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The last Ole Miss basketball game ever at the Tad Pad is next Friday

Ben Garrettby: Ben Garrett14 hours agoSpiritBen
NCAA Basketball: South Alabama at Mississippi
Nov 12, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; The South Alabama Jaguars and the Mississippi Rebels shoot during warm ups at C.M. 'Tad' Smith Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The final Ole Miss basketball game ever to be played at Tad Smith Coliseum is next Friday, November 14, at 6:30 p.m. CT. 

The Rebels will hold their third consecutive Throwback Game and honor former Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes, who formerly coached Cal State Bakersfield. 

The Roadrunners will be the Rebels’ last-ever opponent in the old arena.

“[The Throwback Game] started understanding how important that building is to Ole Miss people and the history of the game of basketball in that arena speaks for itself,” Ole Miss fourth-year head coach Chris Beard said after the Rebels’ season-opening win over Southeastern Louisiana on Monday night. 

“I actually coached there as an opposing coach one time in the NIT kind of championship game. [Andy Kennedy] and those guys got us in overtime. Ended up going to New York. You just think about all the greats that played in that building. Thought it would be something cool to kind of get everybody under the same umbrella. We have a lot of sneaky tradition here at Ole Miss basketball.”

No official plans for the future of the Tad Pad have been announced or finalized. 

However, sources indicate the arena is headed for demolition. The Tad Pad served as the home of Ole Miss basketball from 1966 until early 2016. 

In the years since it’s mostly been used for special events. The Rebels have played over 700 games there, totaling an all-time record of 492-210.

“The game’s been great to us,” Beard said. “To honor coach [Rob] Evans the first year was special. Coach [Bob] Weltlich last year. Next Friday night we’ll honor coach Barnes, one of the best coaches that really ever coached in the SEC. He had NCAA Tournament teams here. I know he’s super appreciative of coming back. He’s excited, and so are we. 

“All the players and staff members during coach Barnes’ era here at Ole Miss have been invited back.

“We welcome everybody out. We’ve had a couple of great crowds our first two throwback games. It’s my understanding this will be the last basketball game ever in the event, so we’re going to try to play well and show great respect to those who came before us. We’re really excited to get coach Barnes and his wife back to Oxford and show them the respect and love they deserve.”

Barnes was head coach at Cal State Bakersfield for 14 years.

He served as Ole Miss head coach from 1998-2006. Barnes was named both the Naismith College Coach of the Year and SEC Coach of the Year in 2001. He led the Rebels to a then-school-record 27 wins that year, as well as their first-ever Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament. 

Ole Miss returned to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history last season under Beard.

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