After five seasons as the Head Coach of Ole Miss, the University of Mississippi has decided to part ways with Coach Davis. No doubt the decision from Ole Miss was strictly a business decision, as Kermit Davis is one of the most genuine coaches in college basketball. Kermit is the type if you had a son you would like to play under Coach Davis. Coach Davis has never cut corners, hasn’t cheated and has given back to the communities he serves as Head Coach. Yet, in modern college basketball, unless you’re winning, given what Kermit has not been able to do at Ole Miss, you will be given a short leash and fired with three games remaining in the regular season.

Given the history, Ole Miss has always been a tough place to be successful in basketball. Ole Miss has never been to a Final Four and only has two SEC Tournament Championships. Ole Miss Basketball has always been the victim of being in the same conference as Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and even Mississippi State. Ole Miss Basketball has seen successful players that have been diamonds in the rough, with Marshall Henderson leading the way for the Rebels.

With a 75-79 record as Head Coach at Ole Miss, the Rebels had no choice but to dismiss Kermit Davis as the school’s basketball coach. However, the problem with firing Kermit Davis is that Ole Miss will now face replacing a good man who ran the program with integrity and the intangibles many strive to have. Sure, Kermit never produced the level of basketball Ole Miss expected him to follow his days at Middle Tennessee State. Kermit David led by example. Kermit was the one to put together the coaches’ trip to the College World Series this past June with the other Head Coach at Ole Miss to go cheer on Mike Bianco and the Basketball program as they won the National Championship. Despite being a Mississippi State graduate, Kermit Davis loved Ole Miss, and this instant, the nice guy finished last.

For those Kermit Davis fans, Coach Davis will land back on his feet at a program that will appreciate him as a man. Kermit is just too good to go without a job for any period.

It will be interesting to see the road Ole Miss will decide to go down. Will the Rebels pursue the likeness of the current Georgia Head Coach, who happens to be an Ole Miss Basketball legend, Mike White? Option number two will be the more interesting one for the Rebels. Will they pursue a coach with a tattered background like a Chris Beard or Rick Pitino? If they were to go down the road of option two, the perception surrounding the Rebels Basketball question will be that of winning at all costs with no regard to ethical obligations. Third and probably the best option for Ole Miss, dive into the G5 and pluck a guy like Dusty May from Florida Atlantic or stay in the state and go down to Southern Miss and grab Jay Ladner before somebody else beats Ole Miss to the punch.