The Rebels have been active in the transfer portal so far.
The Ole Miss Rebels just completed their first season under head coach Chris Beard, and it was fairly successful. They finished with an overall record of 20-12 but managed to go only 7-11 in Southeastern Conference play. They were at one point undefeated, but tailed off once they hit conference play. But Ole Miss has strengthened their roster through the transfer portal with their latest addition being former Seton Hall standout Dre Davis as per Pete Thamel of ESPN.
As reported by Thamel, Davis committed to Ole Miss during his recent visit to campus. Davis is the third pickup of the offseason by means of the transfer portal for the Rebels. He’ll join former UNCG forward Mikeal Brown-Jones and former Belmont forward Malik Dia.
Davis no doubt will add some offensive punch to the Rebels. They’ll be looking to finish with a better record in the SEC and perhaps make the NCAA Tournament.
Dre Davis will bring a scoring punch to Ole Miss
While the Rebels have already added a couple of key players through the transfer portal, Dre Davis is arguably the player that can have the most impact for the 2024-25 season.
Davis brings with him a Power 5 Conference pedigree having played in the both the Big East and the Atlantic Coast Conference. This isn’t his first go-round with the transfer portal. Davis his first two seasons of college basketball at Louisville. After that, he transferred to Seton Hall where he played the last two seasons. He’ll have one more year of college eligibility.
Davis came off the bench during his first season at Seton Hall during 2022-23, but became a full-time starter this past season. This was also his best season individually. He started in 36 of the 37 games he played in at a little over 32 minutes per game.
He averaged a career best 15.0 points per game, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 49.2 percent shooting from the field, 35 percent shooting from the three point line and 84 percent shooting from the free throw line.
During the Rebels’ 79-77 win against Indiana State in the NIT championship game, Davis put up 18 points on 6-12 shooting from the field, a perfect 2-2 from three point range and 4-5 shooting from the free throw line. He also added three rebounds, one assist and three blocked shots.
The Rebels have lost one player to the transfer portal so far in center Rashaud Marshall who has committed to Arkansas State.
Ole Miss looking to build under Chris Beard
The Rebels hired Chris Beard near the end of last season. He had been dismissed as head coach at Texas amid an ongoing legal issue involving a domestic violence charge. The charge against Beard was ultimately dismissed.
Beard has largely been a successful college basketball coach, having compiled an overall record of 256-109 throughout stops at Little Rock, Texas Tech, Texas and now Ole Miss. Prior to that, he had coached at McMurray State of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) and at NCAA Division 2 Angelo State.
During his time as a Division 1 coach, he’s reached the NCAA Tournament in five out of nine seasons including two round of 32 finishes, one Elite Eight appearance and one appearance in the championship game.
