Last season made Tim Elko immortal.

There’s a forever nature to the story of the torn ACL days after being named the National Hitter of the Month and the recovery that turned into a story of perseverance weeks later. Elko hit more home runs on a knee without an ACL than he did prior to the injury.

Questions about last season and the ACL pepper into press conferences, even now, and it’s the defining item of evidence for Elko’s place in history at Ole Miss, at least in perception. He was named Oxford Regional MVP a season ago with one ACL and has spent three years as the position player most responsible for the Rebels' success — through his play and his demeanor and leadership.

Ole Miss and Arkansas are the only SEC teams to play in three straight super regionals, and Elko’s a consistent engine that teammates look to in times of stress and to bring people together.

When things were dire in late April, Elko led the team meeting where players voiced frustrations and put aside whatever semblance of brokenness that infected the roster during the difficult weeks that led Ole Miss to a 13th-place standing in the SEC with three regular season weeks remaining.

But the ACL season and the leadership are only add-ons to what’s become apparent: Elko is simply one of the most accomplished players in program history.

The senior hit three home runs on Monday, as Ole Miss bludgeoned Arizona, 22-6, in the Coral Gables Regional championship game. That came a day after a seventh-inning double was the decisive blow in a 2-1 win over host Miami and two days after another double in the opener against the Wildcats.

In the regional, Elko hit .778 with an .857 on-base percentage and 2.968 OPS. He had 14 plate appearances in the three games and reached base 12 times.

Elko nipped teammate Peyton Chatagnier for his second straight regional MVP, and the final home run set a new single season school record with 22 — one more than Brian Pettway had in 2005.

He’s second in school history in career home runs; Elko’s 44 are four behind Kyle Gordon’s record 48 from 1984-1987.

Elko was the highest rated position player in his signing class but hit .216 and .212 his first two seasons, respectively, while starting only 30 combined games and playing fewer than half of the team’s games those years. Stuck behind Tyler Keenan at his original position at third base, he bounced around and changed positions. Elko kept working, kept showing up and got better.

He was hitting .354 when the 2020 season was canceled.

And the past two years he’s slugged more than .670 in each season and reached base more than 40 percent of the time.

Elko is two wins from making the College World Series, which could be a fitting bow on the career of not just one of the better people in the program’s history but one of the better players.

The ACL will always have a justified top billing. It was so improbable, and it united his team and the Ole Miss fan base late in that season. But the career can stand on its own. One knee or two, Elko stands above most who have put on that uniform.