Despite coaching at Middle Tennessee for the past 16 seasons, Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis is certainly no stranger to SEC basketball.
Davis, a Mississippi native whose father was Mississippi State’s head coach for seven seasons in the 70s, got hands-on experience with the league as an assistant at LSU from 1997 to 2002.
However, he’s well aware that the conference he enters now looks nothing like the conference he entered 21 years ago.
“It’s the best it has ever been in the history of the league from top to bottom.” Davis said at SEC Media Day on Wednesday. “It’s almost getting to be like football recruiting. You can finish 10th in the SEC in recruiting but have a top 25 class. And at Ole Miss, all the chips are in as far as a total commitment to basketball in every phase.”
Even with the league accomplishing a massive turnaround, Davis still managed to find success against several member schools in recent years.
His Middle Tennessee teams went 5-1 against the SEC in his last three years in Murfreesboro, and he’ll try to keep that momentum going at Ole Miss – a team he went 2-0 against the past two seasons.
And even with the Rebels being picked to finish last in the SEC this season, Davis is still excited about having a more ideal path towards making the NCAA Tournament.
“At Middle Tennessee, we had to be absolutely perfect,” Davis said. “We couldn’t lose a game. Even when you’re absolutely almost perfect and get upset in the tournament, sometimes you didn’t get the at-large bid. So, it’s such a nice situation no matter where the Rebels are picked today.”
Despite the team’s struggles a year ago, Ole Miss has an opportunity to take a step forward behind a solid returning core.
The team’s returns four of its top six scorers including leading scorer Terence Davis, who went through the NBA draft process this summer before returning for his senior season.
“Terence has been a real fun guy to coach,” Davis said. “He’s embraced coaching, and he’s been really good.”
Other double-digit scorers are back in Breein Tyree and Bruce Stevens, with both players averaging 10.8 points and playing over 22 minutes per game. Devontae Shuler, who has earned high praise from Davis for his toughness and persona on the court, is back as well after a good freshman campaign.
Joining that nucleus is a host of newcomers that’ll provide more depth and competition.
Freshman forward Blake Hinson might be the most intriguing addition of the group due to his versatile skill set and overall maturity.
“He really fits the mold for how we played at Middle Tennessee,” Davis said. “He’s very versatile, and I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’ll be an all-SEC player before he leaves Ole Miss. He can make a 3, he can drive it, and he’s really got great toughness.”
One area that’ll need to improve for the Rebels to start making their climb back up the SEC ladder is defensive consistency.
Ole Miss has struggled on that side of the court in recent years, finishing in the top 100 in defensive efficiency just once over the past five seasons.
But thus far, Davis has been pleased with his team’s buy-in on defense.
“The locker room has really embraced it,” Davis said. “The biggest thing in this league, if you don’t get back, you’re not gonna win a game on the road. You’ve gotta get defensive transition to the forefront. Andy (Kennedy) did a great job with them, so they all have a good base. We’re just trying to build on that.”
Just like it is for any new coach taking over a program, fixing those issues will be a process.
Kennedy had to endure that same type of process after taking over as the team’s coach in 2006, and by the time he left, he’d built a good foundation for the Ole Miss basketball program.
Now, it’s Davis’s job to put his touch on things in hopes of taking the program to another level.
Expecting an overnight fix or immediate run to an SEC title would be unrealistic, especially considering how strong the league has become.
But if you look at Davis’s track record, it’s clear to see that he enjoys a good challenge.
He took Middle Tennessee from a team that was struggling to find consistency to a team that was capturing back-to-back NCAA Tournament wins as a double-digit seed.
And you can already tell that Davis is optimistic about accomplishing the same type of turnaround at a familiar setting in his home state.
“You can feel it,” he said. “There’s a great vibe about Ole Miss basketball. The reception has been unbelievable. Ticket sales are up, and there’s just an excitement about basketball.”
For more SEC basketball coverage, follow me on Twitter @theblakelovell.