Ole Miss forward, former South Carolina transfer Ja'Von Benson re-enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Ole Miss senior forward Ja’Von Benson has re-entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, according to On3’s Jamie Shaw. Benson, who spent his first three seasons at South Carolina, played nine games in 2024-25, averaging 1.2 points and 1 rebound in 3.2 minutes during his lone season in Oxford.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound Benson is entering his sixth season in college and would need an NCAA waiver to play another season after spending the 2023-24 season at Hampton, where he saw action in 32 games with 15 starts, averaging 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game.

At South Carolina, Benson appeared in 15 total games over three seasons, scoring 29 combined points in just under 100 combined minutes of action in Columbia, his hometown. Benson saw action in six games in both his junior (2022-23) and sophomore (2021-22) seasons, scoring 23 total points with 30 combined rebounds across those two years. He also saw action in three games as a true freshman in 2020-21.

A three-star prospect out of Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) High in the 2020 recruiting class, Benson averaged 17.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game during his senior season. He was the South Carolina Class 4A Player of the Year and chose the Gamecocks over offers from College of Charleston, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Morehead State, Murray State, and UNC Wilmington.

Benson is the fourth member of Ole Miss’ 2024-25 squad to enter the transfer portal since the end of last season. He joins fellow forward John Bol, who transferred to UCF, and guards TJ Caldwell and Robert Cowherd.

Ole Miss’ John Bol commits to transfer to UCF

John Bol was the top commitment for Ole Miss during their last recruiting cycle. Now, as one of only two transfers from Oxford this offseason, he’s the first to have made a commitment to another program. Bol has committed to transferring to UCF. That news comes from sources speaking with Jon Rothstein at CBS Sports.

Bol, a 7’2″ center, appeared in 17 games this season as a freshman for the Rebels. He averaged 1.1 points (66.7% FG) and 0.9 rebounds per game in his 4.4 minutes per outing. He played in just seven games, though, after the turn of the calendar this season.

Bol, a native of Boma in South Sudan, went on to play at Overtime Elite in Atlanta. He was the No. 55 overall recruit there as a four-star prospect in the 2024 cycle. He was also rated as the No. 8 C in the class and the No. 4 player out of the state of Georgia. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. With that, Bol was the top signee for the Rebels last offseason, and their highest-rated addition in four recruiting cycles, in a two-man class alongside Eduardo Klafke.

— On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this report.