Ole Miss says goodbye to 'Tad Pad' today - 'The Pavilion' to open Jan. 7
By Parrish Alford Daily Journal
OXFORD, MS
It’s one thing for you to talk about your crazy uncle. It’s something else for someone else to do it – and to do it in your front yard, no less.
So when former Ole Miss star Joe Harvell found himself in the position of having to defend Tad Smith Coliseum in a conversation with an Alabama player he was miffed.
“We were at the free throw line, and Robert Horry asks me, ‘Man, when y’all going to get a new gym?’” Harvell was taken aback.
“I just told him, ‘It’s home. It’s home, and we’re going to beat you.’ And we did.”
That was back in 1991, and Tad Smith Coliseum was 15 years old. It was developing character and charm but was not ancient by arena standards.
Not like it is now.
If a Troy University player asks that question to Stefan Moody or any of his teammates today they can answer, “Oh, in just a few weeks. It’s across the street.”
The Rebels will open their new arena, The Pavilion at Ole Miss, on Jan. 7 against Alabama. Unfortunately for Horry, he has no eligibility remaining.
Birthed in the fall of 1965, Tad Smith Coliseum will host its last Ole Miss men’s basketball game today as the Rebels (9-2) entertain the Trojans (5-5).
It tips at 3, and there will be a celebration of the gym – some of it tongue-in-cheek – throughout the afternoon. Some of the plans include streamers dropped from the ceiling and players taking the floor from through the stands, things made famous during the Rob Evans era.
For a guy who played 1A basketball in Union County beginning a career at Tad Smith was stepping up to the big time. As it was later home for Harvell, Tad Smith became home for John Stroud, who would go on to become one of the most prolific scorers in the SEC. His 2,328 points remain the most scored at Ole Miss and third-most in the conference.
Stroud, who has played and coached in Union County and still lives and works there, played from 1977-80 and was a captain his senior year.
“In the fall of 1976 it was less than 10 years old. I remember those red, blue and yellow seats. It was a shiny new building back then, a nice and clean building. When the crowds were there it was 8,500 people right on top of you and a tough place to play.”
The building began to take on wear and tear. Improvements were made through the years, but age is age. You could only do so much.
Today, some amenities are modern like the high def video boards, offices and media work space, but some issues like electrical infrastructure and a sometimes leaky roof are hard to hide.
Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy’s introductory press conference was held there in April of 2006. He sidestepped questions about Tad Smith Coliseum saying he’d “never lost a recruit because of brick and mortar.”
He was reminded of that several years later when water seeped down into coaches’ offices. “Yeah, but I’ve never had one come on a recruiting visit and drown either,” he quipped. Ole Miss has posted a 489-210 record at Tad Smith including a 125-31 by Kennedy, the best of any Ole Miss coach.
“I hope we can transfer some of that over,” Kennedy said. “We have had success here.”
Then he regained composure and returned to his more common wit. “The orthopedic community will be a little down on us, because there will be fewer knee surgeries, and we’ll miss that tile in the bathrooms.” There were big Tad Smith wins before Kennedy particularly when the program was growing under former coach Bob Weltlich.
“I remember Elston Turner hitting two free throws with 1 second left to beat Mississippi State in 1978,” Stroud recalled. “That was a big upset, a sellout crowd, and propelled the beginning of the (Bob) Weltlich Era.”
That was the end of Stroud’s sophomore year. He saw Kentucky open Rupp Arena and visited other newer SEC venues then.
Fond memories
Harvell played at Ole Miss from 1990-1993 and remains the program’s second-leading scorer with 2,078 points. Only Stroud, Harvell and Chris Warren, a guard under Kennedy, have surpassed 2,000 points at Ole Miss.
Before Harvell signed, he had seen more modern arenas, even at campuses that weren’t in the SEC. Arkansas State, near his hometown of Gosnell, opened its Convocation Center in 1987.
Age of venue didn’t matter to him on his recruiting visit when he watched the shootout between Ole Miss guard Gerald Glass and LSU guard Chris Jackson.
“The atmosphere at Tad Smith was unreal. It was electric, and it played a big part in me committing to Ole Miss,” Harvell said.
His appreciation for Tad Smith never wavered.
“It didn’t have to grow on me. It was home. We embraced it. It was where we played, where we worked. It was the Tad Pad.”