Head coach of the Ole Miss Men’s Basketball team Chris Beard, guards AJ Storr and Ilias Kamardine and forward Malik Dia represented Ole Miss at the 2025-26 SEC Tip Off. Beard and players discussed the upcoming season and what the roster looks like.
Beard opened the Ole Miss session with a clear message: This Ole Miss Men’s Basketball team is stocked with capable players.
“I think it’s safe to say that depth could be a real ally of our team this year,” Beard said. “This is a good thing from a coaching standpoint in terms of competitiveness, depth, if you’re going to win six games in three weekends, which is our goal in late March and early April.”
After Beard’s question-and-answer session, the players spoke with media members. Storr echoed Beard’s sentiments.
“The team that we have is easy to play with,” Storr said. “Everybody is pretty versatile, can do a lot of things on the basketball floor. And just having a coach like coach Beard, it’s so easy to come in and play for him.”
However, Beard acknowledged that depth poses an issue in that some players may not see the court as much as they would like. To prevent this, Beard hopes his players will embrace a team-first mindset.
“We (have) to make sure that unselfishness remains kind of the pillar of everything we do,” Beard said. “There’s going to be some tough moments for probably every player on our roster. As a competitor, you want to play more.”
Beard spoke extensively about Storr, one of the hottest topics among the media. Storr is a three-time transfer. Ole Miss is his fourth school in as many years. In fact, he also transferred every year of high school, meaning Ole Miss is actually his eighth school in eight years.
Beard dispelled rumors that Storr is a mercenary, transferring constantly with a concern only for his own success. The first two high schools he attended shut down; after a strong performance at a nearby high school in his junior season, Beard explained that Storr made the natural decision to transfer to a preparatory school.
“AJ went to play basically for his local high school team his junior year, had the opportunity to go to a national-brand prep school, the same decision that 99 out of 100 athletes do,” Beard said.
In college, St. John’s fired Mike Anderson after Storr’s freshman season, so, Beard said, transferring was not unreasonable. His decision to transfer from Wisconsin to Kansas and play for Bill Self, one of the best in the nation, once again made sense.
“So yes, AJ has been to a lot of schools, but again, if you take the time and get the facts, you’ll understand that he’s never ran from anything,” Beard said. “He’s a great teammate. He’s a great person — not good, great.”
Dia also weighed in on Storr’s situation.
“AJ gets such a bad rap for no reason,” Dia said. “I’ve known AJ since high school. He’s a really great guy. … He’s never been a cancer to us at all. He’s always been uplifting, positive and, I honestly think, being around AJ, he brings that competitive fire each and every day. AJ is misinterpreted by the media, 100%.”
Beard also addressed Storr’s apparent slump at Kansas last season — 6.1 points per game in 15.6 minutes, compared to his 16.8 points per game at Wisconsin in 2023-24.
“He was pretty damn good at Kansas too,” Beard said. “If somebody has a player for me today (who) can average seven points in 15 minutes, I’ll do backflips out of here.”
Beard fully believes Storr has the potential to not just resemble his 2023-24 season but to break out as one of the top players in the nation.
“Not to put all the pressure in the world on his shoulders, but … I think AJ has the chance to reestablish himself as one of the best players in college basketball,” Beard said.
Storr is ready to take action.
“Maybe people doubted, I don’t know. (I’m) definitely coming in this season with a chip on my shoulder,” Storr said. “Definitely hungry to get back on the court, and looking forward to competing.”
Beard specified that, for Storr to return to his best self, he needs to be both confident and aggressive — the latter of which can be an issue on teams with many talented players.
“Sometimes when AJ defers, it’s not in terms of being lazy or selfish,” Beard said. “Sometimes he’s just such a good person and such a good teammate that he’ll just kind of defer a little bit. … We need him to be aggressive on the bench, talking to his teammates. We need him to be aggressive in between plays, huddling up his teammates and certainly every possession. He needs to impact every possession.”
Beard then spoke about Dia, the only returning starter from last season’s team. Beard holds Dia to the highest standard because he has the highest expectations.
“I appreciate Dia because he allows me to coach him as far as any player I’ve ever coached,” Beard said. “Why do I do that? … Dia believes he can play in the NBA, and that’s a strong statement. I do too. Neither one of us thinks it’s going to be easy, but that’s where our compass starts every day.”
The key to Dia’s success, Beard said, is consistency. At his best, Dia is one of the top players in the SEC. The issue last season was that Dia could not maintain those high-quality minutes. Dia addressed this specifically.
“I’ve taken big steps with my body and (I am) trying to make sure that I’m in shape so I can play hard for an elite amount of minutes and help this team win,” Dia said.
On the court, Dia plans on honing in on each individual statistical category.
“Statistically, trying to have great percentages, not turn the ball over, get my assists up this year,” Dia said. “Averaging less than one assist a game this year won’t get it done. So, I’m definitely looking at those aspects. But the biggest of any of them is rebounding.”
Lastly, Kamardine spoke about his adjustment to college basketball. Kamardine previously played for JDA Dijon, a professional team in France. He notes that the European approach to basketball differs from the American approach.
“In Europe, we like to slow down and play position-by-position. Here, we like to play fast, so it’s a different game,” Kamardine said.
Playing in the European leagues, though, has given Kamardine a thorough understanding of the game, which he is currently working on adapting to college basketball’s faster pace.
“Like I said, we like to play slow, (in) position (in France),” Kamardine said. “That has prepared me to play in the US. Even if the speed is higher, I need to adapt and put the IQ in that speed.”
The Rebels will face St. Mary’s in an exhibition game in Oxford on Oct. 26.
