Ole Miss’ Daeshun Ruffin Named SEC Freshman of the Week

Ruffin First Rebel to Win Since 2011-12

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – (Wire reports) Ole Miss men’s basketball guard Daeshun Ruffin has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Monday morning.

Ruffin is the first Rebel to win Freshman of the Week since Jarvis Summers on Dec. 5, 2011. The Jackson, Mississippi native is coming off a three-game stretch last week vs. Florida (W, 70-54), Arkansas (L, 64-55) and Kansas State (W, 67-56) in which he led all Rebels with 16.0 points, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and a 19-of-24 (.792) clip from the free throw line.

Ruffin scored a career-high 21 points vs. Florida, 15 in the second half. He is currently on his second three-game streak of double-digit scoring games, and he owns nine such games already in 13 career games played (six in SEC play).

Ruffin led the way in Ole Miss’ Big 12/SEC Challenge victory vs. Kansas State with 17 points and a career-high seven rebounds in addition to three assists, one steal and one block.

At one point in this stretch, Ruffin had hit 14 consecutive free throws: his last four vs. Florida, all five against Arkansas and his first five vs. Kansas State – helping the Rebels to their second perfect free throw shooting game of at least 10 attempts this season and the fourth in school history, a 13-of-13 showing against Arkansas.

His 9-of-10 line vs. Florida tied his career high nine free throws made.

In SEC play, Ruffin ranks second in steals (2.8), eighth in assists (4.0), eighth in assist-turnover ratio (1.5) and 12th in free throw shooting (.806).

Ole Miss (11-10, 2-6 SEC) hits the road to take on LSU (16-5, 4-4 SEC) on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

(Feature image credit: Petre Thomas)

Evelyn Van Pelt

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.