Chris Beard's Thoughts: Ole Miss Basketball Proving Not to be 'Frauds' in Tourney

Chris Beard and the Ole Miss Rebels are Sweet 16 bound after taking down the Iowa State Cyclones on Sunday night in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 32 matchup.

It was a masterclass performance from start to finish for the Rebels with Sean Pedulla leading the way for Ole Miss once again.

Heading into the tournament, there remained outside chatter that Beard's crew would be "frauds" in the NCAA Tournament.

The buzz has fueled a Sweet 16 run for the Rebels.

"We've seen it," Ole Miss guard Jaylen Murray said. "It's good though. We've seen what he's trying to stay. I don't know what it is. We're not worries about it. We're just staying positive. staying humble. Doing what we've got to do."

“Where’s Tim Doyle.”#OleMiss coach Chris Beard (and players) in locker room after advancing to Sweet 16.

Doyle was the pundit who called Ole Miss a fraud when the bracket got announced. pic.twitter.com/oxVms0R4We
— Sam Hutchens (@Sam_Hutchens_) March 24, 2025

Beard took the podium following the Rebels' Round of 32 victory over Iowa State to discuss the success of his Ole Miss squad.

Chris Beard's Take: Rebels Move to the Sweet 16

CHRIS BEARD: Just congratulations to Iowa State on a really good season. Obviously both teams were a little bit outmanned. We're missing Mikeal Brown, and they're missing one of their best players.

Really happy for everybody in our program, organization to get to this stage here, year two. It's all about the players. Matt and Brake and Ju coming back, all the guys like Barnes to my right. They trusted us with a vision.

It hasn't been done recently, but telling these guys what we thought we could do at Ole Miss, they trusted us enough to come. Excited about the players. All my thoughts are on those guys.

We came here to win a four-team tournament. So two down. It takes six to win the whole thing. Told the guys to enjoy this for half a day and we will get back to work tomorrow. We're excited about our next opportunity in the Sweet 16.

The basketball game, it was important to us to take care of the ball. Iowa State is one of the best in the country on forcing turnovers, 16, 17 a game on average. Our thing is to try to take care of the ball. It was a scary start for us. We had three turnovers in the first four minutes, but then to play the rest of the game with only five turnovers, that was the game, from our perspective.

Proud of everybody in our organization, and looking forward to competing next weekend.

Q. I was wondering if you might elaborate about, when you were talking about earlier, the first few minutes being scary. After that you guys played some of your best basketball this season. What led to the switch?

CHRIS BEARD: Yeah, we just kind of had a disappointing start because we spent a day and a half talking about some offensive spacing and objectives, and we just kind of did quite the opposite, early.

But give the guys credit, we got a poised group. They allow me to be me, especially JuJu, he always calms me down. I thought we did a great job of executing the game plan for 35 of the 40 minutes, and the big part of the game plan was trying to take care of the basketball.

Q. Chris, you have coached in the Big 12. Having this outcome and the advancement to the next weekend, what does that mean as an SEC coach?

CHRIS BEARD: It's really not about me. It's just about these players. I mean, we got guys that have played four and five years of college basketball and given everything they could have possibly given and just haven't played in the NCAA Tournament yet.

And we felt that pressure. We were kind of a, you know, win-or-bust team. We set the objective really high. We want to go in the tournament, we want to have a good seed. We want to be one of those teams that has a chance to win the tournament.

And Ole Miss winning the tournament, probable? No. Possible? Absolutely.

Right now with our team, we're watching the Coach Valvano special. And we're done yet. Players are like, When are we going to finish? I'm like, We're going to finish on Sunday night right before the Monday game.

So it's not arrogance, it's absolute belief. If I didn't believe this team was capable of continuing to win games in this tournament, then I shouldn't be the coach at Ole Miss.

But this is all about the players. These guys have bought in, they've been an unselfish group since the first day of summer. And to see their hard work pay off is really rewarding.

Q. You said these guys let you be you. Has this team adopted your personality, become more like maybe the way you are?

CHRIS BEARD: I think, above all, I'm very competitive. And I think, above all, I don't try to think of words. I don't really care about people's feelings that I have a relationship with.

So with the players, kind of a direct teaching. So, yeah, these players have allowed me to do that, just like as a coaching staff we have tried to reach the guys in the best way we can reach them. Some of these guys need that. They need the hard, direct message. Some of these guys need poise and confidence in moments.

But I would say it's an accurate statement. These guys have allowed our coaching staff to coach them, and I think they have allowed each guy in our program to be the best version of themselves as individuals as well.

Q. Even from November, you have coached Dia really hard from what I've seen. With how he played tonight, has that paid off?

CHRIS BEARD: I thought Dia played well tonight. Just a handful of possessions that if he flips those, he plays elite. I give him a grade of great, not good. He came to play, did a lot of good things. But there is such a high ceiling to his game.

And our Ole Miss team right now, continuing to play in this tournament we need Dia's A+ game. He is a talented player. We have a relationship. I appreciate him letting me coach him in the best way I know how. Proud of him. He's put a lot of work into this. And to see the work pay off now in his third year of college basketball, I'm really happy for Dia.

Q. I'm just wondering, Sean Pedulla, what has his stagger, confidence, experience, what has his addition meant to this program?

CHRIS BEARD: A key to the game tonight was we get five guys in double-figure scoring. We take care of the basketball, and we were committed to the defensive end for most of the game.

You mentioned Sean Pedulla. We have several players on our team that are fearless guys. They all have the courage to take that shot, make that play on defense.

One of our challenges this year has been, when this journey started, making sure that each individual player could be the best version of themselves, but also let's work this as a too many.

So we spent time this summer watching the USA Basketball documentary trying to demonstrate how their team was a bunch of talented guys that came together with one purpose. Our team is a bunch of talented guys that come together with one purpose. Certainly not saying that we are USA Basketball talented, but there are a lot of parallels.

I think that's one of the stories of our team, is all these guys, they check their egos at the door when they arrived at Oxford, and they're playing for each other.

Q. Coach, Dia told me that you sold winning more than anyone else who recruited him in the portal, and that was how every conversation was, Final Four, national championship. And to go back in the locker room after selling that and to say that the vision you shared was correct, how does that make you feel?

CHRIS BEARD: Makes me feel great because those are the stories that will come later in life when we're having a reunion, hanging out, seeing each other as life goes on. We will remember the bold statements that were made by players and coaches, and to see some of those things come to reality is cool, but I didn't shed my words with this team. The very first meeting we had we were talking about winning at the highest level.

Not trying to make the tournament but being one of those teams that has a pathway to a tournament. My thing about winning is if there is a scoreboard -- what is it? If there is a scoreboard on, you gotta try to win. Everything we do is competitive, and that's one thing I try to get across, especially -- portal recruiting is like speed dating. You got five minutes on the first phone call, ten minutes on the first Zoom, 30 minutes in the first meeting. And you try and make an impression on that player. So we talk a lot about come to Ole Miss and help us win.

We define winning. Winning off the court, winning in the classroom, and certainly winning in the NCAA Tournament. It's rewarding to see some of the things we talked about come to reality.

More Ole Miss News:

Ole Miss Quarterback Confident He's "The Best" QB in the 2025 NFL Draft

Top-10 Quarterback in America Locks in Ole Miss Visit

Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Rebels Confirm Spring Game Plans in April

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.