Ole Miss Men’s Basketball team head coach Chris Beard spoke with Ole Miss Chancellor Glenn Boyce outside of the Student Union on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. Students gathered around the pair to hear their conversation.
Beard gave a shout-out to the athletic programs playing this week and weekend and encouraged students to show their support.
“We have lots of great programs here on campus,” Beard said. “This Thursday at 6 p.m., go out and support the women’s soccer team, and, of course this Saturday, cheer on the football team for a 6:45 p.m. kickoff.”
Some students look forward to Rebel basketball resuming and potential for another postseason run.
“I’m excited to return to the Pavilion and be in the student section again,” freshman real estate major Crawford Blevins said. “I’m excited for us to make the bracket in March. I’m hoping for the Final Four. I have high expectations for us.”
Students who attended the chat also had the opportunity to learn sparsely known facts about Boyce.
“There was no particular reason (why I came to Ole Miss),” Boyce said. “I was playing college basketball at the University of New York, and I decided I wanted to leave the program and leave New York and started looking at catalogs at the library. … It just so happened that it was an Ole Miss catalog, and I had to pay every penny of my own education as a first generation college student. … I had actually dreamed of going to Florida (but I) couldn’t make my way to Florida.”
Beard offered a bit of advice to students and told them to step out of their comfort zones by joining campus organizations.
“(For the) first week of classes, especially the young freshman, but really everybody on this campus, (I) really encourage you to get involved,” Beard said. “I know when you get to be my age, or a former player’s age, we all kind of look back and the best memories we have on a college campus are when we stretched ourselves a little bit. (We) got out of our comfort zone and just got involved. So I recommend to all you guys and women — just get involved.”
Freshman journalism major Delaney Eenigenburg said that Beard’s words resonated with her.
“Coach Beard’s message to the students was great,” Eenigenburg said. “I loved how he emphasized getting involved around campus.”
Boyce added his own piece of advice about legacy.“It’s real simple. Your legacy begins here now,” Boyce said. “I told the freshman group last night (at Fall Convocation ), ‘It begins here now. It doesn’t begin when you’re my age (or) coach’s age. It begins now.’ All the decisions you make, what you use the next three to four years of your life doing, how you spend that time — (it all) prepares you for whatever success and leadership you’re going to be about in the future.”
