Ole Miss All-American Rahim Lockhart has returned to Oxford to join the Rebel basketball staff as an assistant coach, head coach Andy Kennedy announced Monday.
Lockhart, a standout on the hardwood for the Rebels from 1998-2001, returns to Ole Miss after a successful high school and junior college coaching career. Most recently, Lockhart was the head coach at Jones County (Miss.) Junior College, where he led the Bobcats to a 64-15 record in three seasons and three straight NJCAA Region 23 Tournament appearances. This past season Lockhart guided Jones to a 29-2 overall mark and the NJCAA Tournament round of 16.
“We are pleased to announce that Rahim is coming home to join our staff,” said Kennedy. “From being an All-SEC player to establishing himself as an outstanding coach at the high school and junior college levels, I have seen Rahim develop into a coach that we feel can significantly impact our program. We are excited that he is rejoining his Ole Miss family in our efforts to continue to move this program forward.”
A Mendenhall, Mississippi, native, Lockhart helped the Bobcats to a 17-8 record in 2015-16 and an appearance in the MACJC championship game. In his first season in 2014-15, Jones won its first 14 games and was ranked as high as No. 8 in the NJCAA Division I poll en route to an 18-5 overall mark.
Lockhart came to JCJC after serving as head coach at Madison Central in Madison, Mississippi from 2011-14, where he led the Jaguars to the 6A North State title in 2013 and 2014 and the 6A state finals in 2013. He was head coach at Grenada (Miss.) from 2009-11, leading the Chargers to North State in 2011, and served as the head coach at Taylorsville (Miss.) from 2007-09, guiding the Tartars to the 2A championship quarterfinals in 2008 and 2009 and a district championship in 2009. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Piney Woods (Miss.) from 2005-07, helping the Tornadoes to the 2A state finals in 2007.
One of the greatest players in Ole Miss basketball history, Lockhart earned third team All-America honors as a senior in 2001 after leading the Rebels to a 27-8 overall record and the school’s first ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. He ranks 27th in Ole Miss history with 1,160 career points and earned All-SEC honors as a senior after averaging 13.0 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. A member of the Ole Miss Team of the Century, Lockhart helped the Rebels to three NCAA Tournament appearances, two SEC Western division titles and three 20-win seasons in his four years in Oxford.
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