Marshall Henderson’s turbulent two seasons at Mississippi have ended quietly.
The Rebels were not selected to play in the NCAA tournament or the NIT on Sunday, bringing an end to a disappointing 19-14 season that included a few big wins but not nearly enough consistency.
It also brought a sudden halt to Henderson’s time at Ole Miss. The 6-foot-2 guard scored 1,293 points over two seasons thanks to his prolific 3-point shooting, and also became one of college basketball’s biggest villains thanks to polarizing on-and off-the-court behavior.
Henderson - along with bruising frontcourt seniors Murphy Holloway and Reggie Buckner - helped lead the Rebels to the NCAA tournament last year for the first time since 2002.
But Holloway and Buckner weren’t around this time and the Rebels couldn’t repeat.
Henderson’s last game was a tough one. He scored 19 points, but shot just 5 of 21 from the field, including 2 of 16 from 3-point range, as the Rebels fell to Georgia 75-73 in the SEC tournament quarterfinals.
Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said Henderson’s shots simply didn’t fall against the Bulldogs, but it did nothing to diminish an impressive career.
One year ago, Henderson was the SEC tournament Most Valuable Player after leading the Rebels to a championship.
“One day, God willing, he’ll be honored as a legend at halftime for Ole Miss,” Kennedy said. “He’s earned that by the way that he’s played. Sometimes that’s overshadowed by the other things, but he’s a very good shooter, he’s a very good competitor, and he certainly made our program better in his time here.”
Now Ole Miss moves on without him. The Rebels should have plenty of experience returning - Henderson was the team’s only senior.
Point guard Jarvis Summers had a breakout season, joining Henderson as the team’s two main scoring options. Summers averaged 17.3 points per game and shot nearly 49 percent from the field.
Kennedy often said Summers was the team’s MVP this season.
“He’s been very, very consistent from the first game for us,” Kennedy said. “He’s tried to lead. We have rode him really hard.”
The question marks for Ole Miss are mostly in the frontcourt. Sophomore Anthony Perez and freshmen Sebastian Saiz and Dwight Coleby - who all stand 6-foot-9 - had encouraging moments this season. But it was their inconsistency - especially with defense and rebounding - that often contributed to Rebel losses.
In the final loss to Georgia, the Bulldogs grabbed two crucial offensive rebounds on one possession in the final minute to secure the win.
But there have been glimpses that all three can be crucial contributors next season. That will be needed since Henderson - and his nearly 20 points per game - won’t be around.
Saiz scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a victory over LSU in January. Perez scored in double figures in six of the final 11 games and has the versatility to play on the perimeter or score inside.
Coleby is probably the most raw of the group, but earned a bigger role as the season progressed and scored a career-high 10 points in the final game against Georgia.
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