Tim Elko details what playing at Ole Miss has meant to him

After Ole Miss’ 2021 season ended in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament, Tim Elko had a decision to make. He had one more year of eligibility thanks to the blanket COVID-19 waiver, and he could’ve left it on the table.

Instead, he opted to come back. It’s safe to say it worked out well.

Elko helped propel Ole Miss to a College World Series victory, defeating Oklahoma in the best-of-three series in Omaha. Afterward, he felt a range of emotions — and reflected on what a journey his final year was.

“Ole Miss means the world to me,” Elko said. “I had to make a decision last year what I was going to do, and I remember following the draft I was praying and trying to figure out what I was going to do, and God told me that I’m not done here at Ole Miss. I listened to that, and I was like, all right, well, let’s do this thing, then. I came back, and it was the best decision I could have ever made. It was a crazy road to get where we are.”

Tim Elko on Ole Miss’ run to a College World Series title

Elko also talked about a moment he had with his sister in the middle of the season. Ole Miss had just lost to Mississippi State, and things weren’t going well. But one phone call helped him through that adversity and, eventually, motivate his team to make a magical run.

“I remember after we lost to Mississippi State at home, I called my sister in the car, and she knew that obviously we were struggling, and it was kind of taking a little bit of a toll on me,” Elko said. “I remember talking to her, and she just said, you’ve got just to trust God. He didn’t bring you back here for no reason. I remember hanging up the phone, and I was praying out loud, talking to God, and just asking Him, what’s going on here? [Why] did I come back here? This isn’t going how I thought it was going to go.

“I remember just hearing one word that He was telling me in the back of my head, and it was ‘believe.’ That’s all He was telling me, was believe, believe, believe. I was like, alright, I’m going to believe, I’m going to believe. I’m going to do it. I tried to harp on that to the guys and keep the spirits up, and boy, was God right. We just had to keep believing, man. And we kept believing and fighting. We won a national championship for Ole Miss and all the past players and all the fans across the country and for the state of Mississippi and the University of Mississippi. We did it. We’re national champs.”