Some of the biggest news surrounding the Ole Miss Rebels on Friday did not center on an actual game, but instead, it was on keeping Chris Beard as the men’s basketball coach in Oxford.
Beard’s name was tied to the Arkansas Razorbacks’ job opening this week, but he put those rumors to rest on Friday with a post on X saying the Rebels were “just getting started.” This is the second time in just two years that athletic director Keith Carter has fended off a rival SEC program from taking one of his coaches: first Lane Kiffin and the Auburn Tigers and now Beard with the Hogs.
How did Carter celebrate? Well, he was on a turkey hunt with Realtree representative Tyler Jordan, and he took an opportunity to compare the “beard” of a turkey to his own Beard that he was able to keep in Oxford. You can view his post here.
“Pretty good Friday morning,” Carter said in his post. “Brought this beard back from Georgia @TylerJordan @Realtree and kept another Beard rolling with @OleMissMBB @ChrisBeard. Ole Miss Athletics isn’t messing around folks. We’re here to win and win big!”
Beard and the Rebels failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in his first year in Oxford, finishing the campaign with a mark of 20-12 overall and 7-11 within the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss was also eliminated in its first game of the SEC Tournament, falling to the Texas A&M Aggies 80-71 in Nashville.
The Rebels now shift their focus to Year 2 of the Beard era, and he will look to return to the NCAA Tournament, a level he has frequented during his career. Beard has a record of 10-4 in NCAA Tournament games, and he also led Texas Tech to the Final Four in 2019.
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss men’s basketball head coach Chris Beard visited with The Rebel Walk Monday afternoon and talked about his team’s returnees, recent transfer portal commits, incoming freshmen, and the upcoming 2024 season.
With the portal additions of Sean Pedulla, Davon Barnes, Dre Davis, Malik Dia and Mikeal Brown-Jones, Ole Miss adds experience and depth in year two under Coach Beard. The Rebels’ head coach seemed to have a specific type of player in mind when going into the recent portal window, adding much-needed size and length to the roster.
We asked Beard what he liked about the 2024 portal class thus far.
Davon Barnes: “Davon Barnes from Sam Houston. Just a winner man. Made the last two NCCA tournaments, one in Texas Southern and one in Sam Houston. He has positional size and is a high-character guy.”
Dre Davis: “Dre Davis has done a lot of great individual stuff, plus a lot of team stuff at Seton Hall. He just won the NIT championship a couple of weeks ago. So, another guy can do a lot of things. He has competitiveness and is really important to us.”
Mikeal Brown-Jones: “Mikeal Brown-Jones comes from Greensboro and just graduated a couple of days ago. He comes in as an experienced player. He played for a really good coach and a really good program. He has some versatility and can-do things around the basket on both ends. So, another winner.”
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