Meeting With Kennedy

While I was in Birmingham last week, I had the opportunity to meet new Ole Miss basketball coach Andy Kennedy. From hearing Kennedy speak it appears he will be a good fit for Ole Miss. He did make some comments that I was happy to hear. He announced that Marquis Young, Mike Smith, and Brandon Patterson will not be back on the team next season. This benefits us big time opening up some scholarships for guys Kennedy wants on the team. He did say that we have one more scholly to give and he is looking for a possible transfer.

I received the impression that Kennedy was not impressed with the talent on campus from the little bit he had evaluated the team. I do not think he believes they have a good work ethic and are lazy on the court. A style that will not fit in well with Kennedy. He appears he is going to be an intense in his coaching and practicing, a style that is new to Oxford and one I am very fired up about.

He talked about the Tad Pad and what needs to be done. I agree with him on the fact that we do not need a new arena. The number of seats are exactly where they need to be. There just needs to be some renovating in different parts to the arena. The administration is in agreement also and look for some changes over the next few years.

Kennedy talked about the passion he has for this job. He commented about the passion each Ole Miss fan should have for this team also. He talked about building the program where people would make the three hour drive on a Wednesday night to watch the team play. They do it in Indiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, why can we not do it in Oxford.

Overall I think he was very impressive. He is going to be an extremely hard worker and good for the program. We have two coaches in football and baseball that are very dedicated to Ole Miss and the success of their programs. We now have a coach in basketball that ranks up their with the other coaches of major sports at Ole Miss.