Coach O's Fence Paying Dividends...

...for the basketball team. According to Neal McCready of Rivals, Andy Kennedy received a commit from his top prospect the second highest ranked prospect on the Rebels' recruiting board when Reginald Buckner gave his verbal pledge to Ole Miss.  Buckner is a 6'8" tweener from Memphis and is considered by some to be the top player in the Memphis area.  I honestly think he is better than Leslie McDonald and Ferrakohn Hall. I have never seen Buckner play, but I have seen LM play and while he was easily the best player on the court he was nothing spectacular.

Marshall, the rumored number one on AK's board, is considered the top JUCO prospect in the country (insert overused top JUCO player joke here) but would probably only be at Ole Miss for one year.  Marshall also plays the two or the three, a position we do not need to worry about in recruiting.

Buckner is going to be a very versatile player in that he has an inside and outside game, and at 6'8" can create match-up problems wherever you play him. He'll also provide a defensive presence with his size and knack for blocking shots, he averaged six a game as a junior.

Buckner claimed he committed to the Rebels because of the coaching staff and the facilities. I am not too sure what basketball facilities could impress him unless AK has been showing recruits a virtual tour of the BPF. Regardless, this marks the second straight year we have gotten one of the top players out of Memphis and the third straight year AK has gotten his number one player (I have trouble believing Marshall was number one, it just did not make since from a personnel standpoint).

Also, luckily for Neal, Buckner's friends like Ole Miss.