Weltlich to Return to Campus

The Coach who led the Ole Miss basketball team to their only SEC Basketball Championship will return to Oxford on Saturday, not as a coach but as an author. Coach Bob Weltich will be at Square Books before the State game on Saturday signing his new book, Crooked Zebra. Weltlich coached Ole Miss from 1976-82. Weltlich was known for the emotion he showed while coaching his teams, never letting an official get away with a bad call. I would like to share two of my favorite stories that I have heard about him.

One night after the Vanderbilt game the team was on their way to Kentucky for the next game. Ole Miss had really not played well that night. When the bus driver pulled out of the coliseum, he turned around to ask Coach Weltlich where he wanted to the team to eat, Weltlich responded by telling him to keep driving. He was so mad at the team for their performance no one on the bus was allowed to eat all the way to Lexington the night after the game. The players absolutely starved that night.


The other story is before a Mississippi State game one night Weltlich saw the officials in the locker room area before the game. Weltlich was so mad at this group of officials from the previous game he approached them by saying something along the lines of: "Hey, I hope you guys ref a better game this time than you did last time you guys were our officials." The referees response to this was giving Coach Weltlich a technical before the game even started. So Mississippi State started the game by shooting technical fouls. I hate I was not around to see those days, sounds like it was fun.