Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco had his final fall media session this week. Here are five things that stood out from that time with Five.

The Rebels got a lot of work in despite a two-week pause and a fall that wasn’t exactly normal. NCAA rules allowed Ole Miss to pause its fall ball clock and not lose workouts because of the COVID issues in October. So, over the course of the semester, Ole Miss played 20 intrasquad games instead of 15 in past years and totaled about 400 more team at-bats than 2018 (1,365 to 980).

With the season cut so short in the spring and not all summer leagues playing or at least playing full schedules, Ole Miss needed as many repetitions as possible. The combination of the extra intrasquads and the lack of playing outside competition gave the Rebels flexibility to work its roster in a productive way prior to the holiday break.

Ole Miss had no more COVID situations following that pause in October, and while we don’t know the exact immunity length, a large portion of the roster seems to be in good shape as of now.

“We’ve had more than half of our team that’s tested positive at some point,” Bianco said. “Now, that’s going back since the beginning of the pandemic, not just the school year. I know much will be written about it as this thing continues, but so far, it looks as if, if you had it, you’re safe at least for the time being.”

The facilities will remain open for the Rebels through the break prior to the preseason, but any players who haven’t tested positive within 90 days have to re-test to use the facilities, if they leave campus for three or more days.

The entire roster will have to re-test when the players return after Christmas, Bianco said.

The best success story is Greer Holston. He was a valuable pitching staff piece early in his career before a complete loss of form in 2019, when he threw only one inning a year after pitching 33 innings. Holston lost fastball velocity and command and while it was improved in 2020, he still didn’t look back to form.

He does now.

Holston maxed out his fastball velocity at 96 MPH last weekend and consistently showed the slider that put him on the field as a freshman and sophomore. If this holds, Holston will not only compete for a significant role but at worst adds another electric arm to a healthy stable of options.

“For sure his last two, maybe his last three outings, been as dominant, not just him, but anybody that we’ve ever had throw, especially the last two,” Bianco said. “I think he threw three innings last week (and) he threw two innings in the Pizza Bowl. I don’t think he walked a guy, and I don’t think he gave up a hit in those five innings. He may have faced the minimum in five innings, in a dominant five innings. Low-to-mid-90s, big-time slider. The slider we’ve known for a long time, and then, of course, a good change-up. He’s really put himself into the mix.”

Derek Diamond should be ready to go in the spring.

Ole Miss’ presumptive Sunday starter suffered a forearm strain during summer ball and was held out of pitching this fall as a precaution. Diamond hit and played defense while throwing bullpens the past several weeks.

He also threw a simulated game against live hitters two Sundays ago. Diamond could have participated in game action on the mound but Bianco didn’t want to push it.

“As competitive as he is, to run him out there the last weekend, I was a little nervous,” Bianco said. “But more just because, not necessarily because anything was questionable about his arm, it was more how would he respond and what would he say when you said, ‘Hey, how do you feel?’ in between innings ‘cause he wanted to be out there so bad. But he was terrific. If I remember right, in the controlled scrimmages, he was 90-93. Slider was in the low-80s, 80-83. He looked really sharp.”

Kevin Graham is doing well against left-handed pitching, providing the chance he’s an everyday player in the middle of the Ole Miss lineup.

Graham was 1-for-19 in 2019 against lefties and “hit or miss” in 2020, Bianco said but put together an excellent fall and has the versatility to play first base, third base or a corner outfield spot. With Tyler Keenan and Anthony Servideo out of the Ole Miss batting order, Graham should get an early look at making up for some of the lost production.

"He’s been terrific. Probably the best fall of anybody. Really, I would think some of it had to do with his just, offensively, being in year three and having such a good fall,” Bianco said. “You can see he’s just dripping with confidence. It doesn’t matter where you put him, put him right (or) left, you’ll have him run in, hasn’t taken ground balls in a while at third, and he handles it. Plays first base. I’m really proud of him… He’s a different player now. He’s a better player offensively. Strikeouts have been down, he’s hit the ball the other way, he’s handled left-handers. He’s really made himself a complete hitter, and I think that’s helped him defensively.”