Chris Beard Believes Ole Miss Basketball Could 'Absolutely' Be An SEC Contender

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Chris Beard believes his team can compete for an SEC title this season.

Nov 21, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Chris Beard reacts toward an official during the second half against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels have enjoyed a productive start to their 2024-25 season, currently holding an 11-1 record with one non-conference game left to play. But just how far can coach Chris Beard's team go this winter?

Beard recently sat down with The Field of 68 Podcast where he discussed what led to his staff's roster building strategy over the offseason, one where some key high school talent was brought in, leaders were retained, and productive pieces were gained out of the transfer portal.

"We do believe there's a relationship between experience and winning," Beard said. "Doesn't mean you can always get it done that way. The bloodline is always going to be high school recruiting, period. But we absolutely wanted to give this year's team a chance by having enough experience to be successful in this SEC that's going to be a gauntlet."

Last season, the Rebels fell short of the NCAA Tournament in Beard's first year on the job, but that doesn't mean the campaign was an abject failure. Ole Miss took some positive steps as a program, and the hope inside the SJB Pavilion is that it provides a stepping stone to a tournament run this year.

It helps that there are leaders from last year's team who elected to return for another season, but the new additions will also provide a spark in the games ahead.

"I was really proud of last year's team," Beard said. "The league was really good. We were competitive. We basically missed the tournament by a game or two, whichever way you look at it. Certainly, year two, having some returners with JuJu [Jaylen Murray], Matt [Murrell] and [Jaemyn] Brakefield back, having some young freshmen in the program in [Eduardo] Klafke and [John] Bol, we just have a better mix right now."

Beard was then asked if he believed his team could legitimately contend for an SEC crown this year in a league that appears to be stacked from top-to-bottom. A total of 10 SEC teams were ranked in the latest AP Poll, and a whopping 13 were included in Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology update.

Still, Beard isn't counting Ole Miss out of the running.

"I absolutely feel like we could be, but you're probably asking the wrong person," Beard said. "I'm biased. I've never coached a team where I couldn't tell you, 'Hey, we're going to be part of the fight.'

"Some years, your margin for error is much smaller than other years, but in the SEC, it doesn't come down to talent. It comes down to discipline, chemistry, winning some close games, and I think our team this year is similar. I don't think there will be a game this year where we walk off the court saying we don't have enough talent to beat those guys."

That's some pretty heavy confidence from the veteran head coach, and he and his team will hit league play soon enough. First, the Rebels have to travel up I-55 on Saturday to take on Memphis in a 1 p.m. tip-off on ESPN 2, but they will then return home to host Georgia in the SEC opener on Jan. 4.