Jason Munz

The University of Mississippi is looking toward the near future with high aspirations and great expectations.

Namely, Ole Miss is looking for a “total commitment” to athletics in order to thrive as a major force for years to come in the NCAA in every sport.

Those were the topics discussed Monday night at the District 10 Ole Miss Alumni Meeting, where Ole Miss Loyalty Foundation Associate Director Brad Teague and assistant men’s basketball coach Marc Dukes spoke about stadium expansion and the future of Ole Miss basketball.

“Right now, we’re working on a $25 million project to net about 13,000 new seats in our football stadium,” Teague said. “That will give us about a 63,000 capacity. We’re adding 30 more Sky Suites and 1,650 Club Seats.

“The Club Seats and Sky Suites are kind of like an indoor/outdoor environment for season ticket holders and ticket holders in general,” Teague said.

Ole Miss added Club Seating to the South end zone last summer, and according to Teague, the positive response to them is the reason for the expansion.

“There’s just such a high demand for the type of environment that the Club Seats and Sky Suites offer, that we had to try it again,”&160;Teague said.

Ole Miss’ season ticket sales are unprecendented for the upcoming season.

Last year, Ole Miss set a school record for number of season tickets sold. This year, season ticket sales are up 31 percent from last year, which means a near sellout of season tickets, which according to Teague, “is unheard of.”

Teague speculates that, “the kind of attitude and respectability that (Ole Miss head football coach, David) Cutcliffe brings to the team and the University, the candidacy of (running back) Deuce McAllister as a Heisman Trophy winner, and the No. 1 rating that our backfield got,” all played roles in the skyrocketing of ticket sales this year.

Dukes had many good things to say about the team being assembled for next year’s basketball season, and many years in the future.

“Well, we lost our leading scorer (David Hicks), so we went into recruiting with an eye on power forwards that can pick up the slack for David,” Dukes said.

Ole Miss went out and signed Justin Reed, a 6-6, 215 pound forward from Jackson Provine, David Sanders, who was Mississippi Player of the Year in 1998, among others.

“We’re looking for these guys to give us minutes,”&160;Dukes said.

“Sanders has proven he can play at this level. He’s a good athlete, and we’re looking at him as a legitimate scoring threat.”

Dukes also said that the way Ole Miss has gone about recruiting the past few years, Rebel fans have a lot to look forward to for many years to come.

“We’ve been to postseason play four consecutive times.

“We won our first-ever NCAA&160;Tournament game two years ago, and we won two games in the NIT Tournament last year. We do want to get back to the NCAA&160;Tournament next year, and with the team looking the way it is now, that might not be far off,”&160;Dukes said.

Dukes also mentioned the fact that eight of the 13 players on scholarships are freshman and sophomores.

In any event, Ole Miss Rebel fans have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming years.