Men’s Basketball Wins Big At Rebels’ Choice Awards

Rebel Student-Athletes, Coaches Celebrate Successful Year

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men’s basketball team was a big winner as Ole Miss athletics celebrated a successful year Wednesday night, rolling out the red carpet for the 2013 Rebels’ Choice Awards.

The semi-formal event took place in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for Performing Arts and honored athletics achievements from the past year.  With Rebel student-athletes and staff dressed to the nines, the evening began on the red carpet before the show kicked off.

In all, 17 different honors were handed out on the evening to Ole Miss student-athletes.  Of the awards, 14 were selected by the Ole Miss Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and others, while three were selected via fan voting.

Men’s basketball took home five awards, including team of the year, after capping the 2012-13 season with the team’s first SEC Tournament Championship in 32 years and the first NCAA win in a decade.  Marshall Henderson was named men’s Most Valuable Rebel and also earned Play of the Year for his huge buzzer-beater at Vanderbilt.  Head coach Andy Kennedy earned men’s Coach of the Year honors and the team also won the Game of the Year for their SEC Championship win over Florida.

Soccer player Rafaelle Souza earned women’s Most Valuable Rebel, while the women’s tennis team earned Team of the Year.

Men’s tennis senior Adrian Forberg Skogeng and track and field senior Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen earned men’s and women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.

The complete list of awards is listed below.

2013 REBELS’ CHOICE AWARDS
Men’s Rookie of the Year: Denzel Nkemdiche, football
Women’s Rookie of the Year: Ty Laporte, volleyball
Men’s Community Service Outreach: Will Allen, baseball
Women’s Community Service Outreach: Maggie McFerrin, basketball
Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Adrian Forberg Skogeng, men’s tennis
Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year: Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen, track and field
Men’s Hotty Toddy (Spirit) Award: Jason Jones, football
Women’s Hotty Toddy (Spirit) Award: Courtney Marbra, basketball
Men’s Coach of the Year: Andy Kennedy, basketball
Women’s Coach of the Year: Mark Beyers, tennis
Men’s Most Valuable Player: Marshall Henderson, basketball
Women’s Most Valuable Player: Rafaelle Souza, soccer
Men’s Team of the Year: basketball
Women’s Team of the Year: tennis

FAN VOTE
Play of the Year: Marshall Henderson’s buzzer-beater at Vanderbilt
Game of the Year:  Men’s basketball’s SEC Championship win over Florida
Fan Favorite: Donte Moncrief, football