House Concurrent Resolution 123

(As Adopted by House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING THE OLE MISS REBELS BASKETBALL TEAM AND HEAD COACH ANDY KENNEDY FOR THEIR IMPRESSIVE VICTORY IN THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP, THEIR FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT BERTH SINCE 2002, AND THEIR FIRST NCAA TOURNAMENT WIN SINCE 2001.

WHEREAS, the Ole Miss Rebels Basketball Team gave Head Coach Andy Kennedy his first NCAA Tournament berth as coach of the Rebels on Sunday, March 17, 2013, by upsetting the 11th-ranked University of Florida Gators by a score of 66-63 to capture the Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship; and

WHEREAS, in the tournament final in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Bridgestone Arena, Murphy Holloway led the scoring effort for the Rebels with 23 points, Marshall Henderson added 21, and Reginald Buckner contributed 13 points as the Rebels overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to hoist the championship trophy; and

WHEREAS, the Rebels (27-9) won 8 of their final 10, grabbing their first SEC Tournament Title since 1981 and their second ever, and even though the Rebels thought reaching the championship game for the first time since 2001 probably clinched the NCAA Tournament bid, the Rebels wanted the championship; and

WHEREAS, Ole Miss was selected for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002 and faced Wisconsin in the second round on March 22, 2013, in Kansas City, where as the No. 12 seed in the NCAA West Regional, the Rebels upset the No. 5 seed Badgers 57-46; and

WHEREAS, with its SEC Tournament Championship victory and NCAA first-round victory, Ole Miss finished the season with a record of 27 wins and 9 losses, tying the 2000-2001 squad's school record of 27 victories; and

WHEREAS, this year marked the Rebels seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and first for Head Coach Andy Kennedy at Ole Miss, yet La Salle University ended the Rebel's season in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 in a heartbreaking 76-74 loss; and

WHEREAS, on its march to the SEC Championship and NCAA Tournament berth, Head Coach Andy Kennedy passed B.L. Graham for the most wins in Ole Miss history, and Kennedy's record at Ole Miss is 152-87 in seven seasons; and

WHEREAS, senior forward, Murphy Holloway, is the 21st player in SEC history with at least 1,400 points and 1,000 rebounds, and Holloway holds the all-time Ole Miss rebounding mark at 1,093 career boards; and

WHEREAS, junior guard, Marshall Henderson, passed Chris Warren for the Ole Miss single-season 3-point field goal record with 138 for the year and ranked second in the nation, averaging 3.9 made 3-pointers per game; and

WHEREAS, senior forward, Reginald Buckner, ranks fifth in SEC history and is the Ole Miss career record holder with 326 career blocks; and

WHEREAS, the Rebels notched 20 wins for the sixth time in seven seasons under Andy Kennedy, and Ole Miss had only seven 20-win campaigns in the 96 seasons prior to Kennedy's arrival in Oxford; and

WHEREAS, Reginald Buckner, Marshall Henderson and Murphy Holloway all earned SEC postseason honors: Henderson was voted First-Team All-SEC by Blue Ribbon College Basketball and NBCSports.com, Second-Team All-Conference by the league's coaches and All-District honors from the USBWA, while Holloway also earned First-Team All-SEC honors from Blue Ribbon and Second-Team accolades from the league's coaches, and Buckner was voted to the SEC All-Defensive Squad by the league's coaches for the third straight year; and

WHEREAS, Ole Miss Head Coach Andy Kennedy was named the SEC Coach of the Year by NBCSports.com after guiding the Rebels to a 27-9 record, a 12-6 league mark and a second-place finish in the league standings; and

WHEREAS, the 2012-2013 Ole Miss Rebels Basketball Team roster is comprised of: Terry Brutus, Reginald Buckner, Demarco Cox, Marshall Henderson, Murphy Holloway, Aaron Jones, Derrick Millinghaus, Martavious Newby, Will Norman, Cade Peeper, Anthony Perez, Jarvis Summers, LaDarius White and Nick Williams; Head Coach Andy Kennedy; Assistant Coaches Sergio Rouco, Al Pinkins and Bill Armstrong; coordinator of basketball operations, Dayton Miller; and coordinator of video services, Dan Hartfield; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to commend and congratulate the success of our state's great higher education public institution's athletic teams, especially such a remarkable achievement as a Southeastern Conference Championship:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend and congratulate the Ole Miss Rebels Basketball Team and Head Coach Andy Kennedy for their impressive victory in the Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship on March 17, 2013, their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2002, and their first NCAA Tournament win since 2001, and extend best wishes for continued success in all of their future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Head Coach Kennedy, Chancellor Dan Jones, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.