Ole Miss basketball players kneel during national anthem

The protest happened on the same day a pro-Confederacy rally was taking place in Oxford.

Several Ole Miss basketball players took a knee while the national anthem was being played before the team’s home game against Georgia Saturday afternoon.

The act by the players took place on the same day that the city of Oxford served as the site for the “Mississippi Stands Rally,” an event put on by pro-Confederate groups Confederate 901 and The Hiwaymen. The march was set to end roughly a mile away from The Pavilion, where the Rebels and Bulldogs tipped off at 4 p.m. ET. Ole Miss students had planned a counter-rally on campus.

The act of the players here is also noteworthy because of comments made by first-year head coach Kermit Davis last year. At his introductory press conference on March 20, Davis told Rebel fans about his teams: “We’re going to be a team that respects the flag and the national anthem. All of those things from culture is what we’re about. It’s who we’re going to be.”

After the game, Davis addressed the kneeling.

“This was all about the hate groups that came to our community and tried to spread racism and bigotry within our community. It’s created a lot of tension for our campus,” Davis said. “Our players made an emotional decision to show these people they are not welcome on our campus, and I respect our players’ freedom and ability to choose that.”

No Ole Miss player had ever been accused of disrespecting the flag or the national anthem before Davis made his statement, but this was also something he had emphasized during his time as the head coach of Middle Tennessee State.

“The pride he took every time we got a letter from an opposing fan because our guys stand at attention during the national anthem and they all hold their hand over their heart. That’s a very big thing with Coach Davis,” MTSU athletic director Chris Massaro told the Clarion Ledger after Davis accepted the Ole Miss job. “Typically, when we go from arena to arena, a fan would notice that and they would send either him or me a note, a letter or email. We took great pride in that. That’s kind of one of the things I’ll always remember him by ... how much pride he took into that.

”It’s a small thing in some ways, but it’s a huge thing to a lot of people, to him and to our program. That’s one of the things we’ll see as we continue forward. That’s going to be one of the legacies he’ll leave.”

In Davis’ first season at Ole Miss, the Rebels have been arguably the most pleasant surprise in the SEC. They entered Saturday with an 18-8 overall record, an 8-5 mark in conference play, and a No. 9 seed in the most recent NCAA tournament bracket projection from SB Nation’s Chris Dobbertean.