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What Chris Beard said after Ole Miss stunned Alabama in the SEC Tournament

Published

6 months ago

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Ole Miss coach Chris Beard

Ole Miss is still playing in Nashville, and Chris Beard believes his team is finally starting to look the way he imagined when the season began.

After the Rebels’ upset win over No. 15 Alabama in the SEC Tournament, Beard spoke with reporters about the game plan that worked against one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, why he doesn’t buy the “tired legs” narrative in March, and the late-game poise his team is starting to show.

Here’s everything Beard said after the win.

Opening statement…

We’ll start with an opening statement from Coach Beard and then take questions for the players first. First, we wish Alabama good luck in the NCAA Tournament next week. Really good team, explosive offense and really talented players — including, in my opinion, an NBA first-round draft pick. They’re really a problem to defend.

Give our guys a lot of credit. We just beat a really quality opponent that I think has a chance to make the Final Four this year. So I wish Nate and those guys the best. For us, when we out-rebound the opponent this season, we’ve had a lot of success. That was a big focal point in the game plan, and we got it done. Alabama is so hard to guard. We kind of went back and forth between a “no threes” defense and protecting the paint. I thought the coaching staff did a really good job. Wes Flanagan had a great scout. Everybody contributed to this game. Our players believed. Every four-minute timeout we made small adjustments to how we were going to play.

We had four guys in double figures tonight, which is kind of our formula. And another low-turnover game. The stat sheet says nine, but two of those came in the last few possessions. For most of the game we were around six or seven turnovers, which is where it needs to be for us to have success in this tournament. We’ve kind of set this up as our second four-team tournament here in Nashville. Tomorrow we’ll have a chance to win the championship in that four-team tournament.

Beard on defending Alabama’s tempo…

The best we could. They’re a lot to handle when they start coming downhill with that kind of abandon. Everyone talks about their three-point shooting — and that’s definitely part of their identity — but from my perspective their ability to get downhill, get into the paint and get to the free-throw line is just as dangerous. On the last possession we rolled the dice a little bit protecting the rim. If you stay fully committed to guarding the three-point line, they’re just too explosive. They’re really hard to defend.

On rest and recovery between games…

I’ll tell you what we told our team this morning. I saw a couple guys yawning at breakfast, and that’s not going to work. This narrative about being tired after playing 80 minutes — I just don’t believe in that. These players aren’t 30 years old. They grew up playing AAU tournaments with three games in a day. They played pickup basketball seven days a week for hours growing up. So we made it clear: no excuses. We weren’t buying into the “three games in three days” narrative. It’s basketball. Depth is something we have, and we were prepared to play as many guys as we needed tonight.

On what’s working for Ole Miss…

I think you’re finally seeing the vision for our team. We’re out-rebounding opponents, taking care of the ball, getting balanced scoring, executing late in the shot clock. We’re doing a lot of good things. I know some of you haven’t followed our season closely beyond the win-loss record. I get that — it hasn’t been easy to look at. But we’ve played some good basketball. We can play with anybody in this league.

When we played Alabama earlier in Oxford it was basically tied at halftime and a one-possession game with about 10 minutes left. They hit us with a haymaker late and the final score didn’t really reflect the game. Right now we’re playing good basketball and our guys believe. They’re preparing the right way. We had players this morning watching film from yesterday’s game getting ready for tonight. I’m really happy for them. They deserve the credit. They’ve refused to quit.

On team’s improved communication late in games…

Communication has been one of our challenges this year. Player-led teams are the only way to win in March. That’s something you build toward in November, December and January, and we didn’t always get it done. That’s not all on the players. At times it hasn’t been our best coaching job either. But right now our communication is better. I thought we used our timeouts well tonight. It was a little scary not having one late, but that was a coaching decision because we wanted to get a good look on that out-of-bounds play. Travis Perry did a great job as the inbounder breaking their press. Nobody was hiding tonight. And we made just enough free throws to win.

On Kamardine’s play late against Alabama…

Ilias is a really good player. When you talk about great players, they have a lot in their bag. It’s about understanding time, score, matchups and what the team needs in that moment. Tonight he had four assists and only one turnover and obviously scored the ball. Ole Miss can win if he has eight points and 10 assists. Sometimes we need 17 points from him. One thing I’ll never forget from tonight: Alabama put their big on him and dared him to shoot. He got a wide-open three and missed it. The next time down, he had the courage to take the same shot again. That’s basketball. You take the right shot and trust the percentages. A lesser player might have turned that one down. So I have a lot of respect for Ilias for having the courage to take it.

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Ole Miss Basketball Appears in First Look at Expanded NCAA Tournament Field

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4 months ago

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May 8, 2026

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Ole Miss Men's Basketball during the game against Mississippi St. at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi on January 17, 2026. | Ole Miss Athletics

Most college sports fans saw Thursday’s news that the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are expanding to 76 teams. Eight additional teams will be added to what is currently the First Four, turning it into a 24‑team play‑in stage with 12 games across two days. The winners will join the 52 teams already slotted into the traditional first‑round bracket.

We already talked about what expansion means for both Ole Miss programs, and it’s still way too early to know which teams will actually benefit next season. But you know that won’t stop anyone from trying.

NCAA.com analyst Andy Katz posted his first 76‑team projection Friday morning, based on his initial Power 44 rankings for 2026‑27. Katz or his model must really like what Ole Miss has done this offseason. The Rebels show up at No. 39 in the Power 44 and land as a No. 10 seed in the South quadrant.

Again, it’s early. The last season ended a month ago. Ole Miss shouldn’t start booking hotel rooms in Pittsburgh just yet.

Still, this tells us two things about Ole Miss and the new tournament format.

First, it’s going to be hard for a middle‑of‑the‑pack SEC team to miss the field now. Second, if the bracket had been at 76 teams this past season, the committee would’ve had a real decision to make about the Rebels.

Maybe they get in. Maybe they don’t. Did they deserve a spot? Probably not, and adding eight more at‑large bids doesn’t change that much.

But the future looks better now for Ole Miss.

Andy Katz’s Initial Power 44

1. Duke

2. Florida

3. Michigan

4. Illinois

5. Tennessee

6. UConn

7. Arizona

8. Arkansas

9. Texas

10. Michigan State

11. Vanderbilt

12. Virginia

13. Kansas

14. Houston

15. Louisville

16. Alabama

17. Nebraska

18. Iowa State

19. Purdue

20. USC

21. Gonzaga

22. St. John’s

23. Miami (FL)

24. Indiana

25. Missouri

26. VCU

27. Saint Louis

28. UCLA

29. Ohio State

30. BYU

31. Iowa

32. Texas A&M

33. North Carolina

34. Providence

35. Baylor

36. Wisconsin

37. Auburn

38. Xavier

39. Ole Miss

40. Marquette

41. Texas Tech

42. Kentucky

43. Maryland

44. New Mexico

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Basketball

What NCAA Tournament Expansion Means for Ole Miss Basketball

Published

4 months ago

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May 7, 2026

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Ole Miss basketball players celebrate a SEC Tournament win against Alabama on Friday night. | Ole Miss Athletics

Missing the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments is about to get a lot harder.

Multiple outlets reported and the NCAA itself announced Thursday that the committees overseeing both tournaments have officially voted to expand the fields to 76 teams.

None of this should catch anyone off guard. The NCAA started exploring expansion about a year ago, and reports two weeks ago made it clear the process was in its final stages. Now it’s done. The new format will debut in 2027.

According to ESPN, top NCAA officials met with the tournament’s media partners to finalize the updated contracts before the vote. The committees required signed agreements before making anything official, and once those were in place, expansion moved forward.

The biggest change comes at the front end of the tournament. Eight additional teams will be added to what is currently the First Four. That round will grow into a 24‑team play‑in stage with 12 games spread across two days. The winners will join the 52 teams already slotted into the traditional first‑round bracket.

The NCAA is expected to rebrand the First Four language, but the structure stays familiar. The opening round will still include both automatic qualifiers and at‑large teams. All 16 seeds and half of the 15 seeds will make up half of the 24‑team group. The other half will come from the lowest‑seeded at‑large teams, including a mix of 11 and 12 seeds.

It’s a significant shift, but the goal is simple: more teams, more access, and fewer seasons ending on Selection Sunday with nothing to show for it.

What This Means for Ole Miss

On the women’s side, this doesn’t move the needle much. Yolett McPhee‑McCuin has raised the bar to the point where simply making the tournament isn’t the goal anymore.

Ole Miss wants to host a NCAA Regional for the first time in program history, and that standard doesn’t change with a bigger field.

The men’s side is a little different. It depends on the year. Two seasons ago, expansion wouldn’t have mattered. This past season, it would’ve changed everything.

Ole Miss finished 15-20 and sat at No. 80 in the NET. In a 76‑team bracket, that puts you on the bubble, and one more win in the SEC Tournament probably gets the Rebels into the field.

For programs in a league as deep as the SEC, the extra spots matter. The women’s side won’t feel much of a shift, but the men’s side absolutely will. Bubble teams in this conference won’t be living on the same razor’s edge anymore.

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Ole Miss Basketball Transfer Portal Picture Comes Into Focus

Published

4 months ago

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May 5, 2026

By

Ole Miss coach Chris Beard

It’s been two weeks since the transfer portal window closed, and after a slow start, Ole Miss is finally nearing the end of its roster‑building phase.

The Rebels have added seven transfers, plus TJ Clark who committed back in December. Four‑star recruits Jaron Saulsberry, Yohance Connor and Daniel Patton are also on the way this summer.

Those 10 newcomers will join Ilias Kamardine and Patton Pinkins, the only returning Rebels, to form the foundation of next year’s roster.

The question is whether that’s enough, and whether Chris Beard is actually done adding.

The honest answer is maybe and probably not.

Nobody knows yet if this group will be better or worse than what Ole Miss just put on the floor.

There’s no headline addition, but that doesn’t mean the roster can’t mesh, grow together and avoid needing a miracle run in March.

There’s also the chance it looks like last season, when the pieces never fully clicked.

Given the current guard‑heavy build, it feels likely Beard will look for more frontcourt help. Stefan Cicic gives Ole Miss a true 7‑footer and Santiago Trouet adds more size, but the Rebels could still use another proven interior presence.

One name to watch is former Florida Atlantic forward Devin Williams, who has reportedly met with Ole Miss over Zoom and is visiting Arizona this week. Williams finished fifth nationally in blocks last season at 2.58 per game, which would give Beard a real defensive anchor inside.

In the end, Ole Miss won’t know what this roster really is until the group gets on the floor together, but the picture is at least starting to take shape.

Beard has rebuilt almost the entire program for the second straight offseason, and there’s still room for one or two more pieces to round it out.

Whether this version ends up being better, worse, or simply different from last year’s team is impossible to know in May, but the next additions will tell us plenty about how the Rebels plan to finish the job.

Ole Miss Basketball Transfer Portal Tracker

Men

Outgoing

Incoming

  • Christian Brown, F, 6-8, Fr. (James Madison)
  • Stefan Cicic, C, 7-0, Fr. (Pepperdine)
  • Adam Clark, G, 5-10, Jr. (Seton Hall)
  • TJ Clark, G, 6-3 (Hermosillo)
  • Dasear Haskins, G, 6-8, So. (St. Joseph’s)
  • ND Okafor, F, 6-7, Jr. (Washington State)
  • Roman Siulepa, F, 6-6, Fr. (Pittsburgh)
  • Santiago Trouet, F, 6-10, Jr. (Arizona State)

Women

Outgoing

  • J’Adore Young, 6-4, C, Soph.
  • Sira Thinenou, 6-1, F, Soph.
  • Tianna Thompson, 5-10, G, Soph. (Baylor)

Incoming

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