Ole Miss basketball has shown team-wide growth this summer
Second-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard has seen team-wide growth from his 2024-25 Rebels this summer.
The Rebels are bringing back three double-digit scorers from last season’s 20-win team and will roster five fifth-year seniors. They received a B+ off-season grade from ‘Field of 68’ for their busy off-season.
Ole Miss added 10 new players. Its transfer class was ranked No. 16 in the nation by On3. The full portal haul: Sean Pedulla (Virginia Tech), Ja’Von Benson (Hampton), Davon Barnes (Sam Houston State), Dre Davis (Seton Hall), Malik Dia (Belmont) and Mikeal Brown-Jones (UNC-Greensboro).
“All 16 players have shown some growth this summer,” Beard said. “It starts with some of these veterans. For a guy like Juju (Murray) to already be an established player and then to be talking about how he’s had a great summer and improved, that’s a huge compliment. We see that all the time. That’s exciting.
“I think all our veterans have (improved), whether it’s (Jaemyn) Brakefield really working on some play-making or Matt (Murrell) with his consistency. Juju on the defensive side.”
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Murrell is a fifth-year senior guard.
He’s one of six returners for the Rebels. Ole Miss last season won 20 games for the first time since 2018-19 — the same year the Rebels last reached the NCAA Tournament. They’ll be in search of their 10th all-time appearance next season.
Joe Lunardi had Ole Miss as a nine-seed in recent way-too-early bracketology from ESPN.
“TJ Caldwell and Rob (Cowherd) have had really good summers, so it starts with those veteran guys,” Beard said. “They’ve really improved. Zach (Day) transformed his body this summer. He’s gotten stronger and really proven that he’s going to be able to contribute at this level. John (Bol) put on, I think, almost 20 points of muscle. He put a lot of work in on his free throw and all of those things. JB is going to be special if he continues to run his own race and improve at this rate.
“Super proud of (Eduardo) Klafke. He’s 200 pounds now and strong. Really starting to embrace the idea of being aggressive and making plays but also being smart and helping the team by being a low-mistake player. That’s really hard as a freshman to kind of keep your confidence but also be a guy that we all look at, ‘Hey, man, we could trust that young man to play minutes opening night.’
“That’s two groups for you. I think our three freshmen have improved this summer.”
The included photos were provided by Ole Miss Athletics.
Dre Davis
Malik Dia
Mikeal Brown-Jones
Zach Day
Juju Murray
Davon Barnes
