Beard and still-perfect Ole Miss basketball ‘happy’ Cisse cleared, still in-process with Murray
Chris Beard and Ole Miss basketball caught wind on Monday the NCAA was trending towards ruling against the waiver cases for transfers Moussa Cisse and Brandon Murray.
Then Cisse was dressed for the Rebels’ SEC/ACC Challenge showdown with NC State a day later.
The Rebels always intended to appeal if the decision was negative. The case: Cisse and Murray are each two-time transfers. Both were required to file a claim to the NCAA for a granted, additional season season of eligibility.
The wait continues for Murray — a guard previously of LSU and Georgetown. Cisse, however, was given the green light “minutes, not hours” before the team’s tipoff with NC State.
“Brandon’s going through the NCAA process exactly,” Beard said following the Rebels’ 72-52 win over the Wolfpack. Ole Miss, which received votes in the most recent Top 25 polls, improved to 6-0 on the season.
The Rebels will next host Memphis on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.
“I know I told you guys (the media) I would tell you as soon as we knew. I literally knew right before the game. Probably not prepared to say everything that we feel about that and staff, but obviously happy for Moussa, and we support Brandon as he goes through the same process.”
SPIRIT FIRST REPORT: Ole Miss center Moussa Cisse ruled immediately eligible
Cisse and Murray were two members of a decorated transfer class signed by Beard and staff in the off-season.
Beard is in his first Ole Miss season as Rebel head coach.
The 7-foot, 230-pound Cisse is a former five-star prospect with previous stops at Memphis and Oklahoma State. He was the nation’s No. 17 player in the 2020 recruiting class, as well as the No. 2 center nationally and the No. 2 player in Tennessee.
Cisse averaged 6.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for Oklahoma State last season. Murray, a wing, is formerly of LSU and Georgetown. He put up 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Hoyas last season.
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“Brandon, he’s so gifted,” senior Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield previously told the Spirit. Brakefield, who’s one of just four returning Rebels, was instrumental in the recruitments of both Murray and Cisse.
The rest of the roster is made up of either transfers or freshmen.
“I’ve been watching (Murray) ever since I was in college. Followed up with him. He’s a gifted scorer. He’s real athletic, and he’s big-bodied, so he can play all positions.”
Brakefield had a career-high 25 points on 8 of 12 shooting against NC State.
The Wolfpack were easily the toughest opponent of the season to date for the Rebels. Beard said Cisse will debut against the Tigers, his former team, this weekend.
“Internally, we came to Ole Miss to win,” Beard said. “We recruited players that want to win. We work hard every day. It’s early in our journey; we never said we were going to be a finished product in November, December. Maybe even January.
“So, we’re just getting better every day. We have very high expectations in our locker room. A lot of confidence in our players, our staff, our process and our culture. Tonight, I think we played well at home. We played great defense and had some individual players step up. We had a great week of practice. I had a pretty good feeling we’d play well.
“I was just glad I was right.”
