There’s a dynasty starting in Oxford, and it has nothing to do with Hugh Freeze’s recruiting classes.

Basketball season in Mississippi is treated like the chubby, emo middle child. Wedged between football season in all its autumn glory and the warmer, more relaxing college baseball season Magnolia State residents so adamantly enjoy, hoops usually gets thrown by the wayside.

But Ole Miss is beginning to take the torch as the state’s top basketball school.

For the third time in as many years, an Ole Miss player won the C Spire Howell Trophy. Presented by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, the Howell Trophy is given each year to the best college basketball player in the state.

This year, Rebel guard Stefan Moody claimed the trophy over Chip Armelin at Southern Miss and Devin Schmidt at Delta State.

Moody’s coronation on Monday gave coach Andy Kennedy’s program three straight Howell winners, after Marshall Henderson won in 2013 and Jarvis Summers in 2014.

The 5-foot-10 Moody is the only player in the SEC who ranks in the top ten in scoring, free throws, steals and 3-pointers. The guy scored in double digits in 17 of his 18 conference games and is shorter than almost every player on the Rebels’ women’s team.

The Howell Trophy has given the state something tangible to honor its basketball stars with. It’s a nice way to slowly get the basketball middle child noticed and honor the athletes who play in-state. The finalists are feted at a banquet at the Hall of Fame in Jackson. It’s a wonderful idea that has grown tremendously since it began and will no doubt continue to get bigger as basketball picks up in the Magnolia State.

If you haven’t watched Moody play yet, do yourself a favor and tune in when Ole Miss takes on Missouri or South Carolina in the SEC Tournament on Thursday.

He’s the guy with the dreads who’s faster with the basketball than most players are without it.

He’s got the trophy to prove it.

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Cory Gunkel is a reporter and can be reached by email at cory.gunkel@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-636-4545.