{"id":317176,"date":"2025-10-19T23:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T23:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/317176\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T23:39:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T23:39:11","slug":"beard-reworks-ole-miss-roster-with-12-new-players-around-malik-dia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/317176\/","title":{"rendered":"Beard Reworks Ole Miss Roster with 12 New Players around Malik Dia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ole Miss coach Chris Beard will look to Malik Dia for his dynamic game and AJ Storr for aggressiveness and his ability to score the ball (Photo Courtesy of Ole Miss athletics).<\/strong><\/p>\n

DIA-blo For opponents \u2013 <\/strong>Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard<\/strong> steered the Rebels into only the second Sweet 16 in program history. Although they lost to Michigan State, 73-70, the Rebels led for 31 minutes before the Spartans had plenty of breaks in order to slip into the Elite Eight.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to the spring, and OM was able to keep senior center Malik Dia<\/strong>, who is the only returnee of six players who scored in double figures last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on the record, never get tired of talking about it,\u201d said Beard. \u201cI believe in Malik Dia because he cares. Malik Dia doesn\u2019t love basketball; he\u2019s addicted to it. Second only to his faith and family, this is what this guy does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dia started all 36 games, and he led the Rebs with 5.7 boards per game. He was the third leading scorer (10.8 ppg) and shot 47 percent from the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very addicted, yeah,\u201d said Dia. \u201cBasketball just really caught my eye at the age of six. My dad
introduced it to me at a young age. Just being around the game, it\u2019s brought me to a lot of places.
I\u2019m just extremely grateful each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Malik Dia is the lone returnee from the Sweet 16 team at Ole Miss. Coach Chris Beard discusses Dia\u2019s Expectations and his ability to continually work to improve his game (Photo courtesy of Ole Miss athletics).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dia is effective on both offense and defense as he is a shot-blocker and has plenty of versatility in being able to guard multiple positions. He is a tough matchup with his ability to make plays around the basket as well as shoot the three-pointer.<\/p>\n

\u201cDia has high expectations,\u201d Beard says of Dia\u2019s willingness to take coaching. \u201cHe believes he can play in the NBA. That\u2019s a strong statement. I do, too. Neither one of us thinks it\u2019s going to be easy, but that\u2019s where our compass starts every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

AJ is a STORR-y:<\/strong> AJ Storr<\/strong> is a scorer who now comes aboard in a fourth venue in his four seasons. Storr has played at St. John\u2019s, Wisconsin, and Kansas, as he has been a tough matchup off the dribble.<\/p>\n

Ole Miss will want him to regain the shooting prowess that he had with the Red Storm and the Badgers. He averaged 16.8 points and made 13.8 field goal attempts per game.<\/p>\n

He had a better position and was personally in a better system for him at Wisconsin. He was the leading scorer, but more of a role player in a much different system at Kansas.<\/p>\n

\"\"AJ Storr looks to regain the presence he had in averaging 16.8 ppg at Wisconsin (Photo by Ole Miss athletics).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got to stay confident; he is,\u201d commented Beard. Now it\u2019s just getting back to playing championship basketball, embracing each possession. I think when AJ is aggressive, AJ is very good. When AJ defers, he can become average very quickly, just like myself or any of us in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thousands of Reasons: <\/strong>Beard brings aboard former Kentucky Wildcat Travis Perry<\/strong>, who is the all-time leading scorer in high school basketball history in the Bluegrass State, as he scored 5,481 points for Lyon County High School.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beard will work with Perry as one of OM\u2019s primary options inside the offense. Perry is a consummate shooter who has an incredible range and shot selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cA shooter does not define what he can do on the court today and certainly what he will be able to do as he continues to grow as a player,\u201d Beard explained. \u201cStill a young sophomore in our league. We have a major impact role for Travis. We need him to have the best year he\u2019s ever had playing basketball for our team to do what we all would like to do in Oxford.\u201d<\/p>\n

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