Chris Beard Setting Early Championship Standard For Ole Miss Basketball

Men's basketball in Oxford does not have a long history of success, but the Rebels' new coach is looking to change that.

OXFORD, Miss. -- When people think of the Ole Miss Rebels, championships in men's basketball don't come to mind.

In terms of postseason success, the best season for Ole Miss came in 2001 when it advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, the farthest it has ever gone in the NCAA Tournament. As a program, the Rebels have appeared in the big dance only nine times with the most recent coming in 2019.

Now, with the hiring of Chris Beard as the new head coach of the program, he is looking to change that trend and even break barriers that have previously stood over the team.

"I didn't come to Ole Miss to make the NCAA Tournament," Beard said at his introduction in Oxford on Tuesday. "We came to Ole Miss to win the NCAA Tournament. We're here to win championships, make Final Fours and play on Monday night."

That is a lofty set of goals for a program like Ole Miss.

Still, Beard has a track record of quickly bringing success to his new stops. He quickly led the Texas Tech Red Raiders to a national championship game appearance in 2019, and his Texas Longhorns team in 2022-23 has been one of the favorites to win it all this season prior to his firing.

Now, he has his work cut out for him, but he believes that Ole Miss has the resources necessary to be a championship-caliber program.

"This is one of the great colleges in the country," Beard said. "This is a big-time job. I'm so excited, humbled and appreciative to be here.

"It's easy to talk about and difficult to do it. You're not going to accomplish anything elite in life unless you have a vision. We don't apologize for our expectations or goals. The top players in the country, why not Ole Miss?"

Beard will be tasked with recruiting new talent to his roster, but he also has to convince those players currently in Oxford that this is the place to stay. While he wants to "build" a program, he also desires to see immediate results on the floor.

"It takes time, but I've never been one to box myself into what that timeframe has to be," Beard said. "We're going to have some players on this year's team where this will be their last year of eligibility, and my promise is that all decisions will be based on winning.

"We're going to build the program for the future, but we're going to try to win next year."

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You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.

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