Ole Miss center Nysier Brooks granted eligibility in 2021-22

Ole Miss center Nysier Brooks was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA, according to Jon Rothstein. Brooks joins the Rebels after playing one season for Miami. He required a waiver to play because he also played three seasons at Cincinnati from 2016-2019.

The NCAA’s new transfer guidelines allow for each player to transfer once without sitting out the following season but reserves the right to deny eligibility to players who transfer two or more times in their career. Brooks was required to redshirt for one season when he transferred from Cincinnati to Miami in 2019.

Brooks also benefitted from the NCAA’s eligibility ruling related the COVID-19 pandemic, which provided players an additional year of eligibility. He will turn 25 during the season, making him one of the oldest players in college basketball.

Previous stops

Brooks is a 7-foot, 240-pound post player who started 25 games in 2020-21 for the Hurricanes, averaging 7.4 points per game and 5.8 rebounds. Miami had a disappointing season, going just 10-17 with four wins in the ACC.

He was a three-star recruit in the class of 2016 and committed to Cincinnati under Mick Cronin. The New Jersey native only started two games in his first two seasons but became a regular in 2018. Brooks averaged 8.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in his third season, drawing the attention of Power Five schools.

Projected lineup

Nysier Brooks is a projected starter for Ole Miss, joining returning guards Jarkel Joiner and Luis Rodriguez. Georgia transfer guard Tye Fagan and former Duke forward Jaemyn Brakefield also join the team after logging starts in 2020. Guards Matthew Murrell and Daeshun Ruffin, Ole Miss’s two top recruits in school history, will also battle for minutes.

The Rebels also return rotation pieces Austin Crowley, Robert Allen and Sammy Hunter from 2020.

Ole Miss added four players in the 2021 recruiting class. The incoming class was headlined by Ruffin, a top-50 guard from Jackson, Mississippi. Guards James White and Grant Slatten, along with forward Eric Van Der Heijden join Ruffin to round out the roster.

Coach Kermit Davis is entering his fourth season at Ole Miss and has a 51-42 record since 2018. He has made one NCAA Tournament appearance with the school but looks to improve on a sixth-place finish in the SEC and NIT berth last season. His new-look roster will have to compete with in-state rivals Mississippi State, who have experienced just as much turnover.