{"id":16659,"date":"2025-06-26T15:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T15:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/16659\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T15:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T15:54:09","slug":"roster-limit-changes-ahead-how-ole-miss-hoops-is-adapting-to-ncaas-new-scholarship-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/16659\/","title":{"rendered":"Roster-Limit Changes Ahead: How Ole Miss Hoops is Adapting to NCAA\u2019s New Scholarship Era"},"content":{"rendered":"

OXFORD, Miss.<\/strong> \u2014 A new chapter in college athletics begins next week on July 1 as the NCAA v. House settlement ushers in the long-anticipated revenue-sharing era. But while much of the national conversation has focused on dollars, another major shift is flying under the radar: changes to scholarship limits\u2014particularly in basketball.<\/p>\n

For the first time, NCAA basketball programs can now award 15 scholarships instead of the long-standing cap of 13. On paper, that sounds like a win\u2014two more high-level players with scholarship support. But for Ole Miss men\u2019s basketball head coach Chris Beard<\/b>, the implications go beyond just numbers.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWell, they\u2019ve basically taken away the walk-ons. We\u2019ve always had really, really quality walk-ons in our program. Guys that are working towards getting a scholarship. We\u2019ve never really had any different expectations for those guys than the guys that are on scholarship. \u2026We\u2019ve had so many guys that weren\u2019t on scholarship be in our rotations and be meaningful players.<\/strong>\u201c<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Chris Beard on roster limit changes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beard has built successful teams in part by developing overlooked players\u2014walk-ons who earned their way into the rotation. The expanded scholarship cap, while seemingly positive, has effectively squeezed out opportunities for those underdog stories.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf the rule would have been you still can have walk-ons and 15 scholarships, I think it probably would have impacted the overall game a little bit more. Now we still at numbers. So this year, it\u2019s my understanding, you\u2019ll see some teams with more than 15 players on the roster because those guys that were walk-ons in the past are grandfathered in. I think the future of the sport appears to be, you know, we have 15 guys.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Chris Beard<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly where Ole Miss finds itself for the 2025\u201326 season\u2014with 16 players on the roster. Among them is Zach Day,<\/strong> a player Beard previously praised for earning a scholarship after starting as a walk-on. Those kinds of stories, Beard notes, may be harder to come by under the new system.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Beard has Hobert \u2018Deuce\u2019 Grayson<\/strong> on this year\u2019s team. He\u2019s a walk-on transfer from\u00a0Ouachita Baptist.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always looking for guys that have been coached. Deuce and those guys won championships. They played in NCAA Tournaments. He just established himself as a really good player. It\u2019s personal for me, as well, with my Division II background. Some of the best players and best coaches I ever competed against and competed with were in Division II. Knowing where he\u2019s been and the sacrifices he\u2019s made to play college basketball \u2026 he\u2019s another guy that\u2019s got a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. We value that around here.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Chris Beard on walk-on transfer Deuce Grayson<\/strong><\/p>\n

McPhee-McCuin Takes a Different Approach<\/b><\/p>\n

On the women\u2019s side, head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin<\/b> sees the situation a bit differently. While aware of the drawbacks, she\u2019s embracing the idea of a smaller, more focused roster.<\/p>\n

This season, Coach Yo is working with a 12-player squad\u2014and she\u2019s perfectly fine with that.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI mean, I think you have to think about injuries per se, but here\u2019s the thing. If you have 15 but, you know, 13, 14, 15 can\u2019t really help you it doesn\u2019t really matter. It just sounds good, you know? I kind of like having a shorter roster just because it\u2019s less people that probably would be angry as far as playing time is concerned<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Her philosophy is rooted in maximizing chemistry and ensuring that everyone on the team feels engaged and valued. With fewer players to manage, there\u2019s less friction\u2014and more opportunity to build unity and trust.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI like to play a lot of people. I really have been trying to get as much depth as possible. This year I think we figured it out as far as who we brought in. Or late get with (Kaitlin Peterson), a late admittance that was huge for us. We just got a little bit of everything.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Coach Yo<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/p>\n

As roster rules evolve alongside NIL and revenue-sharing reforms, programs across the country must rethink how they build teams. At Ole Miss, both Beard and McPhee-McCuin are adjusting in their own ways\u2014one lamenting the loss of walk-on culture, the other embracing the benefits of a tighter rotation.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s clear: college basketball is entering a new era, and the Rebels are already finding their footing.<\/p>\n

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Evelyn Van Pelt <\/p>\n

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception. Email Evie at: Evie@TheRebelWalk.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OXFORD, Miss. \u2014 A new chapter in college athletics begins next week on July 1 as the NCAA…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[1339,16415,16416,16417,1317,1337,1338,16418,16419,16420,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-16659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-coach-chris-beard","10":"tag-coach-yo","11":"tag-coach-yolett-mcphee-mccuin","12":"tag-ncaa","13":"tag-ncaa-basketball","14":"tag-ncaabasketball","15":"tag-ole-miss-mens-basketball","16":"tag-ole-miss-womens-basketball","17":"tag-rebels","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114750479741920492","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}