It's been three months since Andy Kennedy's run in with the law. On Dec. 18, he was arrested by the Cincinnati police after allegedly punching a cab driver, yelling racial slurs at him, and public intoxication.

Right after the incident, details came out about the night, along with the dashboard camera recording of his arrest where he pleaded for his life. Then, to make matters worse/more embarrassing, his wife filed a suit against the cab driver because the incident has left Kennedy unable to perform in bed.

Not great press for the coach or the school.

Click here to see the video.

Lately, it has been quiet on all fronts, with Kennedy laying low. However, on April 20 all of the details will be brought back when Kennedy is scheduled to be in court to face a judge a jury of eight people.

The university has not commented on whether or not Kennedy will keep his job if found guilty. There is nothing in his contract that says he will automatically be terminated, but the school could feel pressure from the community to take a stand against Kennedy's racial tirade.

"We're just not going to comment on that," said Ole Miss chancellor Robert Khayat. "There's a thousand different things that could happen and getting into hypotheticals wouldn't be smart for anybody involved."

"The one thing I'll say is that we're very happy with the job Coach Kennedy has done. He regrets this incident and so do we."

However, firing the coach before his fourth season, with the majority of his team returning and the momentum that has been built, could be damaging to the basketball program. The university could punish Kennedy and have him attend anger management classes and diversity training.

Kennedy's attorney, Mike Allen, is not concerned with what could happen in this trial.

"A trial is a trial," Allen said. "There are good things that can come out of it. There are also bad things. What we know is we're confident we'll be victorious."

Kennedy wouldn't comment either on the details of the case, but said he looks forward to the day when this is behind him. There is also a pending civil suit no matter what happens in the criminal trial.

"I'm listening to the advice of my lawyers and am prepared to go to trial," Kennedy said.

"I don't know much about this stuff, and since they're in Cincinnati and I'm down here, I haven't had a lot of day-to-day dealings with it. Obviously, I hope this gets resolved as quickly as possible."

For those of us in who reside in the Memphis area, it's been an adventuresome last few days. The local media has been camped outside and hovering over John Calipari's house as he made the blatantly obvious choice to leave the Tiger program for the Big Blue Nation in Lexington. Despite the vitriol that's being spewed by many fans today, the choice is a no-brainer: Kentucky, UCLA, North Carolina, Indiana, and Kansas are college basketball royalty; Memphis isn't.

The list of coaches being batted around by Memphis fans is impressive, but I just wonder why any of them would come to Memphis. Here's a breakdown as I see it.

Mike Anderson, Mizzou: Already off the market. Signed a nice extension with Mizzou

Tim Floyd, USC: His Southern connections would've made him the best choice, but it appears he's taking over for former Ole Miss assistant Russ Pennell at Arizona

Bruce Pearl, Tennessee: Now it starts getting interesting. Sure, the Memphis job would be a step up in profile from Tennessee, but there was a genuine disdain between Calipari and Pearl. Pearl is working to build a Vols program, and quite frankly, unless something crazy happens and John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and Xavier Henry are Tigers next season, Memphis is going to be significantly worse next season than they were last. I don't see the appeal to Pearl unless it's strictly about the cash.

Rick Pitino, Louisville: Now it starts to get delusional. The rumor is that Pitino would be hired, coach a few seasons, and then retire and Memphis would promote his son to be the coach. Pitino is not going anywhere. If he left this year, it would be viewed as running from Calipari, who he will now get to face yearly. Also, part of his success there would always be viewed as partially attributable to Calipari's doing there, and neither Pitino nor Pearl want that.

Bobby Knight, ESPN: There aren't even words to describe this. This is the dumbest idea since an mid-afternoon fireworks show. Not gonna happen.

That brings us to the non-"WOW" candidates Memphis AD RC Johnson has promised. Xavier's Sean Miller and our very own Andy Kennedy.

Sean Miller seems to be the right choice here. He's at a non-BCS school and has been a very good coach at Xavier in his tenure there, going 120-47. His Musketeers actually beat the Tigers early in the 2008-09 season. He's been to the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8 the last two seasons and appears to be a young coaching star.

Which brings us to AK. From an unbiased point of view, why would Memphis want to hire a coach which pending legal issues and one that has failed to reach the NCAA tournament in four seasons as a head coach. I'll grant you that the legal issues are more than likely bogus and that he's done a very good job in all four seasons as a head coach, but is that really the profile of a coach that Memphis wants to replace Calipari with?

This may be a harsh lesson in reality for Memphis fans. While their program is certainly one of the best in the country, it's very tough to win consistently at a non-BCS school like Calipari has the last several seasons. If Memphis fans remember, Calipari didn't start putting up the gaudy numbers they've become accustomed to until CUSA was gutted by the Big East and the other legitimate basketball teams left. Calipari is a tough act to follow and 2009-10 will be a rebuilding season with Tyreke Evans declaring and a handful of other players joining Cal in Lexington, which is a trash move by Calipari, but that's another story.

Regardless of who is hired, the program will take a step back from the national spotlight. While Pitino and Pearl would both be very visible, high-profile leaders of the program, neither one is going to take the job. I just hope that Tiger fans will welcome Sean Miller. He's a very good coach who will win at Memphis if given the chance. While he may not be a high-profile as Calipari is - and who is - he'll be a very good fit, and that's what the Tigers need.

The University of Mississippi basketball jinx continued today, as sophomore forward Malcolm White announced he's leaving the basketball team for personal reasons. In a release issued by the school, Mac said:

"I have decided to leave Ole Miss in order to finish my career closer to my family in Louisiana. I have really enjoyed my time at Ole Miss and want to thank the coaches, my teammates and the whole Rebel family for all their support."

Will this season of frustration ever end? Malcolm really came on in the latter part of the season, notching some huge games against Kentucky and Mississippi State and his defense improved tremendously over last year.

I really thought he might be due for something of a breakout season next year, probably a consistent 12/7 guy. We'll definitely miss him down low.

While Murphy Holloway is a solid player—with the potential to be very good—he doesn't bring the same physical and athletic tools that Mac did. This opens up the door even wider for Reginald Buckner to start as a freshman next season. He's a long, athletic guy like Mac is. The pressure will also be greater on Terrence Henry to bulk up and be ready to play next season.

If night is always darkest before the dawn, then we should be due for a bright season or two after all the adversity we've faced since Trevor tore his ACL in early November.

My revised starting line up for 2009-10 is:

• G Chris Warren
• G Terrico White
• G/F Eneil Polynice
• F Murphy Holloway
• F Reginald Buckner

The Ole Miss basketball jinx continued today as sophomore forward Malcolm White announced he's leaving the basketball team for personal reasons. In a release issued by the school, Mac says:

"I have decided to leave Ole Miss in order to finish my career closer to my family in Louisiana. I have really enjoyed my time at Ole Miss and want to thank the coaches, my teammates and the whole Rebel family for all their support."

Will this season of frustration ever end? White really came on in the latter part of the season, notching some huge games against Kentucky and Mississippi State and his defense improved tremendously over last year.

I really thought he might be due for something of a breakout season next year, probably a consistent 12/7 guy. We'll definitely miss him down low.

While Murphy Holloway is a solid player—with the potential to be very good—he doesn't bring the same physical/athletic tools that Mac did.

This opens up the door even wider for Reginald Buckner to start as a freshman next season. He's a long, athletic guy like Mac is. T

he pressure will also be greater on Terrence Henry to bulk up and be ready to play next season. Maybe we can pick up a JuCo forward between now and next season. It would be nice to have an extra body—and five fouls—to use down low.

If night is always darkest before the dawn, then we should be due for a bright season or two after all the adversity we've faced since Trevor tore his ACL in early November.

My revised starting line up for 2009-10 is:

G Chris Warren
G Terrico White
G/F Eneil Polynice
F Murphy Holloway
F Reginald Buckner

In what can best be described as a remarkably frustrating basketball season, there is plenty to be excited about in the immediate future of Ole Miss basketball, not the least of which was the emergence of Terrico White as a legitimate star.

He’s the best freshman guard we’ve had since...well, Chris Warren the year before. Andy Kennedy is really bringing in the talent.

As a whole, Chris’ numbers are gaudier than Terrico’s for their entire freshman seasons. Chris stepped onto the court as a starter with the departure of a trio of senior guards in Todd Abernethy, Bam Done, and Clarence Sanders.

Terrico arrived with more hype, but most expected a reserve role playing behind wing guards David Huertas and Eneil Polynice. Three bum knees later and Terrico is our starting PG a few games into SEC play.

Here's how their freshman years compared in SEC games only: Surprisingly, Chris scored a higher percentage of his points (16.4 percent) from the FT line than Terrico did (12.5 percent).

Some of that had to do with Terrico's FT percentage being so poor, but it's something he can work on for next season—posting up smaller guards and taking slower ones off the bounce.

Not surprisingly, Chris scored a higher percentage (54.9 percent) of his points from behind the arc that Terrico did (46.7 percent), meaning Chris was either jacking up threes or ducking his head and getting to the rim.He only scored 28.5 percent of his point from 2-point range, while Terrico scored 40.6 percent.

When Terrico starts getting to the line more and starts hitting them more, he'll be an absolute beast.

All this adds up to what should be one of the best backcourts in the conference next season. With an added scorer and a viable inside presence, Warren should be much more effective than he was before tearing his ACL against Louisville this season.

Watching him play, it’s easy to see that he feels that—at times—he’s the only viable scoring option we have. That led to a lot of questionable shots this year and last. With Terrico providing a more consistent scoring option than David, Chris' shots should be reduced/smarter, which normally spells success for the Rebels.

Last season, in conference games, we were 6-1 when Chris took 14 shots or fewer and just 1-8 when he up 15 shots or more. In our 3 NIT victories over UCSB, Nebraska, and Virginia Tech, he shot 13 times or fewer.

Against Ohio State, he put up 17 shots, and we lost.

Regardless, the way I see it, David is the odd man out next year in regards to the starting lineup. He and Terrico never really gelled as a unit and David’s attitude took a severe nose dive as the season wore along.

If we’re going to achieve everything we’re capable of next season, we’ll definitely need him to play well and within the system. But for now, he and his whining will most likely be on the bench, with EP starting at the three.

Terrico will certainly handle the ball a lot, but the primary PG duties will shift back to Chris and EP.

I can’t find the numbers to back this up, but I’ll say this...We return four guys who have hit seven threes in a game before: David (2x), Chris (2x), EP, and Trevor Gaskins. I doubt any other team in the country can say that.

(H/T to the ever awesome statsheet.com for the researchability.)

Mississippi (13-9) at Vanderbilt (14-8)

The Line: Vanderbilt -6

Saturday February 7, 2009 1 PM EST

I was more than a little surprised when I saw this line open at five and a half and even more surprised when it moved to six. I thought this game would be pick-em at best.

While Vandy has the better overall record, Ole Miss has been playing some really good basketball of late and come in winners of their last three in a row. The Rebels were underdogs in each of those contests, probably stemming from the three game losing streak that preceded the recent run.

The Commodores don't seem like much of a value play in this one because while they have won two in a row, they had lost four in a row prior. Vandy is just 3-5 overall in SEC play while Ole Miss is 4-4 in the conference.

Of the two, Mississippi is definitely the more battle-tested of the two as they have played the 16th toughest schedule in the country while Vandy has played the 108th ranked schedule.

Mississippi is 12-6 against the spread, so far this season, while Vanderbilt is 7-11-1 against the number. Ole Miss has been red hot against the spread of late covering in all of their last five road games, their last five games overall, their last five against the SEC, and their last four as a road underdog.

Vanderbilt is 0-4-1 against the spread in their last five home games, 1-7-1 against the spread in their last nine SEC games, and 1-6-1 against the spread in their last eight overall.

Working in Vandy's favor is the fact that the favorite has covered in seven of the last eight meetings between these two. I think we have a line that is not only too big, but it may be the wrong team favored.

I think a money line play wouldn't be out of line with Mississippi here, but I definitely like them getting points as well.

Mitch's Pick: Mississippi +6

See all of Mitch's College Basketball picks against the spread

Preview

Mississippi (1-3, 10-8) has had an up-and-down season so far—after going 5-1 in November, they have gone 5-7 for December and January, trading off wins and losses until they lost back-to-back in their two most recent conference games.

South Carolina (2-2, 13-4), on the other hand, has had more success this season, going 11-2 in non-conference play, and then losing at LSU before losing by three to Tennessee. This game kicks off a tough four game stretch, where the Gamecocks host Mississippi and Vanderbilt before traveling to Kentucky and Florida.

South Carolina has four players averaging double-digit points while Ole Miss only has two, but they are both averaging almost 20. The biggest distraction for the Rebels right now is the legal action being taken against coach Kennedy for assault on a cab driver and Kennedy's suing of the cab driver for defamation.

But enough about the coaches problems, here's how the two stack up:

Stats

Prediction

Current Line: South Carolina -10.5

Mississippi ATS: 7-6, 3-3 when underdog
South Carolina ATS: 7-5, 4-3 when favored

In South Carolina's four SEC games, they would have covered this spread only once (when they defeated Auburn by 12). Their other three games are two losses and a one point victory over Florida. Ole Miss has lost to Florida by 10, defeated Arkansas, lost to LSU by 22 and to Alabama by three, so they would have only not covered this spread once.

Every game is different, though, so it's not correct to look at only the SEC games they have played so far. We should also look at the history between the two teams—since 2002, both of these teams have five victories over the other, although South Carolina has grabbed the most recent two.

The battles between these two SEC rivals have historically been very close—since 2002, only three of the ten games have been decided by 11 points or more. In fact, four of the games have been decided by five points or less, and another three have been decided by only six points.

I think the Gamecocks will walk away victorious, but I do not think that they'll be able to pull off the 11 point victory.

Pick: Mississippi +10.5

*All statistics for this article have come from StatSheet.com*

*This article is also featured on CFBPlace.com—and soon to be featured on CBBPlace.com*

Written by Ryan Collins, Gatorsfirst.com Staff Writer

The University of Florida Men’s Basketball team achieved what the football could not accomplish this year: beat Ole Miss at home.

UF led early by a score of 46-26, and possessed a halftime lead of 53-39, but the final score of 78-68 does not reflect the comeback attempt in the final minutes by Mississippi.

With a 1:23 left in the game, Ole Miss trailed by only six, 74-68. However, a David Huertas missed shot and a turnover, a Nick Calathes block, late free throws by Calathes, and Walter Hodge sealed the deal.

The fans surrounding me in the student section really laid the foundation for a dismal homecoming for David Huertas. Huertas won a national title with the University of Florida in 2006, and subsequently transferred to the University of Mississippi “due to problems with playing time.”  A few seats down from me, a fan brandished a sign proclaiming “Benedict Huertas.”

On Ole Miss’ first possession of the game, the student section was given a gift-wrapped taunting present as David airballed a three-point shot. A few minutes later Huertas was fouled on a three-point attempt, and preceded to miss two of the three shots amidst a cacophony of “airball” chants.

To be fair, Huertas did lead the late second half charge, made a few clutch three-pointers, and an amazing put-back to cut the lead to six.

On to the home team, this was a tremendous victory to lead off conference play. Against the physical interior defense of the Rebels, UF relied heavily on fast pace and three balls. It was very common to see eight or nine swing passes around the arc and then an open three-point shot.

Overall, the Gators were 11-29 from behind the arc. The up-tempo run-outs were fueled by Nick “wonderboy” Calathes’ precision passes and well executed frontcourt press.  

Defensively, there were some negative and positives for the Gators. Ole Miss won the rebounding battle, 38-21, with a shocking 15 offensive rebounds. Almost all of those offensive rebounds were immediate put-backs, and sometimes as many as three uncontested attempts.

UF played a fair amount of zone defense, but they still struggled to box out the Rebel bigs. However, despite this lack of physicality, the Gators did not get shoved out of the game due to a well run frontcourt pressure all game, amassing a total of 12 steals. Hodge and Calathes had four steals each, and Dan Werner chipped in with three. 

This team is certainly more reminiscent of the 2002-2004 squads of Anthony Roberson, David Lee, and Matt Walsh, with much less interior presence and a bombardment of three-pointers.

Alex Tyus only had nine points, and many of those came on fast breaks, as UF could not establish a post presence. Erving Walker connected on two early three-pointers, and provided plenty of aggressive defense in his 18 minutes. Kenny Kadji only had two points, but his alley-oop dunk eight minutes into the game absolutely brought the house down. 

Saturday’s victory puts the Gators at 14-2 overall, with 8-straight wins since the last loss to FSU on Pearl Harbor day. UF (1-0 in the SEC) next travels to Auburn, Alabama to face a Tiger squad (10-5) that lost its SEC opener at South Carolina, 68-56.

Three Tigers average around 13 points a game, and two of them are guards, so expect a fast-paced three-point-o-rama. Projected score: UF 69 Auburn 61. 

Side note: Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, and possibly Brandon Spikes(?) watched the first half of the game from the corner of the floor behind the Gators bench. However they had no formal introduction during the game or at halftime

Any thoughts?

You can view the original article here

Last week, Ole Miss Head Basketball Coach Andy Kennedy was arrested in Cincinnati at 1:15 AM for simple assault after an incident with a cab driver. Later that day, Kennedy's Ole Miss club was to play in the SEC/Big East Challenge against a formidable Louisville team, a game they lost. I have to ask - what is a Division I Head Coach doing out at 1 AM the night before a game?

Kennedy does have ties to the city of Cincinnati having spent five years as former Bearcats coach Bob Huggins top assistant and took over for Huggins after he resigned.

"I want to speak to that a little bit, because again, I know this is being portrayed as SEC coaches gone wild," Kennedy said. "I lived in Cincinnati for five years, I've got some friends in that area. We went — and the whole staff was not out the entire time — I went to meet some friends from the Cincinnati area. We had dinner.We then met some other friends at an establishment." The Ole Miss coach explains why he was out at such a time by saying who uses the word "establishment" for a place they should be at?

Kennedy is now suing the cab driver who pressed the charges as well as a valet who is a witness to the incident. I don't know what happened. I don't know if Kennedy is guilty or not. Right now he is innocent, until proven guilty.

I just want to know why he is out at an "establishment" at 1 AM the night before a big game? Who was watching the players because evidently the entire staff was out with him?

How does Kennedy go and tell his team about not breaking curfew and staying out of trouble when he is at bars at 1AM? I know Kennedy is entitled to a life and he can have fun like everyone else. But he has to realize he is a celebrity of sorts and a role model for 18-22 year old men.

My Home Page

Those poor Rebels can’t catch a break. 

First, it was sophomore guard Trevor Gaskins tearing the ACL in his left knee Nov. 6. 

Second, it was junior guard Eniel Polynice learning he needed season-ending surgery on his left knee Nov. 18. 

Third, it was head coach Andy Kennedy supposedly punching a cab driver while yelling racial slurs at the man Dec. 18.

That same night, it was sophomore guard Chris Warren, the fourth leading scorer in the SEC, tearing the ACL in his left knee, inevitably ending his season as well.

Probably the only legitimate threat left on the roster is junior David Huertas, who is currently averaging 20.9 points-per-game. 

Ole Miss lost its two top big men from a year ago in Dwayne Curtis and Kenny Williams to graduation. Curtis, an All-SEC second team selection a year ago, dropped 14.9 points and grabbed 9.6 boards his senior year. Williams contributed 8.5 points and 6.6 rebounds. 

And we’re not even to conference play.

Now, I did the math, and these numbers are staggering.

Last season, Ole Miss averaged 79.5 points-per-game. Of that total, the five aforementioned who have either graduated or torn a left knee ligament accounted for 55.8 points, or 70 percent. 

The Rebels ranked 12th nationally a year ago with 40.6 rebounds-per-contest. Of that, 25, or 61.6 percent, were made by  the five contributors.

Ole Miss dished 15.9 assists-per-game last year, and 11.7 of those came from these five players, or 73.6 percent.

Finally, the five previously mentioned Rebels took away 4.7 of the team’s 6.9 steals-per-game. That number is good for 68.1 percent.

So there you go. The numbers don’t lie. That’s absolutely staggering for a team that lost only two major contributors to graduation.

Can the Rebels recover?

Most would say no, based on those statistics and the negative publicity the program is currently receiving. 

But it’s the SEC West, and any team can reign supreme in that division.