On paper, AJ Storr’s journey to Ole Miss looks like a wild one. But Rebels head coach Chris Beard knows there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the guard’s circuitous path.
Storr, who transferred to Ole Miss this offseason, played at three different high schools and began his college career at St. John’s. He then played a season at Wisconsin, where he was named second-team All-Big Ten and averaged a career-best 16.8 points for the Badgers. He spent last season at Kansas, where he averaged 6.1 points per game and started four times. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Storr was rated as a four-star transfer by 247Sports in the most recent cycle.
Seven different schools in the last few years seems like a lot on the surface. But context is important, Beard told reporters in a press conference Tuesday. COVID-19 cost Storrs one of his high school seasons, and one of his high school programs was shut down, Beard said. Storr then got the opportunity to play at famed IMG Academy, which was a no-brainer decision to attend in Beard’s eyes. After being named to the Big East’s All-Freshman team, St. John’s underwent a coaching change, which once again altered Storr’s trajectory.
Beard did his research and couldn’t have been more pleased with his findings. And he firmly believes Storr has “got a huge chip on his shoulder right now.”
“I just believe in AJ. I know his story a lot more than the next guy. Spent a lot of time getting to know him and his family and understand his path,” Beard said. “I think when you look at it on paper, it’s easy to kind of misunderstand that.
“ … A lot of things were out of his control. And so that’s the first thing about AJ. You get to know AJ the person, the human being, the player. And then just the intel was off the charts. Every single person we talked to (said) … ‘This isn’t a good kid – this is a great kid. This is an outstanding young man.’”
Storr has played in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons with Wisconsin and Kansas and joins a Rebels team coming off its second-ever Sweet 16 appearance and first tournament berth since 2019. Ole Miss loses five of its top six leading scorers from a season ago and returns just one player who averaged more than two points per game in forward Malik Dia (10.8). The Rebels added six four-star transfers the offseason, according to 247Sports’ rankings, with Storr as the highest rated.
“I’ve learned a lot from every program that I’ve been at so far,” Storr said. “And I’m just trying to take everything day by day here at Ole Miss, keep getting better and just keep having a ton of vision on the goal for the team and for myself.”
While Storr said he contemplated a return to the Jayhawks, he said entering the portal was ultimately in his and his family’s best interests. Beard and the Rebels tried to recruit Storr when he entered the transfer portal in the previous cycle, so there was already familiarity.
“They were one of the first ones to reach out,” Storr said. “ … Coach Beard is doing some good things with this program. Overall, I think I can benefit from playing for Coach Beard.”
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