Ole Miss and Mississippi State played the basketball version of their heated Egg Bowl rivalry Tuesday night in Oxford, and an unexpected character stole the show. And no, it wasn’t Morgan Freeman, who was in attendance for the game.
Student manager Kyle Wakefield, a senior at Ole Miss, was the star of the night thanks to his electric mop-up efforts. At one point in the second half, Wakefield sprinted from one end of the floor to the other to grab a towel to finish a clean-up job on the floor, then sprinted back to his post underneath the basket to a standing ovation. He then gestured to a school-record crowd of more than 10,000 to make noise to cap his 15 seconds of fame, and the crowd roared to life once again.
You won’t see a better video today than this one.
Like/RT if you love Kyle 🫶#HottyToddy x #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/7TlswNBgkB
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 31, 2024
Electric.
This isn’t the first time Wakefield has brought the juice. Earlier this year, fans fell in love with a clip of him aggressively mopping the floor during a timeout in the team’s win over Memphis.
Coming with this type of energy all
long
#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/eltbMsVICR
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 29, 2023
Still, this takes the adage “Be a star in your role” to a new level. And now Wakefield has a cult following of SEC fans for the rest of the season.
Absolute legend to managers everywhere
🤌 @kyle_wakefield5 https://t.co/qLbsPHcY62
— Conlan O'Donoghue (@o_conlan) January 31, 2024
Kyle gets the game ball tonight! He was everywhere! #OleMiss https://t.co/8W9bu2z986
— Derek Dale (@rebel_dale) January 31, 2024
LOVE. HIM https://t.co/3FwfwjCpMp
— Coach Yo (@YolettMcCuin) January 31, 2024
GIVE THIS GUY A JOB!! https://t.co/HM2VgQTkp9
— L T (@luketomlinson) January 31, 2024
Best part of the game – give this kid NIL https://t.co/ZsoY8xOSbx
— TMK (@TMKeller) January 31, 2024