12 MISSISSIPPI A HIGH-FLYING FORWARD NAMED SU HAS THE NEW-LOOK REBELS THINKING BIG

When Rob Evans took over as Mississippi coach five years ago, he
inherited a little office that had bare cinder-block walls. He
spruced up the place with navy wallpaper, a huge wooden bookcase
and a leather couch. This season he's taking the next step: He's
moving to more spacious digs, part of a new suite of basketball
offices being built at Tad Smith Coliseum.

The Ole Miss program has undergone a similar upgrade during
Evans's tenure. Back in the bare-walls days, the Rebels
struggled against Division II teams like Abilene Christian and
Oakland University. Last season they went 20-9, surfaced in the
Top 25 for the first time, beat Kentucky for the first time in
seven years, won the Southeastern Conference's Western Division
and got an NCAA tournament bid. Evans has all five starters back
and only one significant concern: finding enough playing time
for his subs. "For so long around here, basketball season came
and everything was negative," Evans says. "This year people have
talked about basketball all summer and all fall. It's what I
envisioned when I came here."

The player most responsible for the upswing? A man named Su.
Ansu Sesay (pronounced ANN-sue SEE-say) is his full name, but Su
is what his teammates call him and what you'll hear Rebel fans
howling at games. "Not only is he a great athlete, he's also a
great listener and learner," Evans says of the 6'9" forward from
Houston.

Last season, as a junior, Sesay was named first-team All-SEC
after averaging 14.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. He ranked
among the top 10 in the league in four categories. "He's a
leader, a hard worker, unselfish, a people person," says
clutch-shooting senior sixth man Joezon Darby. "He's really been
a brother to me."

Evans fosters that family feeling. He requires each player to
stop by his little office daily, just to chat. Sometimes it's a
one-on-one discussion about girlfriend troubles; at other times
there are 10 players shooting the breeze in Evans's cramped
quarters. (This is where the new, larger office will really come
in handy.) The players got even closer in May when they spent 11
days touring Australia, winning all five of their games against
Aussie club teams. "If you don't have a close bond, I don't
think you can call yourselves a team," Sesay says. "You really
wouldn't be getting anything out of it, except just basketball."

The Rebels had grown so tight by the end of last season that
Evans turned down a more lucrative job offer from Louisiana
State because he couldn't bear to leave his players. "We had
asked them for their loyalty," Evans says, "and for me to leave
them at that time in their lives for more money would have been
phony."

Instead he'll start his sixth season in Oxford with a team
that's for real.

--DANA GELIN

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID E. KLUTHO THE SPECTACULARLY ATHLETIC SESAY WAS AMONG THE SEC'S TOP 10 IN FOUR CATEGORIES, INCLUDING REBOUNDS [Ansu Sesay in game]

Returning Starters [Five]
Points per Game '96-97 69.0
PPG by All Returning Players 67.4