The Rookie and the Veteran: A Current and Former Rebel Talk Homecomings at Ole Miss, Past and Present
OXFORD, Miss. — Ava Claire Culbertson and Clint Crockett have a lot in common. They are from the same hometown, each graduated from the same high school and each left high school and immediately headed to Ole Miss.
There is one difference, however. The pair entered as freshmen at the University over three decades apart. This week marks Ava Claire’s first homecoming in Oxford, while Clint will be celebrating his 39th.
The Rebel Walk sat down with the pair of Rebels to get Ava Claire’s expectations for her first homecoming and Clint for his nearly 40 years of memories.
Ava Claire, what are your expectations from your first Ole Miss homecoming?
“I am super excited about homecoming week and all it brings to campus and the community! All of our home game weeks are fun and I know this week will be over the top. From the extra activities, decorations, and of course traffic, homecoming 2023 is going to be a week to remember!”
Clint, this is your 39th homecoming at Ole Miss. What are your fondest memories of the years?
“My first homecoming game as an Ole Miss student was in 1984 and I was a freshman walk-on wide receiver on the football team (later realizing my size was better suited for the intramural fields).
Clint Crockett walks through the Grove in 1984 as a freshman walk-on WR on the football team. (Photo courtesy: Clint Crockett)
“I had dressed out the week before against Louisiana Tech but was in the stands for our game against Tulane. What I remember fondly was just being a part of the University. I was the only person from my graduating class of 535 people at Tate High in Pensacola, Florida to attend Ole Miss and I was just proud.
“I have fond memories of homecoming in 1989 against Vanderbilt because I had just started dating my future wife Janna, and I took her to the game.
Clint Crockett and his future wife, Janna.
“My fondest memory of an actual homecoming game though was when we beat Tennessee 34-3 in 2014. This was the game that the well-known Tennessee fan meme comes from.
Famous meme of Tennessee fan while losing to Ole Miss.
“Yes, we eventually had to vacate this and quite a few other wins from this season and the two previous ones, but does anyone really care about that?”
Ava Claire, what does your sorority, Kappa Delta, plan to do in terms of celebration and decoration?
“I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but we have been putting in the work to make sure the KD house is all decked out for Saturday! We are hosting a great spread for lunch before the game for our parents and the house will be open until 4 p.m. Saturday for alumni and parents, too.”
Ava Claire (front row, far left) and her KD sisters. (Photo courtesy Melissa Culbertson)
Clint, you were in the Sigma Nu fraternity. Do you remember what y’all did to celebrate homecoming?
“Homecoming weekend was always a big deal. You’d typically have a date for the weekend and groups would go to dinner together on Friday night, though our options were significantly more limited back then. Then we’d have a band at the house both Friday and Saturday nights, as did most of the fraternities. The parties were open to everyone so depending on who you wanted to hear, you’d walk around and visit the various houses. You didn’t have to be on a list. The Mailmen always drew a big crowd wherever they were playing, as did The Generics.”
Ava Claire, Ole Miss takes on Vanderbilt in the homecoming game. What do you expect the outcome to be?
“Since (Vandy coach Clark) Lea and his team are coming off their bye week, they should be a little more rested. Even with the extra time, Coach Kiffin and our Rebels won’t have any trouble adding loss number seven to the Commodores’ losing streak!”
Clint, who did the Rebels play in your first homecoming and what was the outcome?
“We played Tulane and won a nail-biter 19-14.”
Ava Claire, you have only been on campus for a few months, but what are your highlights so far of your freshman year?
“I’ve had so many highlights in a short period of time as an official Ole Miss student. Obviously pledging KD is at the top and I was able to be pinned by my mom at initiation during KD parent’s weekend, which was special.
Ava Claire Culbertson and her mom, Melissa, at KD Initiation. (Photo: Courtesy of Culbertson family)
“Another big highlight for me has been being selected as a Diamond Girl and I can’t wait for baseball season. I also had the opportunity to dance with my KD sisters in CASA, where we won it all while helping support such an amazing non-profit right here in Oxford.”
Ava Claire Culbertson is an Ole Miss Diamond Girl.
Ava Claire Culbertson (center) with fellow Diamond Girls (left to right): Callie-Francis McKay, Greer DeYoung, Culbertson, Kara Purdom, Eva Pappano. (Photo credit: Ole Miss Diamond Girls)
Clint, this is your 39th homecoming at Ole Miss. What are your fondest memories of the years?
“My favorite memories definitely center around just being a member of the football team and getting to see guys like Freddie Joe Nunn, Jeff Herrod, Kent Austin, Timmy Moffett, Jamie Holder and Mike Fitzsimmons go about their business every day. At the time I thought Mike Fitzsimmons was the meanest, toughest football player I’d ever seen. Ironically, I’ve become friends with Mike in the past couple of years here in Oxford and he is an absolutely wonderful guy. I’m proud to know him.”
Mike Fitzsimmons (Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)
Ava Claire, Lane Kiffin has raved about how great the home crowds have been this season. Can the student section keep up the energy?
“Coach Kiffin has nothing to worry about. The student section has the endurance and desire to continue delivering an electric atmosphere for the Texas A&M and ULM games!”
Clint, back in your undergrad days, Ole Miss played a lot of home games in Jackson. There were select games in Oxford, but how do you see the difference in the atmosphere these days?
“Yes, we played about half of our home games in Jackson during my undergraduate days and the Egg Bowl was always there. I enjoyed the Jackson games because the stadium was larger, and we played better opponents there during those years. Our home games against LSU were in Jackson and we also played Auburn, Florida and Tennessee there. I had a lot of friends from Jackson along with some great cousins I’d often stay with on those weekends and there were plenty of places to go out.
“Of course, Oxford home games are a vastly different experience now. The stadium holds about 25,000 more people, and although we tailgated in the Grove back then, it did not compare to the modern experience. Now no one has a better gameday experience than we do. The winning certainly helps. I’m very thankful I get to experience it with my family and friends and I hope all Ole Miss fans appreciate how special it truly is.”
It certainly appears these two Rebels are ready for the Homecoming week activities. Here’s to Ava Claire and Clint happily celebrating homecoming for many years to come!
Hotty Toddy to them both.
(Feature image credit courtesy of John Cofield)
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
