Rebels' Chris Beard Gives Recruitment Update, Talks Improving 'Team Ball'

Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball coach Chris Beard was available to speak with the media on Thursday and talked about his two newest signees.

OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team is 1-0 under the newly arrived Chris Beard after defeating the Alabama State Hornets 69-59 on Monday night, but everyone in the building knows there are plenty of improvements to be made.

As a team, the Rebels did not shoot all that great - as they hit 37 percent from the field and 24 from beyond the arc - but that can be attributed to slow ball movement in the first 20 minutes of play. A sluggish first half from Ole Miss offensively gave the Hornets a chance to take a brief lead and entered halftime only down five points.

Beard addressed the ball movement issues from Monday night's game and why he is confident it will get better.

"One of the best things we do offensively is we move the ball," Beard told reporters. "For lack of a better word, we call it team ball. The other night, we just had some possessions where we didn't look like who we were supposed to be. I don't think it's selfishness per se, just some individual possessions where we didn't play how we always play.

"I thought the ball stuck a lot on opening night. We took some tough shots when people were wide open. Eventually, if we want to be the team we want to be, we're going to have to get to the point where we turn down a good shot to get a great shot."

Ole Miss Rebels coach Chris Beard addresses the media during his first-ever SEC Media Days (2023) / © Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports

True freshman forward Rashaud Marshall played his first five minutes on Craddock Court Monday night, and while he did not score, he still made an impact, recording two boards, one assist, and one block. Beard took time to talk about Rashaud's development early in the season. 

"Rashaud did a lot of really good things on opening night," Beard said. "He impacted the game. He rebounded the ball, got an assist, made some deflections, and good plays on defense. As he continues to produce in his minutes played, his minutes are gonna go up and up and up."

The Rebels signed a pair of 2024 prospects on Wednesday in four-star center John Bol and three-star guard Eduardo Klafke. Beard talked about his two newest signees and what they bring to his growing program.

"When you look at [Eduardo] Klafke and [John] Bol, these are two guys who can play at the highest level," Beard said. "These are two SEC talents, two Top 25 team talents, guys that should be playing after college one day. Both guys are skilled and have an identity on the offensive and defensive side of the floor.

"We think they're our kind of guys. They love basketball - maybe not love it but are addicted to it. They are not backup-playing guys. They dedicated themselves to this game at young ages and their college decision was very important to them because they both have dreams and aspirations of playing basketball [professionally]."

The Rebels' next matchup is on Friday night in The Sandy and John Black Pavilion versus the Eastern Washington Eagles. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. CT and the game can be televised on SEC Network+.