LOOK: V-Tech guard Sean Pedulla and other Ole Miss transfer additions in their new threads
Chris Beard has more NCAA Tournament appearances on his individual coaching resume than Ole Miss basketball, as a program, has in its 100-plus-year history.
The Rebels are coming off winning 20 games in Beard’s debut season as head coach. However, they again missed the NCAA Tournament. They haven’t been since 2018-19.
Ole Miss would be the fourth separate program Beard has led to the ‘Big Dance’ since 2016. Beard took Texas Tech to the 2019 National Championship Game, as well as the 2018 Elite Eight. By comparison, Ole Miss’ greatest all-time accomplishment as a program is a single Sweet Sixteen appearance back in 2001. Beard has one of the top winning percentages among active coaches in all of college basketball.
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He’s 11-5 in the NCAA Tournament over his career, including a perfect 5-0 mark in the opening round.
The Ole Miss roster for 2024-25 features veterans Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield — two of six returners from last year’s team. Murrell tested the NBA waters. He was All-SEC last season as the Rebels’ leading scorer. Brakefield’s one of 43 Rebels in program history to score 1,000 or more points.
Ole Miss reeled in six transfers in the off-season. Three freshmen (John Bol, Eduardo Klafke and Zach Day) and a preferred walk-on (Max Smith) round out the roster. Bol was a McDonald’s All-American.
Here’s the portal class, which was ranked No. 14 nationally by On3:
- Sam Houston State guard Davon Barnes averaged 13.5 points and 3.5 rebounds last season.
- Forward Ja’Von Benson led Hampton in blocks (46). He averaged 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.
- Forward Mikel Brown-Jones was first-team All-SoCon at UNC Greensboro. He led his team in both points (18.9) and rebounds (7.5).
- Dre Davis transferred in from Seton Hall. He also played at Louisville. Davis averaged 16.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks for Seton Hall in last year’s NIT.
- Malik Dia is fresh off leading Belmont in rebounds (193). He averaged 16.9 points and added 27 steals and 26 blocks. Dia also played previously at Vanderbilt.
- Sean Pedulla is an All-ACC guard who played north of 100 games in three seasons at Virginia Tech. He totaled over 1,200 points and 300 assists. He had a team-high 16.4 points a year ago.
The included photos were provided by Ole Miss Athletics.
SEAN PEDULLA
MALIK DIA
MIKEL BROWN-JONES
JOHN BOL
