No. 24 Ole Miss opens Beard's second season armed with Murrell and only second preseason ranking
(20-12, 7-11 SEC)
The 24th-ranked Rebels open Chris Beard's second season with high expectations. They're ranked in the preseason for just the second time in program history and first since the 1997-98 team that rose to No. 10 nationally. Led by high-scoring guard Matthew Murrell, Ole Miss is trying to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. One key will be improving defensively after allowing 73.9 points per game to rank 244th nationally.
Players to watch
Murrell (fifth year, G, 16.2 ppg, 78 3-pointers). The dangerous long-range shooter opens the season with 1,444 career points and has raised his scoring average every season.
Jaylen Murray (13.8 ppg, 4.0 apg). His 72 3s ranked second on the team. Finished the regular season ranked fourth in the SEC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.40
Jaemyn Brakefield (12.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg). Has started the past three years since transferring following one season at Duke, where he was a highly rated recruit.
Departures and arrivals
Ole Miss's biggest loss was No. 2 scorer Allen Flanigan (14.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg). Beard's most notable import in a strong transfer class was two-year Virginia Tech starter Sean Pedulla. Pedulla averaged 16.4 points last season and ranked third in the ACC with 148 assists. He has made 154 career 3-pointers. Four other players who averaged at least 13.5 points a game elsewhere last season also arrive: Mikeal Brown-Jones (UNC-Greensboro), Malik Dia (Belmont), Dre Davis (Seton Hall) and Devon Barnes (Sam Houston).
Top games
Opens against Long Island on Nov. 4. The Rebels have nonconference games against BYU (Nov. 28) and at Louisville (Dec. 3) and Memphis (Dec. 28).
Facts and figures
The Rebels lead the SEC and rank fourth among Power Four teams in returning minutes per game, having a roster that includes 10 seniors and five players with 1,000 career points. Beard received a new contract in March after a season when the Rebels won their first 13 games. They ended losing six of their last seven.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
