Chris Beard lost 13 players and 78% of Ole Miss's scoring. Only three Rebels return. Ten new players are in. This is the second straight near-total rebuild.
The number
3 — Returning players. That's it. Ilias Kamardine, Patton Pinkins and Zach Day are the only Rebels coming back from a team that went 15-20. Chris Beard is rebuilding Ole Miss basketball — again — for the second consecutive offseason.
The departures
Ole Miss lost 59.2 points per game worth of production. That's 78% of the team's scoring output walking out the door.
Graduated / Out of eligibility:
- AJ Storr — 15.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.9 APG. Led Ole Miss in scoring. Named to the All-SEC Tournament Team after averaging 19.4 PPG across four tournament games. Invited to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
- Malik Dia — 14.5 PPG, 5.7 RPG. Also invited to the Portsmouth Invitational.
- Kezza Giffa — 5.9 PPG, 1.3 RPG. Played 28 games.
- Max Smith — 1.0 PPG. Appeared in 10 games.
Transfer portal:
- Travis Perry (Dayton) — 5.3 PPG, 1.1 APG. Started 16 games as a sophomore.
- Eduardo Klafke (Butler) — 4.6 PPG, 2.5 RPG. Started 12 games.
- James Scott (Georgia) — 3.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.3 BPG. Led the team with 46 blocks. Started 27 of 35 games.
- Corey Chest (McNeese State) — 2.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG.
- Augusto Cassia (UTEP) — 2.2 PPG, 1.6 RPG.
- Tylis Jordan (Georgia Tech) — Redshirted as a four-star freshman (No. 47 nationally). Followed former Ole Miss assistant Wes Flanigan to Georgia Tech.
- Niko Bundalo (destination TBD) — 0.5 PPG. McDonald's All-American. Ole Miss's highest-rated recruit ever per 247Sports. Left after one season.
- Koren Johnson (destination TBD) — 1.8 PPG, 1.4 APG.
- Hobert Grayson IV (destination TBD) — 1.4 PPG. Appeared in five games.
Total production lost: 59.2 PPG, 27.1 RPG, 9.6 APG.
Staff losses: Assistant Wes Flanigan left for Georgia Tech.
The arrivals
Beard went six deep in the portal and signed four freshmen — a 10-player haul to fill the holes left by a 13-player exodus.
Transfer portal:
- Adam "Budd" Clark (Seton Hall) — G, 5-10. 12.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 4.9 APG. All-Big East Second Team. All-Big East Defensive Team. Started all 33 games. Previously played at Merrimack.
- Dasear Haskins (Saint Joseph's) — F/G, 6-8. 11.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.4 APG. Started all 36 games. Shot 48% from the field.
- Roman Siulepa (Pittsburgh) — F, 6-6, 210 lbs. 10.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG. Started all 33 games as a freshman. 97 offensive rebounds. Shot 46.1% from the field.
- Santiago Trouet (Arizona State) — F, 6-11, 218 lbs. 8.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG. Led Arizona State in rebounding. Started 30 of 31 games. Previously played at San Diego.
- Stefan Cicic (Pepperdine) — C, 7-0, 260 lbs. 4.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG. Shot 53% from the field. Previously played at Tulane.
- Christian Brown (James Madison) — F, 6-8, 236 lbs. 3.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.5 BPG. Set the JMU freshman record with 49 blocks. Shot 56.3%.
Freshmen:
- Yohance Connor — CG, 6-2. 4-star, No. 104 nationally. Averaged 27.2 PPG at Combine Academy in Charlotte.
- Jaron Saulsberry — SF, 6-7. 4-star, No. 112 nationally. Averaged 14.2 PPG at the Peach Jam.
- Daniel Patton — SF. 3-star, No. 311 nationally. Averaged 20.0 PPG and 9.0 RPG at Cy Falls HS in Texas. Shot 48% from three.
- TJ Clark — G, 6-3. Former Overtime Elite player who spent the past season playing professionally in Mexico's CIBACOPA league (10.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2.3 APG). Committed in December 2025. Eligibility pending NCAA approval.
The targets
Beard isn't done. Per HottyToddy.com, he's looking to add "one or two more pieces."
The primary remaining target is Devin Williams (FAU, previously UCLA) — a 6-10 forward who averaged 7.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 2.6 BPG. Ole Miss had a Zoom meeting with Williams, but he's also considering Arizona, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Seton Hall.
Ole Miss lost a key target when ND Okafor — a 6-10 forward from Washington State who had committed to the Rebels on April 18 — flipped to Mississippi State. That flip stings.
The fit
The three returners are the foundation. Kamardine (11.3 PPG, 3.8 APG) started all 35 games and was granted an extra year of eligibility. Pinkins (9.3 PPG, 42.2% from three, 85.9% from the line) was efficient across the board as a freshman. Those two are the constants in a roster that has been almost entirely rebuilt around them.
Beard's portal strategy addressed the two biggest problems from 2025-26: frontcourt depth and rim protection. Trouet (6-11), Cicic (7-0) and Brown (6-8 with 49 blocks) bring size and physicality that Ole Miss didn't have. Siulepa is a physical rebounder from Pittsburgh. Haskins at 6-8 gives Beard a versatile forward who can guard multiple positions.
Clark fills the point guard need. A former Overtime Elite player with professional experience in Mexico, he brings a different profile than anything else on the roster. Connor and Saulsberry are the long-term bets from the high school class.
The concern is cohesion. This is the second straight year of near-complete roster turnover. Beard's portal recruiting philosophy — "It's a conversation. When the two sides align, I think that's where perfect matches are made" — sounds patient. But 10 new players in a locker room that went 15-20 last year means the 2026-27 Rebels will need time to figure out who they are.
"I've never experienced a season like we did last year," Beard told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. "So for me, there's a lot of fuel, lot of opportunity."
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