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Can Ole Miss follow up a big college football signing day with a win on the basketball court?

Robert Nkemdiche

Ole Miss fans are likely feeling good about their school today, considering the football program had a successful signing day that included nabbing a signature from the nation’s No. 1 prospect, Robert Nkemdiche (pictured at right).

The Rebels signed 28 players, including two five-star prospects in Nkemdiche and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. It looks like, at least for the night, Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson won’t be the talk of the town.

But that doesn’t mean Henderson doesn’t have a job to do. He and the Rebels host Mississippi State at home in hopes of improving to 18-4 overall and 7-2 in the SEC.

Over the past two games, Ole Miss has hit a rough patch, losing to likely the conference’s two best teams, Kentucky and Florida. In those two games, Henderson had mixed results.

In the Rebels’ loss to Kentucky, he finished with 21 points, but shot 26 percent from the floor to get there. Kentucky center Nerlens Noel disrupted the Ole Miss flow offensively and double-double threat Murphy Holloway struggled as a result.

Henderson bounced back against Florida with 25 points, including 7-of-11 shooting from three-point range, but the rest of the team shot just 13-of-40 from the floor.

With that high-powered offense Wednesday, though, the Rebels should be able to create scoring opportunities for Henderson and Holloway, along with the rest of the offense. If not, coach Andy Kennedy might end up calling the football program to see if they can make use of the 6-5, 265-pound Nkemdiche for an added inside presence.

Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_