The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Sports Shine In 2009-10
8/2/2010 | Athletics
July 5, 2010
OXFORD, Miss. - The 2009-10 Ole Miss athletics season has come to a close, and countless postseason appearances and award-winning performances made it a remarkable year for the Rebels.
Some of the most memorable moments from the past season include the Rebels defending their Cotton Bowl trophy with a second straight victory in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, this time over Oklahoma State; the men's basketball team securing another SEC Western Division title; All-American Drew Pomeranz dialing it up time and again to help the Diamond Rebels to their eighth straight NCAA Regional bid and Barnabas Kirui winning the SEC Cross Country Championships here in Oxford, just to name a few.
It was a year that bolstered Ole Miss' All-American tradition, with 15 Rebels selected to All-America squads across all sports. On the gridiron, Dexter McCluster and John Jerry became the 53rd and 54th first-team All-America selections in school history, and Jonathan Randolph became the first men's golfer in 25 years to earn first-team honors. Tennis players Kristi Boxx and Karen Nijssen helped the women advance all the way to the NCAA Sweet 16 in a banner year for that program. In softball, shortstop Lauren Grill became the first two-time All-American in school history.
In Southeastern Conference competition, Ole Miss stood out in the crowd. In men's sports, the Rebels ranked first among SEC Western Division teams and second overall in the annual SEC All-Sports rankings conducted by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group. Among all sports, the Rebels finished sixth overall in the trophy standings and third among SEC West schools.
Three Ole Miss teams captured SEC West crowns in 2009-10: Andy Kennedy's men's basketball team, Billy Chadwick's men's tennis team and Mark Beyers' women's tennis squad.
A total of 11 Rebel squads advanced to postseason play, with eight teams earning NCAA Championship bids. Those were baseball, men's and women's golf, soccer, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's track and field.
Thirty Rebels were named to all-conference squads in 2009-10, among them Danielle Johnson, who became the first soccer player in school history to be named All-SEC in each of her four seasons. In addition, Pomeranz was named SEC Pitcher of the Year, Kirui was named SEC Cross Country Athlete of the Year and SEC Men's Track Runner of the Year, and high jumper Ricky Robertson was the SEC Men's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year. Football player Rodney Scott also received the SEC Sportsmanship Award.
Professional sports took notice of Ole Miss athletes this year, as 12 Rebels were selected in professional drafts in five different sports. Pomeranz became the highest Ole Miss pick ever in the Major League Baseball draft when he went No. 5 overall to the Cleveland Indians, one of five Rebels selected in the MLB draft. Bianca Thomas was a first-round WNBA selection by the Los Angeles Sparks after her stellar college career, and Terrico White became the first Rebel taken in the NBA Draft in six years when he went 36th overall to the Detroit Pistons. Second-round pick Dexter McCluster (Kansas City Chiefs) led the way for four Rebels taken in this year's NFL draft, and Danielle Johnson became the second Rebel ever to go pro in soccer when she was taken by the New Jersey Sky Blue FC in the Women's Professional Soccer draft.
Many former Rebels have become highly successful professional athletes since their time in Oxford. Chris Coghlan was the 2009 NL Rookie of the Year while playing outfield for the Florida Marlins. Brittney Reese continued to establish herself as the best female long jumper in the world with her back-to-back world championships (indoor and outdoor) in 2009. Patrick Willis led the NFL in tackles for the second time in his young career and has been a Pro Bowl pick in each of his three remarkable seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.
Not only were Ole Miss student-athletes successful on the competition fields, but they also excelled in the classroom in 2009-10. A whopping 148 Ole Miss student-athletes were recognized on SEC Academic Honor Rolls, and several also received national academic honors. Among them is standout track hurdler Lee Ellis Moore, who became a two-time Academic All-American this year and maintains a 4.0 GPA in biological science. A total of 56 Ole Miss student-athletes earned their degree during the 2009-10 academic year.
Ole Miss posted strong scores in the annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) reports. Both the women's golf and volleyball teams posted perfect APR scores and were recognized publically as two of the top academic programs in the nation. Thanks to dedicated staff and a top-rate academic facility in the FedEx Center, Ole Miss student-athletes actually graduate at a higher rate than the general student population.
Also a special thanks to the Ole Miss fans for their unprecedented support in 2009-10. A school-record 51,000 football season tickets were sold, and three of the five largest crowds in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium history came during the 2009 campaign.