Ole Miss has announced that men’s basketball coach Andy Kennedy will step down at the end of the season. In his 12th season at Ole Miss, the Rebels are a disappointing 4-9 in SEC play and 11-15 overall. The Rebels only have three victories in their last 12 games.
Per the Clarion-Ledger, Andy Kennedy will go down as the winningest coach in school history with a record of 245-154 and is the only coach in program history to lead the Rebels to 11 consecutive winning seasons. The former SEC coach of the year achieved nine 20-win seasons and led Ole Miss to the NCAA tournament twice and two NIT Final Fours.
Before Kennedy came to Ole Miss, it was a program with only seven 20-win seasons and nine postseason victories in its nearly 100 years of existence. The best postseason result the Rebels accomplished was a Sweet 16 appearance in 2001 under Rod Barnes. Kennedy took the Ole Miss job during the 2006-2007 season after serving as head coach at Cincinnati during the 2005-2006 season when Bob Huggins resigned.
Ole Miss held a press conference and Kennedy stated:
“It’s time for a new voice and a new vision for this program.”
Ole Miss has a tough challenge ahead of them with getting a coach who will be able to recruit to a school that hasn’t prioritized basketball and has tough in-state competition from Mississippi State.
