Ole Miss men’s basketball predicted to finish 10th in SEC preseason poll

Published 9:53 am Wednesday, October 18, 2017

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ole Miss’ men’s basketball didn’t get much love from media members Wednesday.

The Rebels were picked to finish 10th in the Southeastern Conference in voting by a select panel of SEC and national media members. The preseason poll was released as part of this year’s SEC basketball media days.

Kentucky was picked to win the league for the 13th time since the 1998-99 season. The preseason SEC Player of the Year vote was a three-way tie between Georgia forward Yante Maten, Texas A&M forward Robert Williams and Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr., the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit in last year’s signing class.

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Mississippi State was pegged to finish 12th in the 14-team league.

Ole Miss has made a habit of exceeding expectations under head coach Andy Kennedy, finishing higher than its preseason projection in nine of his 11 seasons at the helm. The Rebels return their top two scorers, Deandre Burnett and Terence Davis, from a season in which they went 22-14 with a quarterfinal run in the National Invitation Tournament.

Ole Miss will begin its season Nov. 10 at The Pavilion against Louisiana.

Davis, Burnett earn All-SEC honors

Davis and Burnett were both voted second-team All-SEC by the media.

Burnett was the Rebels’ leading scorer last season at 16.5 points per game. Davis broke out in his first year as a full-time starter with 14.9 points per game.

The pair were joined on the second team by Alabama freshman Collin Sexton, Kentucky freshman Kevin Knox, Mississippi State guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, Texas A&M center Tyler Davis and Vanderbilt guard/forward Matthew Fisher-Davis. Florida guard KeVaughn Allen, Georgia forward Yante Maten, Kentucky redshirt freshman Hamidou Diallo, Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr. and Texas A&M forward Robert Williams were first-team selections.