The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

LOOK for Bahamian sophomore forward Dwight Coleby to have an increased role with the University of Mississippi Rebels when the NCAA basketball season tips off this month.

Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy said Coleby has looked impressive and showed marked improvement since the team returned from the offseason.

The Rebels have participated in closed scrimmages and a 97-58 win over the Delta State Statesmen in its lone exhibition game.

Coleby finished with seven points and three rebounds in just 11 minutes, but was forced to leave the game due to a minor ankle injury.

Kennedy called the team’s best rebounder in their closed scrimmage against Middle Tennessee State.

“Dwight has made the biggest step forward physically and with his endurance, and he’s able to sustain things longer,” he said. “He was probably our most productive guy with protecting the rim and rebounding the ball.”

That momentum carried over to this week’s exhibition, which was cut short for Coleby due to the injury,

“I was able to play a lot of the new guys a lot of minutes. Unfortunately Dwight twisted his ankle, which is why he didn’t re-enter the game. We did some things that we can learn from in preparation for our opener in a few days,” Kennedy said.

Coleby looked more comfortable on the floor on the offensive end, but the Rebels still look for him to make his mark rebounding and protecting the rim.

Ole Miss is scheduled to open the regular season 6pm Friday against Charleston Southern at the Tad Smith Coliseum.

In his freshman season with the Rebels, Coleby played in 28 games with four starts and averaged 2.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game in 10.4 minutes. He shot 47 per cent from the floor, and finished fifth on the team with 18 blocked shots, fifth on the team.

He scored a career-high 10 points and pulled down three rebounds in the season finale against Georgia and posted eight points and six rebounds in a win over Vanderbilt.

In the offseason, Coleby was a member of the Bahamas’ gold medal winning CBC championship squad which advanced to the Centrobasket tournament.

He and the Rebels also took part in the Summer of Thunder series of exhibitions hosted August 2-25 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

The 6’9” 220-pound post player became the first commitment for the Rebels and was the top recruit on the team’s recruiting list for the 2013 season.

ESPN.com also lists him as a three-star recruit, with a grade of 78 overall, ranked 36th in the Southeast region, 15th nationally at his position, and second at his position within the state of Mississippi.