Report: Ole Miss to play Illinois in charity scrimmage

Ole Miss basketball is putting itself to the test before the season begins. On Friday, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported Ole Miss will square off against Illinois in a charity exhibition prior to the 2024-25 season.

Illinois turned heads last season when the program went on a run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament before ultimately falling to eventual national champion UConn. Meanwhile, Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard led the Rebels to a 20-12 record in his debut campaign at the helm of the program last season.

After beginning the season on a 13-game winning streak, Ole Miss sputtered in the back half of the season. The Rebels’ campaign came to an end in a loss to Texas A&M in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Now, the program will look to reach new heights in Beard’s Year 2.

Chris Beard addresses decision to hire Mark Adams

Chris Beard is reuniting with an old colleague at Ole Miss, hiring Mark Adams as an assistant coach. The two have worked together at multiple stops, most notably at Texas Tech. Beard was the head coach in Lubbock before infamously leaving for Texas and Adams was promoted from an assistant role.

During a press conference last week, Beard explained the decision to hire Adams.

“We’ve known Coach for a long time,” Beard said. “Above all, he impacts winning because of his teaching ability and like all teachers will tell you, ‘To be the best teacher, you have to have a relationship with the people you’re working with.’ So, Coach has been doing this for a long time. 

“Whether it’s his junior career, his first stint as a Division I coach at Pan American, and most recently with us at Little Rock and Texas Tech — Coach develops relationships with players and then he helps them by teaching them the game and having high expectations for them.”

There is some controversy surrounding Adams, bringing questions about the hire.

Amid a tough season for Texas Tech, he resigned from his position after making a comment deemed “inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive.” Adams says he was just quoting the Bible when speaking to a player but reportedly used the terms “slaves” and “masters.”

Beard stated Ole Miss went through a vetting process when hiring Adams, as they would with anybody else. They then concluded that hiring Adams would be best for the program.

“There’s a vetting process for everybody,” Beard said. “We hire in terms of reaching out, talking to past employers, and things like that. So, I understand the question with Coach Adams but absolutely. We went through the whole process, got the facts, the truth, and made a decision that we think is best for Ole Miss. We’re really happy Coach Adams is here.”

On3’s Griffin McVeigh also contributed to this story.