The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Athletics Enjoys Outstanding Year In 2008-09
7/14/2009 | Athletics
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss recently concluded a successful and historic 2008-09 season of athletics on and off the fields/courts, with many teams advancing to postseason play and numerous individual student-athletes and coaches winning awards.
Highlighting team accomplishments for the year: football won the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, baseball captured the SEC Championship and men's tennis won the SEC regular season and tournament championships.
Seven teams advanced to their respective NCAA Tournaments, including baseball reaching a Super Regional and men's tennis making the Elite Eight. Women's tennis returned to the NCAA Tournament after a three-year absence, men's golf earned its third consecutive NCAA trip, women's golf received its first NCAA bid since 2004, and members of both the men's and women's track teams participated in the NCAA Championships.
Four teams appeared in the final top-25 rankings of their sport, including men's tennis, who ended the season ranked No. 4 in the nation, marking the seventh time for the team to earn a top-five ranking. Baseball finished the season at No. 12, football earned a final ranking of No. 14 and women's tennis concluded the year at No. 21.
Ole Miss totaled 11 All-Americans, 34 All-Conference selections and the SEC Freshman of the Year in men's basketball (Terrico White), while the Coach of the Year in football (Houston Nutt) and men's tennis (Billy Chadwick) came from Oxford.
It was a banner year for the Rebels in the classroom, featuring the Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Bram ten Berge (men's tennis). Ole Miss produced 118 SEC Academic Honor Roll members and eight national academic honorees. Ten Berge also won an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
Fourteen Rebels were selected in professional sports' drafts this year, and for the first time in school history, two Ole Miss players were chosen in the first round of the National Football League Draft in the same year, as First Team All-Americans Michael Oher and Peria Jerry were selected among the top 24 picks. Oher, an offensive tackle, was taken with the 23rd overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens, while Jerry, a defensive tackle, was chosen No. 24 by the Atlanta Falcons.
With a 9-4 record and a 5-3 mark in the SEC, Nutt led one of the greatest turnarounds in school history, marking the team's best improvement from one season (3-9 in 2007) to the next since legendary Ole Miss Coach John Vaught's debut in 1947.
The 2008 campaign saw Nutt continue his reputation as a giant killer, knocking off three top-20 foes away from Oxford, including the defending national champion in No. 18 LSU in Death Valley and the eventual national champ in No. 4 Florida in The Swamp.
Not only did the Rebels win their final six games and dismantle No. 8 Texas Tech, 47-34, in the 2009 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, Ole Miss finished second in the SEC Western Division and earned a No. 14 final national ranking. It was the highest finish since Eli Manning's senior season of 2003 when the Associated Press selected the Rebels No. 13 and USA Today picked them No. 14.
Mississippi native Devin Britton won the first NCAA Singles Championship in men's tennis history. He became the youngest player ever and just the third freshman to win the singles title. Britton was one of four freshmen who helped lead the Rebels to their fifth overall SEC Championship and second consecutive SEC Tournament title. The Rebels led the nation in attendance, drawing 5,550 fans (617 avg.) to their matches at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center and Gillom Sports Center.
Capping off another outstanding year, the baseball team finished ranked No. 12 with 44 wins (tied for the second most in school history), an SEC Championship and its fourth Super Regional appearance in five years. The Rebels are one of only six schools in the nation to advance to Super Regionals four of the last five years. Record crowds went through the gates of the newly renovated OU-Stadium/Swayze Field, as the Rebels set a new single-season attendance mark with 273,111 fans coming to games, including a three-game series record 29,646 for the Super Regional against Virginia.
Despite losing Trevor Gaskins, Eniel Polynice and Chris Warren before league play began, head coach Andy Kennedy rallied the men's basketball team to a winning record, with impressive home wins over No. 24 Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn and road victories at Mississippi State and Arkansas. White had a banner year in his first season with the Rebels, leading all freshmen and ranking fourth among all players with 18.4 points per game in SEC play. In addition to becoming the second player in school history to receive SEC Freshman of the Year honors, White earned Freshman All-America honors from several publications.
The women's basketball team returned to postseason play for the fifth time in the last six seasons as the Rebels earned a berth in the WNIT under second-year head coach Renee Ladner. Individually, Rebel junior guard Bianca Thomas became an All-SEC first team selection after ranking third in the league with 15.8 points per game. Thomas scored 20 or more points nine times during the season and set the school record for the most three-pointers in a season with 73 treys.
Women's tennis concluded its best season in several years ranked No. 21 in the nation. It marked the program's first top-25 season-ending ranking since 2000. The Rebels advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships, defeated five top-25 teams in the SEC and advanced to the semifinals at the SEC Tournament.
Led by All-SEC freshman Joe David and All-SEC returnee Jonathan Randolph, men's golf made its third straight NCAA appearance and earned a final national ranking of No. 27.
With All-American Dori Carter leading the way, the Rebel women's golf team raised the bar. In addition to garnering its first NCAA bid since 2004, the team captured its first tournament title since 2004, while Carter won the program's first individual tournament title since 1999.
Juliana Smith of women's track and field won an SEC Championship in the indoor weight throw, becoming just the second female at Ole Miss to win an indoor conference championship. Teammates LaJada Baldwin and Wale Odetunde took home SEC outdoor titles in the 400 meters and triple jump, respectively.
Meredith Holman of rifle captured the Great America Rifle Conference Championship with a school-record mark of 595 in the air rifle. It marked the school's third individual GARC Championship. She qualified for the NCAA Championships along with Colleen Tillson.