If the past is any indication, Year 2 under Ole Miss men’s basketball coach Chris Beard should be a good one for the Oxford faithful.
Beard is entering his second season as the Rebels’ head coach. In his first year, Ole Miss missed the NCAA Tournament but finished 20-12 — and won its first 13 games in the process — marking the program’s first 20-win season since 2018-19. Beard has held three previous head coaching jobs where he entered a second season — Angelo State, Texas Tech and Texas.
Beard’s first team at Angelo State went 19-9 and missed the NCAA Division II Tournament. His second team finished 28-6 and made the Sweet 16. Beard’s first Texas Tech team went 18-14 and missed the NCAA Tournament; his second went 27-10 and made it to the Elite 8. Beard’s first team at Texas went 22-12 and advanced to the Round of 32. His second team started 7-1 and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the AP Poll before he was let go.
The 2024-25 Rebels are ranked No. 24 in the preseason AP Poll, the program’s first preseason ranking since 1997-98 and just its second ever appearance in the preseason poll. Ole Miss was picked to finish ninth in the SEC’s preseason predicted order of finish. The Rebels host Illinois in an exhibition game Oct. 27 before starting the regular season at home against Long Island on Nov. 4.
“I think above all, simple easy answer to that question, players. That’s what’s happened. We’ve had really good players the second year,” Beard said at SEC Media Days Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama. “Some of those we’ve been able to develop, guys that we had the first year and were able to get back. … Another thing, there’s no denying the first year is a lot about — you hear this all the time, it’s a cliche, but you’re building your culture. A lot goes into that. I’ve always thought by the time you get to second year you can start defending it.”
Ole Miss returns several key pieces from last season’s 20-win team, headlined by preseason second-team All-SEC guard Matthew Murrell. Murrell initially entered the NBA Draft but opted to return for a fifth season. The Memphis native averaged a career-best 16.2 points per game last season on a career-high 46.4% from the field. Guard Jaylen Murray and forward Jaemyn Brakefield return as well after averaging 13.8 points per game and 12.9 points per game in 2023-24, respectively.
In addition to the key returners, Ole Miss added the No. 16-ranked transfer portal class (per 247Sports) and freshmen John Bol (four-star center/forward) and Eduardo Klafke (three-star guard). The transfer portal class has four four-star players, including former Virginia Tech guard Sean Pedulla, who was in attendance at SEC Media Days with Murray. The Rebels also added guard Dre Davis (Seton Hall) and forwards Malik Dia (Belmont) and Mikeal Brown-Jones (UNCG).
The composition of Beard’s second Texas Tech team, specifically, had a slightly different composition than this year’s Rebels roster. The Red Raiders returned veteran scoring guard Keenan Evans from Year 1 — who became an All-American in Beard’s second season — which is not too dissimilar to what the Rebels return in Murrell. But that Texas Tech team added a pair of freshman guards in Zhaire Smith and Jarrett Culver who became instant game changers, while this Rebels team will likely be bolstered by veterans and experienced transfers. Both Smith and Culver wound up being first-round draft picks in the 2018 and 2019 NBA Drafts, respectively.
“Our competitive level is at an all-time high right now,” Murray said. “A lot of people might think when it’s a lot of people coming into the school and certain people might be playing the same position, it is like a battle. To us, we treat it as fun. It’s fun playing with Sean, but it’s also fun when me and him play against each other. The way our practice is set up, we keep calculating stats for whatever it is. Steals. Rebounds. Points. Assists. I feel like me and Sean (Pedulla) just had this conversation the other day. I told him coming to the school made me better as a player, as a competitor.”
Ole Miss has made the NCAA Tournament nine times in its history, the last coming in 2018-19. The program has three NCAA Tournament bids since 2002-03. Beard understands that, while there is plenty of work to be done — particularly defensively, as Ole Miss ranked 238th nationally in points per game allowed last season — the bar has been raised substantially for the Rebels this season.
“We have very high expectations this year in Oxford,” Beard said. “We believe we have the players, the talent on the roster, the fan base, the leadership with our chancellor and AD. So we have a lot of good things going on our way, and we’re really excited about getting the season started here in a few weeks.”
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