The Ole Miss men’s basketball team’s season has officially come to an end with head coach Chris Beard announcing that the team played its last game on Thursday.
After falling to Texas A&M in round two of the SEC Tournament, the Rebels officially ended any shot at earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament. While the team was still in a prime position to be featured in the lesser National Invitation Tournament (NIT), Beard nipped any speculation about Ole Miss continuing postseason play in the bud.
“I think timing is everything and the timing is just not right for our team to continue the season in any of these tournaments,” Beard told the press on Friday.
Beard went on to cite personal matters among some of his players, including seven-foot-five center Jamarion Sharp’s mother being in critical condition, to justify his decision to withdraw the Rebels from receiving the nod to appear in the NIT.
The first-year Ole Miss head coach inherited a program that had finished last season with a 12-21 record. Beard not only flipped the overall record but more than doubled conference wins and built a culture that had fans filing into the SJB Pavilion in record numbers to watch the Rebels play, earning him a contract extension that was signed on Wednesday.
As for the future, Beard made it clear in his opening presser that his goal is not only to make it to the NCAA Tournament but to win a national championship. Ole Miss began the season with a 13-0 record and cracked the top 25 for the first time since 2019, giving fans a reason to believe that the program was on a sharp incline.
The Rebels fizzled out during the months of February and March, ending the season winning two of its last 11 games with both victories coming against a Missouri team that did not win a single game against an SEC opponent.
Looking to leave the rough stretch behind, Beard reiterates that Ole Miss can and will win at a high level under his leadership. The seasoned head coach will look to high school recruiting and the transfer portal to boost a roster that is losing leading scorers Matthew Murrell and Allen Flanigan.
“The best players in the country want to go play at universities where they can get a great education. We have that at Ole Miss. They want to go play somewhere where basketball is valued — where you can play in front of sold-out crowds. We proved that this year,” Beard said. “Certainly, they want to go play somewhere where their name, image, and likeness is on par with all the other top schools around the country. I believe we’re in that neighborhood.”
Beard will continue year two of his tenure at Ole Miss in November.
