ESPN Update

Andy Katz has posted this on his blog. It is ridiculous that we have to get this news from the national media. I do not understand why our local guys(Spirit and Rivals) or someone from the Clarion Ledger can not give us this information.

NEW YORK -- Ole Miss already has done some scouting on South Alabama coach John Pelphrey as it decides on whether to pursue him for its head coach opening.South Alabama athletic director Joe Gottfried told ESPN.com that Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone called to say the Rebels would watch South Alabama play at the Sun Belt tournament in Murfreesboro, Tenn., last weekend, and Boone did. Boone and Ole Miss had the freedom to go and attend a game since Rod Barnes had been told he's out as the Rebels' head coach. Ole Miss' season ended Thursday with a first-round SEC tournament loss to Kentucky in Nashville.Gottfried said Boone told him that Pelphrey and Western Kentucky's Darrin Horn were on a short list for the job, but that doesn't mean Pelphrey would take the gig if offered, nor does it rule out the possibility of Cincinnati interim coach Andy Kennedy, a 1986 Mississippi state high school player of the year and former star guard at UAB. Multiple sources say Kennedy has heard from intermediary sources that there is interest, although he won't get a chance to speak to the Rebels until after the Bearcats are done playing.Gottfried said Boone hasn't asked formally for permission to talk to Pelphrey but expects he will after the NCAA tournament.Meanwhile, Gottfried plans on doing everything he can to keep Pelphrey, a former Kentucky player and Florida assistant who took the Jaguars from 10-18 (6-9 in the Sun Belt) to 24-6 (12-3) this season and the Sun Belt's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament with a win over Western Kentucky in the title game earlier this week."He should be considered for coach of the year nationally for the job he's done,'' said Gottfried, whose son is Mark Gottfried, head coach at Alabama, who himself has done a coach-of-the-year-like job after leading the Tide to the doorstep of an NCAA berth after losing top player Chuck Davis to a knee injury in the opening week of SEC play in January.