Ole Miss Football kicks off on Saturday after another prolific offseason in the transfer portal. Out-of-season teams also made plenty of signings. The men’s and women’s basketball transfer portal officially closed at the end of April, meaning that players can no longer enter the portal; however, athletes who entered the portal before the deadline are still allowed to sign with other schools.
The baseball and softball teams, following their respective postseasons, have looked to reload in the portal. As the summer draws to a close, it is time to take another look at Ole Miss’ additions and departures in the transfer portal.
Football
Lane Kiffin once again affirmed his moniker “Transfer Portal King.” This offseason, the Rebels had the fourth-best transfer portal class in the nation, according to 247sports.com.
Oklahoma State wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling headlines the transfer class. He committed to the Rebels in December. Last season, the wideout caught 52 passes for 882 yards and six touchdowns. At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, he is a big, athletic target for quarterback Austin Simmons.
Other pass-catchers picked up in the portal include Alabama’s Caleb Odom and Penn State’s Harrison Wallace. Former Arkansas tight end Luke Hasz also figured to be an asset in the passing game before suffering a potential season-ending ankle injury the first week of training camp.
Defensively, the Rebels added defensive end Princewill Umanmielen, younger brother of former Rebel edge rusher Princely Umanmielen, who was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Umanmielen transfers from Nebraska, where he tallied 0.5 sacks last season as a linebacker.
Edge rusher Da’Shawn Womack joins the team from LSU. The former five-star recruit will look to bolster the Rebel pass rush.
To beef up the secondary, the Rebels signed Arkansas cornerback Jaylon Braxton, who missed nearly all of last season due to injury and Washington State slot cornerback Kapena Gushiken, who tallied 52 tackles, six passes defensed and two interceptions last season.
Men’s basketball
Only three days after Butler forward Augusto Cassiá committed to Ole Miss, head coach Chris Beard scored another transfer: Travis Perry, a former four-star guard who played for Kentucky last season.
Perry was heavily recruited by Beard coming out of high school. After a disappointing freshman season with the Wildcats (2.7 points per game in 9.8 minutes per game), Perry will look for a fresh start in Oxford.
Later in May, the Rebels earned another transfer from the Bluegrass State when Louisville forward James Scott committed to the Rebels. Scott averaged 7.1 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Cards last season. Though not much of a scorer, the forward is athletic and protects the rim well.
Scott is the second Louisville player to transfer to Ole Miss this offseason. Teammate Koren Johnson committed in April.
On June 4, High Point guard Kezza Giffa decommitted from USC and announced his commitment to Ole Miss.
Giffa began his career at UTEP before playing two seasons at High Point. The shooting guard led the Big South Conference champions in scoring last season with 14.6 points per game.
The Rebel basketball squad is beginning to shape up for the 2025-26 season. These three transfers will join four others who committed closer to the opening of the transfer portal, as well as returning forward Malik Dia and guard Edouardo Klafke. Three four-star recruits in the ESPN Top 100 — forwards Niko Bundalo and Tylis Jordan and guard Patton Pinkins — have also committed to Ole Miss.
Ilias Kamardine, an international shooting guard who averaged 8.0 points for JDA Dijon in France last season, will round out the roster.
Still, the Rebels lack a clear star player. Dia showed glimpses last season, but without the stellar perimeter shooting of Sean Pedulla and Matthew Murrell, opposing defenses will be less spread out and may concentrate their efforts on containing him in the paint. Hopefully, Bundalo will be able to step into a starting role early and assist Dia inside.
Beard will likely need Giffa to facilitate the offense. Though undersized at 6-foot-2, 165 pounds, Giffa is smooth off the dribble and has soft touch around the rim. He shoots the three confidently (though not as well as Pedulla) and has no trouble beating his defender off the dribble.
Besides Giffa, none of the transfers averaged double figures last season. Most served limited roles on their teams. Guard AJ Storr also has potential to take the reins of the offense, but the Kansas transfer may be on the downswing. Storr averaged 16.8 points two seasons ago at Wisconsin but only 6.1 last season for the Jayhawks, the lowest of his career.
As has been the case for the past two seasons, the Rebels continue to lack a true center. Dia is a stretch forward who often seems more comfortable shooting pull-up jumpers than driving in the paint. Scott has size at 6-foot-11 and 220 pounds, but his lack of post moves are concerning. Most of his scoring last season came off lobs and heads-up assists by First Team All-ACC guard Chucky Hepburn.
Women’s basketball
Coach Yollett McPhee-McCuin, often known as “Coach Yo,” was active in the portal as soon as it opened. Among the new Lady Rebels are forward Latasha Lattimore, who averaged 14.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game at Virginia last season, and Cotie McMahon, a forward from Ohio State who averaged 14.4 points per game and was an All-Big Ten First Team Selection in 2024-25.
Other transfers include guards Denim DeShields and Debreasha Powe, former teammates at Mississippi State. DeShields’s statline was mediocre last season; this year, she will hope to recreate her performance from the 2022-23 season at UAB, when she led the American Athletic Conference in assists per game with 5.3.
Powe, at 6-foot-1, brings size to the Lady Rebels backcourt. She is also an excellent perimeter shooter. She shot a team-best 39.8% from three last season in Starkville.
The most recent addition to the Lady Rebels is guard Kaitlin Peterson, a transfer from UCF who averaged a whopping 21.4 points per game last season. In 2023-24, she was named to the All-Big 12 second team. She was the first UCF player to eclipse the 1,000-point mark in only two seasons.
Peterson spent her first two college seasons at Indiana. As a fifth-year senior, she will bring leadership and experience to Ole Miss, along with a high offensive ceiling.
These transfers will step into big roles, especially Peterson. The Lady Rebels lost five players to graduation or the WNBA Draft, most notably guard/forward Madison Scott. Seven other players transferred out of the program; the only three returners are guard Sira Thienou and centers J’Adore Young and Christeen Iwuala.
Thienou averaged 10.5 points and 4.7 rebounds last season. The lanky shooting guard from Bamako, Mali, got hot at the end of last season and will hope to build on her impressive freshman campaign where she shot nearly 50% from the field.
Baseball
The Rebels’ postseason ended in tragic fashion at the hands of the Murray State Racers in a 12-11 shootout in the Oxford regionals. Still, the season was by no means a failure. The Rebels advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since taking the title in 2022 and hosted a regional for the first time since 2021.
In wake of their success, the Rebels saw the departure of some of their best veterans. The Reds selected reliever Mason Morris in the third round of the MLB Draft. The Guardians took Luke Hill and Will McCausland, and the Nationals drafted Riley Maddox in the eighth round.
Moreover, the Rebels lost a core group of seniors including outfielder Mitchell Sanford and infielder Luke Cheng. Several players chose to depart through the transfer portal, among them outfielder Connor Chisolm and redshirt freshman pitcher Hudson Mattox.
Still, some big names will be returning to Oxford next season. Standout lefty pitcher Hunter Elliott headlines the returners; others include catcher Austin Fawley and designated hitter Hayden Federico.
The Rebels have been active in the transfer portal, as well. Murray State second baseman Dom Decker committed to Ole Miss at the end of June. Left-handed pitcher Wil Libbert transferred to Ole Miss from Missouri on June 15; the 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman did not play for the Tigers last season and comes to Oxford with much anticipation. Another big transfer included right-handed pitcher Grant Richardson.
Softball
Last season marked the first time that the Lady Rebels have advanced to the Women’s College World Series. Unseeded Ole Miss defeated No. 13 Arizona in the Tucson Regional, then overthrew No. 4 Arkansas in an elimination game in the Fayetteville Super Regional. The Lady Rebels’ season ended following two straight losses in the World Series, but last season remains a remarkable achievement.
The Lady Rebels wasted no time when the transfer portal opened. Hope Jenkins is a former University of Connecticut pitcher-and-slugger with a career ERA of 3.50 and batting average of .279. Kennedy Bunker earned All-Mountain West honors as a catcher last season. Emilee Boyer was named the 2024-25 Division-II National Player of the Year.
More recently, the Lady Rebels signed Cassidy Patterson, who won the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association (NFCA) Golden Shoe Award in 2024, awarded for excellence in stealing bases.
