Moussa Cisse is officially on the court for Ole Miss after waiting through uncertainty and an injury

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team finally has both of its big men available with Moussa Cisse getting cleared by the NCAA last week.

As they say the waiting is the hardest part but for Cisse there was more he had to battle through than good news from Indianapolis. The Oklahoma State transfer was also overcoming an injury that kept him out of practice for a period of time.

If Cisse had been cleared earlier than the first week of December his availability might still have been in question until he healed from injury.

Through both things Chris Beard has been encouraged by how one of his first additions to Ole Miss after being hired has handled the uncertainty and the waiting game.

“In a lot of ways we’re building the program around Moussa,” Beard said when talking to the local media on Thursday. “One of the first recruits that stepped up trusted our vision for the program before we really even had anything to show.

“The quicker we can get him back in the fold, it’s a process. We talked a lot (about) the vision, certainly, with each game playing a more extended role. Then hopefully by the time we get to conference play he’s back to being one of the best players in college basketball.”

Cisse found out hours before the North Carolina State game on November 28 but did not play. Instead he made his Ole Miss and season debut last Saturday against Memphis, playing 15 minutes and finishing with five rebounds and two points and a blocked shot.

“That’s the best thing that can happen to you when you haven’t been playing basketball,” Cisse said on Thursday of when he found out he was immediately eligible. “That’s joy. Me waiting for so long and then finding out that I was going to play that day, it was one of the best days of my life. For real. It was a great feeling.”

Ole Miss felt the immediate impact of having Cisse on the court but he has also been contributing behind closed doors at practice.

When Cisse was able to participate and not hindered by his injury he has been a strong force during practices.

Beard noted previously that Cisse would call the team together in the middle of a practice to try and regroup and refocus everyone. This is nothing unusual for Cisse, at least in his eyes, and is also self-aware of his standing within the team.

Being viewed as an older player despite this being his first season at Ole Miss is a responsibility Cisse is taking seriously.

“I feel like that’s just me,” Cisse said. “Sometimes we get too comfortable because we win. We just got to stay the course. When I see guys getting off the track I want to step up and it’s not just me. We got a lot of leaders like Matt (Murrell) and Jaemyn (Brakefield). All the older guys, we got freshman and sophomores looking up to (us). We have seven veterans so we’ve got to step up and keep our team on the track.”

Beard and the Rebels are still waiting on one more player to, potentially, receive good news from the NCAA.

Brandon Murray is in the same situation as Cisse but has yet to receive a final answer regarding his eligiblity status.

Throughout both players waiting things out in the preseason and a month into the year Cisse was actually leaning on Murray to get through the process.

“Brandon really is the one giving me confidence,” Cisse said. “I know he’s in a good space right now. …He always used to tell me, ‘Hey, we’re going to get through this.’ Confident and really kept me poised.”