I’d like to start this article by thanking the great Nolan Richardson for not offering Keith Carter when he was lighting it up at Perryville High School in Arkansas. That’s a whole other story, and I don’t want to imagine Ole Miss without Keith Carter. Nolan never offered, and Keith ended up at Ole Miss in 1995.
Keith Carter doesn’t quite get enough credit for just how good he was on the basketball court. Ole Miss had never had much success in basketball before Coach Rob Evans took over. Coach Evans had an eye for talent, and he and Carter were a match made in heaven. I could write ten articles about those special days, but I’ll try to stay on track.
On the hardwood at Ole Miss, Keith finished his career with 1,682 points (5th all-time) and first in three-pointers made with 249. Carter was also instrumental on the team that won the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game. He is the only player in school history to record 1,000 points, 550 rebounds, and 200 assists. We had season tickets in those days, and Carter could do it all. Those were some of the best days ever to be an Ole Miss fan. The SEC was stacked in those days in hoops, and Keith led the way to back-to-back SEC Western Division titles.
After his Ole Miss playing days, Carter won a gold medal for the United States in the Goodwill Games. He then enjoyed a decade-long professional career in Italy. For this writer’s money, Keith Carter is a top-five Rebel hooper in Ole Miss history, and I’ll write a lot more about that one of these days.
Little did we know Keith Carter’s Ole Miss story was just getting started.
Compare, if you will, the Ole Miss athletic department before Keith Carter to where it stands today. For roughly 50 years, Ole Miss had marginal success in sports. Yes, we had some good teams and memorable moments, but nothing like we have today. Some of our athletic teams were “there,” but that was about it.
Since Carter took over as Athletic Director in November 2019, Ole Miss has won National Championships in women’s golf and baseball. The Rebels have also won 11 individual National Championships in track and field, men’s golf, and ladies rifle. Just about every single program on campus is on very solid footing — something that had never been the case until Keith Carter took over.
The baseball program is as solid and consistent as they come for the most part. Men’s and women’s tennis make the NCAA Championships regularly. Men’s and women’s golf are national championship contenders year in and year out. The track program is elite, and so is the rifle program. The softball program is in good hands; they’ve made the tournament every year since Jamie Trachsel took over in April 2020, including the school’s first-ever Women’s College World Series appearance in 2025.
Men’s basketball has one of the premier coaches in the country in Chris Beard. Carter has fended off several suitors to keep Beard in Oxford. Beard guided the Rebels to their best season in school history in 2025 — a team that made the Sweet 16. Women’s basketball, led by Coach Yo, is a consistent winner as well. Yo has made the tournament five years in a row, including two Sweet 16 appearances. The sky is the limit for Coach Yo.
In football, since 2020 when Carter took over as AD, the Rebels have enjoyed four 10-win seasons, an overall record of 57-20, and a stellar home record of 36-6. That stretch includes a Peach Bowl win, two Sugar Bowl victories, and an appearance in the College Football Playoff semifinals last season.
Keith Carter and Walker Jones have created an NIL and fundraising juggernaut that’s not going anywhere. This is only the beginning for Ole Miss becoming a consistent national player in football and every other sport. The results speak for themselves. Just look at what Carter has overseen in just six short years at the helm as Athletic Director.
Keith, Walker Jones, and company are killing it in the new NIL landscape. Keith Carter is Ole Miss, and he loves Ole Miss. We couldn’t be more lucky. This is the golden age of Ole Miss athletics, and we’re just getting started.
