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Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield came back to get Ole Miss to this NCAA Tournament run

11by:Jake Thompson•03/24/25•

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NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament Second Round-Mississippi at Iowa State
Mar 23, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Milan Momcilovic (22) and Mississippi Rebels guard Matthew Murrell (11) go after a loose ball during the first half in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

MILWAUKEE — Last Summer Ole Miss men’s basketball head coach Chris Bead got good news out of Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield. The pair was returning to Oxford for a final season together.

The mission was to finally get the program back to the NCAA Tournament after missing out since 2019, giving themselves their own March moments after coming up short last year. The 204-25 season was their last chance.

Sitting in opposite sides of the locker room on Sunday after punching the Rebels ticket to the Sweet 16, beating Iowa State by 13 points, Murrell and Brakefield remained connected and always will in the history books at Ole Miss.

Both are foundation pieces for what Beard is building at Ole Miss and some might say he is now ahead of schedule by getting the team two wins away from its first Final Four appearance.

None of this weekend might have happened if those two did not decided to stay after the coaching change from Kermit Davis to Beard two March’s ago. But they did and now they were celebrating in the bowels of the Fiserv Forum with Atlanta and State Farm Arena in their sights.

“Jaemyn Brakefield’s been with me all my years, freshman year, so just to be able to share this moment with him is something special,” Murrell said.

“I got a lot of love for Brake, man. He really understands where I come from. Even when I was going through the process (of deciding) always calling me, ‘What are we doing? What are we doing?’ He was one of the first people I told when I knew I was coming back.”

For Murrell it is a season where he has battled through injuries, playing beyond what he might should be. But the senior is not built on quitting and leaving his team high and dry.

This was the goal, the mission. Now the mission has changed and evolved to something maybe not even anticipated by Murrell, Brakefield and his teammates.

“It means everything. Being hurt, and being able to go out there and still battle, affect winning with this team at a high level, it means everything,” Murrell said. “I praise God for allowing me to be able to continue to play without further damaging myself.”

Brakefield returned to Ole Miss and has had a different final year than Murrell, but one with the same goal.

Maybe this team is not where it is on March 23 if Brakefield does not have the second half he did against Tennessee, clinching the second win of the season over a top five team.

The moments have been hit and miss for Brakefield over his career but it seems like he has been saving all the best for last with more March magic still remaining for Ole Miss, maybe.

“It’s amazing,” Brakfield said. “Like I said last game. Feels like SEC gauntlet right now. We just keep stacking days. It was just another great win against another great team.”

Another great team awaits Brakefield and the rest of the Rebels on Friday. Michigan State stands in the way of the program’s first Elite 8 appearance.

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