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LEGACY LARGER THAN LIFE A NEW SCULPTURE OF COOLIDGE BALL, A CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND THE FIRST BLACK OLE MISS ATHLETE, NOW HAS A PERMANENT HOME O N C A M P U S I N T H E PAV I L I O N P L A Z A . WRITTEN BY LESLIE CRISS PHOTOS PROVIDED BY OLE MISS ATHLE TICS
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hen The Pavilion at Ole Miss, now known as the Sandy and John Black Pavilion, officially opened in January 2016, alumnus Coolidge Ball was pleased and proud to see the 3-by-5-foot bronze plaque listing his accomplishments and honors from his time at the university. Ball, a forward on the Rebel basketball team in 1972, ’73 and ’74, was the first Black athlete to play any sport at Ole Miss. He was present at the opening ceremony of The Pavilion in 2016. “I was surprised,” he said. “Wow! I was so pleased to have my name on a plaque on this $96 million arena.” So, imagine Ball’s surprise when he learned in March, in the midst of a pandemic,
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he had an additional honor yet to come. “Keith Carter called me and told me, ‘We realize you got a bronze plaque, but we don’t think that’s enough,’” Ball said. “He told me there was going to be an 8-foot statue — or however tall it is — and asked me what I thought of that. All I could say was wow.” Carter was a Rebel All-American basketball player and longtime senior staff member of the Ole Miss athletics department. Since 2019, he has been Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics. “Our university is forever indebted to Coolidge Ball for the courage he showed 50 years ago,” Carter said. “With his strength, humility and kindness, Coolidge provided a beacon of light for our community while
setting an example for generations of student-athletes, both on and off the court. We are eternally grateful to Coolidge for his contributions to civil rights and for his leadership for Ole Miss.” Mississippi physician and sculptor Dr. Kim Sessums of Brookhaven designed the statue, which is located in The Pavilion Plaza. The bronze, life-size likeness of Ball stands on a 4-foot-tall limestone base and includes a historical marker lauding Ball’s civil rights work. The monument to Ball was funded with a gift from Bill and Lee Anne Fry. Because of COVID, the sculpture was unveiled in a private ceremony in May. Sessums, a basketball player in high school, said it was a pleasure to be asked to create the sculpture of Ball.
