McCready: 10 Weekend Thoughts presented by Harry Alexander

1. Ole Miss advanced to a super regional for the first time in program history on Sunday afternoon, beating North Carolina, 7-2, in front of a packed house at the Rebels’ softball complex.

I covered Friday’s win over Southern Illinois and Saturday’s win over Arizona State and Chase Parham covered Sunday’s regional final. You can read Chase’s story here. It includes video and tweets and all sorts of stuff.

Bottom line: Mike Smith turned Ole Miss from an afterthought into a power in three short years. Now, the Rebels are two wins away from the College World Series in Oklahoma City. Those two wins will have to come this weekend at UCLA.

“I am so excited for our program, these ladies, our fans,” Smith said. “It has been electric here in Oxford. I just want to say that North Carolina put up a fight. What a great team they have. Coach Papa has done an unbelievable job. She is a Hall of Fame coach. She had those kids prepared. We are just excited here in Oxford, not only to host, but to win it here and have a shot at getting to the College World Series. We are two games away from playing in Oklahoma City. Who would have thought in three years ago, this is where we would be?”

Ole Miss overcame a 2-0 deficit on Sunday before blowing the game open in the middle innings. Kaitlin Lee became a media sensation and the Rebels head to Los Angeles as arguably the darlings of college softball. Lee’s bubbly personality and the Rebels’ happy-go-lucky playing style are infectious. If they could get to Oklahoma City, they could become a media and fan darling.

“I think it was the electricity of our crowd,” Smith said. “I think it took our players to another level. I think they were trying to feel around the pitcher. We have not faced a lefty that came our hard like that. I know we faced (Delanie) Gourley from Florida, but she is a different type of pitcher. She is not as hard throwing and did not come at our hands as much as this one did. So we just tried to get our right handers to back off the plate a little bit and our lefties to not swing on the inside ball and to attack the outside pitch. This is a game of adjustments. I think we saw that last night when we played Arizona State. We made adjustments late and we won. Our players did a good job of making adjustments late in the game.”

2. Lee has been on quite the roll, cruising through the Southeastern Conference tournament last week in Knoxville and then through all three games of the regional in Oxford.

She said she’s had to learn to not to try to muscle up every pitch. Instead, her success has been the result of taking a deep breath, relaxing and spinning the ball.

“It’s just something I had to work out,” Lee said.

3. Ole Miss’ baseball team salvaged one game at Auburn over the weekend, ending the Rebels’ regular season with a 14-16 mark in Southeastern Conference play.

In other words, hello bubble.

Ole Miss will face Auburn again on Tuesday in the first round of the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama. A win over the Tigers would earn the Rebels a matchup with Florida on Wednesday. A loss would make for an excruciatingly long week waiting for the NCAA tournament selection committee to release its bracket on Memorial Day.

If the Rebels make it, they’re almost certainly a No. 3 seed somewhere. A trip to Hattiesburg is likely off the table, as Mississippi State _ the victim of a sweep at LSU over the weekend _ is probably the No. 2 there.

If the Rebels don’t make it, they’ve got no one but themselves to blame. Ole Miss knew all along 15-15 was the mark that provided comfort. They didn’t get to it. Instead, they played horribly Thursday and Friday in Auburn, making the final week dramatic if they don’t string together a few wins in Hoover.

4. The SEC’s football coaches conducted a teleconference on Monday, one that was pretty big-picture oriented, with lots of talk about new changes to the recruiting calendar and some revised eligibility issues.

There was some football talk as well, with Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said he felt the defense took “a step forward” during spring but still has “a ways to go.” Freeze also spoke in general terms about the adjustments he and the Rebels are making to new coordinators — Wesley McGriff on defense and Phil Longo on offense.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever had to do that,” Freeze said. “I’ve been with Dave Wommack forever and he’s been so valuable to me, so him retiring was a different deal for me. I have a comfort level with Wesley McGriff and love what I saw in the energy and the system that he’s going to put into place here defensively. I thought it went really well. Phil Longo is someone I didn’t have a relationship with, but in our talks, I felt like he was exactly what I needed. It’s going to be the same offense, obviously, because we’ve been very successful if you look at the numbers we put up. We’ve had some deficiencies in certain areas where I think he’s going to add some value to. I’m excited with where it’s gone so far.”

5. One of the rules changes being discussed is a measure which would allow freshmen to play up to four games without losing a year of eligibility. Several coaches, including Freeze, have wanted to just grant five years of eligibility, but as Vanderbilt’s Derek Mason said: “That may be something that they get to down the road, but on this particular rule, if it does pass and move forward, I think they got it right. We’ve gone years and years and years with the idea of where we are numbers wise, but our seasons have gotten longer. You look at postseason play now and where you’re at and you look at your injuries throughout the season, I truly believe the idea of letting those guys work into the rotation and having a chance to get on the field and see exactly how fast the game is and seeing if they’re able to contribute early is good for college football.”

“They all want to play,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “This would give them an opportunity to play some and it would actually enhance their development to some degree. I think with the numbers we have right now and the number of games that we’re playing, you might be able to play a few more players in some of those games and that would help some of your other players as well. I think the No. 1 thing is it would tremendously the development of some of the young players on your team to be able to look forward to being able to play in some games and not lose the year.”

6. One measure that has already passed is one that allows for an early signing period in December and makes official visits available for prospects starting in April of their junior year.

“I do think that it’s going to accelerate the recruiting calendar to some degree,” Saban said. “We are going about the process of how we do things in the spring like we always do. Our philosophy is we want to make sure we get however many players we can take _ I think it’s 22 this year _ and we want to get 22 good players who have good character and want to commit to the same kind of things that we do here at Alabama to help them be successful as people, students and players. I think evaluation is important and I think the sooner you have to make decisions on these guys, the greater opportunity you have to make mistakes.”

Saban said the new measure makes June more important.

“We’re also eliminating some opportunities for some late bloomers,” he added.

Freeze said he is in favor of early signing period, but the Ole Miss coach added he is “not a fan of the early visits. I just think you’re tripping kids before they’ve even had a sixth (high school) semester. I wish that was not a part of it. …My vote would’ve been to just not change anything but once it sounded like that’s the path we’re headed down regardless, I thinking signing in December is the best scenario. I just wish it didn’t carry those spring visits with it.

“I’m a big fan of getting to know kids and that makes it more difficult. The other problem is you’re getting ready to trip a kid and you really haven’t had conversations with him yet. I want to know the kids fit with us. That’s really important with me. The way that’s been expedited is troubling to me a little bit and could cause you to be a bit reckless.”

7. South Carolina used two freshmen quarterbacks last season, and the Gamecocks situation isn’t as rare as it would have been 10 years ago in the college game. Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama, for example, played freshman quarterbacks in a starting capacity for at least part of the season.

Freshmen quarterbacks, several coaches said, are more game-ready due to early enrollment but that’s not all that’s leading to the increase.

“The way kids have become sport-specific, especially the quarterbacks, it’s what they’ve been doing the last three or four years of their lives,” Arkansas’ Bret Bielema said. “Ten years ago, they were playing baseball, basketball, track and everything else. Now it’s so sport-specific.”

“I think, No. 1, it’s the amount of attrition you see due to guys not playing and transferring,” South Carolina’s Will Muschamp said. “There’s a lot more of that going on. That’s fine. That’s the young man’s prerogative. There’s nothing wrong with that. I think there are less numbers on the depth chart and when guys are coming in, they’re second- or third-string on the depth chart. I do think guys are more prepared now because of all the things they’re doing in high school. They’re getting focused a lot more on the throwing game and the protections and all of that.”

8. Here are some miscellaneous notes from the teleconference:

Tennessee’s Butch Jones is looking to replace Josh Dobbs at quarterback.

“I don’t look at it as restarting,” Jones said. “We have some very capable individuals in our football program. It’s all about a team game. …I thought Quinten Dormady had a very productive spring. Jarret Gaurantano as well. So we’re excited about those individuals. They’re very talented. I think it helped their growth and development to sit back and watch Josh Dobbs.”

Ole Miss running back Jordan Wilkins sat out last season due to an administrative error. The way he handled that and more continually impressed Freeze.

“The leadership he now provides having gone through that gives him even more credibility,” Freeze said. “With the disappointing news of him not being able to go to a bowl game next year with our self-imposed deal, I was curious to see how he’d react and he immediately took the charge and the lead on how we were going to handle it. I was just so proud of him and I’m praying he has a healthy year because I think he’s going to have a special year.”

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said quarterback Drew Barker is getting close to full strength after a season-ending injury last year.

Mason said he expects wide receiver/running back C.J. Duncan to play a huge role for the Commodores this fall, part of a veteran offense that is hoping to have a breakout season of sorts.

“This group is going to be older,” Mason said. “The quarterback’s older and C.J.’s going to be one of those guys, along with (wide receiver) Trent Sherfield, leading the way.”

9. We aren’t going to have any playoff basketball after the first part of this week until the NBA Finals begin on June 1. That’s thanks to dominant performances by the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers and injuries to the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard and the Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas.

There won’t be a 10 Weekend Thoughts next Sunday, so I’ll make my NBA Finals pick here. I hope I’m wrong, and if I am, I hereby pledge to purchase a LeBron James jersey and wear it every day for a week in his honor at a week of my choosing.

However, I’ll go Warriors in 7.

10. There won’t be a 10 Weekend Thoughts next Sunday due to the Memorial Day holiday. I might throw something together mid-week, but we’ll see. This week, we’ll have coverage of the SEC baseball tournament in Hoover, continued football recruiting updates and more. Until then, here are some links of interest to me _ and hopefully, to you _ for your reading pleasure.

Is Jared Kushner part of Trump’s Russia problem?

A special rule for Robert Mueller

Tommy Tuberville said Lubbock looked like Iraq

Immigration arrests are swamping the court system

Jose Andres has a better way for you to grill a steak

Six college basketball teams that could come out of nowhere next season

American Pharoah is a stud and a gentleman

NBA draft lottery winners and losers

The best cheap spots for good whiskey in Chicago

My new favorite coach ever. (I still love you, Joe Maddon)