written by Morgan Blake for the 1928 Ole Miss Yearbook.
Team of Destiny Wins It - Great Rally Turns Tide
Ole Miss, the Team of Destiny, is champion of the South in basketball. A fighting clan that refused to surrender when the clouds were blackest today is king of the great indoor game. It was an amazing and courageous comeback that won the title for Ole Miss after Auburn had taken a twelve-point lead in the second half and seemed as sure of winning as anything in this uncertain world can be. The score at one stage of the second half was, Auburn 25, Ole Miss 13. The thousand or more Auburn students and alumni in the auditorium were in the seventh heaven of delight. They smelled the bacon frying and they knew the feast was for them. The Tigers had been outplaying their enemies all the way through and were marching on to glory and fame. Some of the spectators were yawning a bit. Many were a bit sorry for Ole Miss and hoped they would make just a few more points so as not to be humiliated. And then - Captain Robert M. Lee, the long, lanky leader of the Mississippians, rallied his clan for a final desperate drive. It was the last charge of the old guard. Up the slope they came, snarling, growling, fighting their way through all obstacles. The Tigers, surprised by the sudden fury of a team that had been so docile, wavered before the charge. Doggedly they fought back, but the storm engulfed them. The Team of Destiny was on its way. Two points, two points, two points! With monotonous regularity Ole Miss was sinking them. Now they are just two points behind. Now they are even. Now they are two points ahead. And it's a minute and three-quarters to play. Captain Lee fouls, and Auburn shoots a free throw. Now it's Ole Miss, 31; Auburn, 30. The seconds were about gone. Down the floor comes Auburn with the last spring left in the Tiger. A desperate try for a goal that goes wild. The pistol cracks. The game is over. The Team of Destiny had won by one little point, which, however, was as big as Stone Mountain so far as the effectiveness of it was concerned. The grim gods of fate who had given Auburn one-point victories over Clemson and Georgia Tech in the early games of the tournament deserted the Tigers in the big crisis, and smiled upon the opposition. The grim gods often do things like that.
Printed below is the compelling story as it was written by Morgan Blake for the 1928 Ole Miss Yearbook.
Team of Destiny Wins It - Great Rally Turns Tide
Ole Miss, the Team of Destiny, is champion of the South in basketball. A fighting clan that refused to surrender when the clouds were blackest today is king of the great indoor game. It was an amazing and courageous comeback that won the title for Ole Miss after Auburn had taken a twelve-point lead in the second half and seemed as sure of winning as anything in this uncertain world can be. The score at one stage of the second half was, Auburn 25, Ole Miss 13. The thousand or more Auburn students and alumni in the auditorium were in the seventh heaven of delight. They smelled the bacon frying and they knew the feast was for them. The Tigers had been outplaying their enemies all the way through and were marching on to glory and fame. Some of the spectators were yawning a bit. Many were a bit sorry for Ole Miss and hoped they would make just a few more points so as not to be humiliated. And then - Captain Robert M. Lee, the long, lanky leader of the Mississippians, rallied his clan for a final desperate drive. It was the last charge of the old guard. Up the slope they came, snarling, growling, fighting their way through all obstacles. The Tigers, surprised by the sudden fury of a team that had been so docile, wavered before the charge. Doggedly they fought back, but the storm engulfed them. The Team of Destiny was on its way. Two points, two points, two points! With monotonous regularity Ole Miss was sinking them. Now they are just two points behind. Now they are even. Now they are two points ahead. And it's a minute and three-quarters to play. Captain Lee fouls, and Auburn shoots a free throw. Now it's Ole Miss, 31; Auburn, 30. The seconds were about gone. Down the floor comes Auburn with the last spring left in the Tiger. A desperate try for a goal that goes wild. The pistol cracks. The game is over. The Team of Destiny had won by one little point, which, however, was as big as Stone Mountain so far as the effectiveness of it was concerned. The grim gods of fate who had given Auburn one-point victories over Clemson and Georgia Tech in the early games of the tournament deserted the Tigers in the big crisis, and smiled upon the opposition. The grim gods often do things like that.
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