Zach Day soaks up Pedulla’s wisdom as Ole Miss reloads for another tourney run
Former walk-on Zach Day earned a scholarship last season and is one of just three returners back for another NCAA Tournament run with Ole Miss basketball.
The others are Malik Dia and Eduardo Klafke. Both were in the rotation in 2024-25, but only Dia was a key piece. He started all 36 games and averaged 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Dia shot 64 percent from the floor and 35 percent from 3-point range.
“Last season, just excited to be here,” Day said this week. “Mindset was just get better every day and see how good I could get. Really tried to soak in as much information as I possibly could and learn from the veteran team we had, all seniors, and just grow and experience that.”
Day is entering Year 2 with the Rebels. He redshirted last season.
“Zach did a great job in our program,” third-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said. “Worked hard every day in practice [and] developed into a player we believe can be an SEC contributor one day. That’s a pretty good story … for a guy to turn down a lot of scholarship offers and decide to bet on himself and come to Ole Miss where we weren’t promising anything. He deserves all the credit.
“He transformed his body last year physically. He’s got a chance to be a good shooter. I think there’s a future for Zach at Ole Miss, for sure.”
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Day said he learned a lot from departed Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla.
Pedulla was a breakout star for the Rebels in his one and only season. He arrived as a former All-ACC guard from Virginia Tech. Pedulla had played in north of 100 games in three seasons and totaled over 1,200 points and 300 assists.
He was instrumental in leading Ole Miss to 24 wins and the Sweet 16, matching the greatest single-season accomplishment in program history. Pedulla topped Ole Miss in points (15.4), minutes (32.8), 3-point percentage among starters (39.2 percent), free throw percentage (82.5), assists (135) and steals (68).
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“Sean really was big for me,” Day said. “He was like a big brother to me. We played one-on-one a few teams. I would work out with him and we just mutually grew a respect for each other. I really tried to lean on him, ‘cause he really taught me a lot about the game of basketball and life in general.”
Ole Miss fleshed out the roster in the off-season with seven transfers, three Top 100 high-school recruits and former Eurobasket MVP Ilias Kamardine.
Ole Miss signed a Top 20 portal class. Included were guards Kezza Giffa (High Point), Travis Perry (Kentucky) and Koren Johnson (Louisville), wing AJ Storr (Kansas) and forwards James Scott (Louisville), Corey Chest (LSU) and Augusto Cassia (Butler).
“We’re extremely athletic,” Day said. “I think we’re just a different team than last year. Really versatile, athletic. Really fast. Not as much experience as last year, but I really think the athletic piece is a huge thing.
“It’s been very exciting. Just new people, meeting different people from different colleges, especially from all the portal stuff. Just kind of seeing how other people did what they did last year and how they approach certain things and think about certain things.”
