The Southeastern Conference is playing out the final two weeks of a regular season in men’s basketball that could be followed by a record number of league representatives in the NCAA tournament.
Such an expected haul will not include Andy Kennedy.
Lots of victories
The men’s basketball coaches with the most career wins at their respective SEC schools:SCHOOL: COACH, RECORDAlabama: Wimp Sanderson, 265-118Arkansas: Nolan Richardson, 389-169Auburn: Joel Eaves, 214-99Florida: Billy Donovan, 467-186Georgia: Hugh Durham, 297-215Kentucky: Adolph Rupp, 875-190LSU: Dale Brown, 448-301Ole Miss: Andy Kennedy, 245-156Mississippi State: Rick Stansbury, 293-166Missouri: Norm Stewar,t 634-333South Carolina: Frank McGuire 283-142Tennessee: Ray Mears, 278-112Texas A&M: Shelby Metcalf, 438-306Vanderbilt: Kevin Stallings, 332-220Note: Stewart, McGuire and Metcalf attained their totals before their respective schools joined the SEC.
The dean of SEC coaches resigned Sunday deep into his 12th season at Ole Miss after previously announcing that he would step down at season’s end. Kennedy compiled a 245-156 record with the Rebels and departed as the winningest coach in program history.
“Andy Kennedy obviously had a great deal of success at Ole Miss,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox, who is in his ninth season with the Bulldogs and now shares “dean” status with Kentucky’s John Calipari. “He had an ability to change defenses throughout games and had an ability to always stay competitive at a place where it’s fairly difficult, and he did most of that at the old arena without all the bells and whistles to recruit to. The job that he did there is really to be respected.