The University of Mississippi Athletics
Athletics To Play Big Role In Homecoming Activities
10/15/2009 | Athletics
OXFORD, Miss. - Coaches, students and family members of the Ole Miss Athletics Department will play a prominent role in homecoming activities this weekend on the University of Mississippi campus.
Kicking off the weekend, Rebel baseball coach Mike Bianco and head men's tennis coach Billy Chadwick will be the grand marshals of the homecoming parade on Friday.
Bianco led the diamond Rebels to the SEC Championship in 2009 as well as their fourth Super Regional in five years. Chadwick coached the Rebel netters to the overall SEC Championship, their second consecutive SEC Tournament title and the NCAA Elite Eight, while earning SEC Coach of the Year, and USPTA National College Coach of the Year honors.
The parade gets underway at 5:30 p.m., with the Pride of the South Band, beginning on campus at the Lyceum Circle and continuing on University Avenue to the Oxford Square. A pep rally is scheduled at the end of the parade route.
Former Rebel great John "Kayo" Dottley is among six outstanding Alumni who will be honored Friday night at a reception for the newest members to the Ole Miss Alumni Hall of Fame and recipients of the Alumni Service Award and the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. The reception is open to the public and begins at 6 p.m., at The Ole Miss Inn. Following the reception, the awards will be presented at a ticketed dinner for the honorees in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom at The Inn.
One of the greatest runners in Ole Miss history, Dottley earned All-America honors for the Rebels in 1949, when he led the nation in rushing and the SEC in scoring. He was the first of only three players in Ole Miss football history to rush for than 1,000 yards in a season. Dottley was inducted into the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. He earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in administrative education from UM.
Saturday, Dottley and fellow honorees will be recognized in pre-game ceremonies prior to the 6 p.m. kickoff of the Ole Miss/UAB game.
During halftime ceremonies, several Ole Miss student-athletes will be represented as members of the homecoming court. Zach Graham and Eniel Polynice from men's basketball, Tim Ferguson and Taylor Hashman from Baseball, and Christopher Bush, Matt Daniels, Colin Moleton, Lee Ellis Moore and Bryce Willen from track and field are homecoming escorts. Softball senior Amber Tramp and head football coach Houston Nutt's daughters are homecoming maids. Tramp is a senior maid, while Hanna Nutt was selected a junior maid, and Hailey Nutt was voted a sophomore maid.