'One Of Our Top Objectives': Ole Miss HC Chris Beard Wants To Create Excitement For Rebels Basketball
The Ole Miss Rebels had the second-highest win percentage of any decade in the 2010s at .595, but the past three seasons, that has not been the case.
In the final three years of his tenure, former Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis went 41-52 and 17-37 in the Southeastern Conference, finishing sixth and 13th in the SEC the past two seasons. Now, his successor, former Texas Longhorns head coach Chris Beard, wants to lift Rebels basketball back up to the level it once was.
Beard said on the Field of 68's "Off the Carousel!" that he "absolutely" wants to build a program fans can be excited about. He said his goal is to "unite" Ole Miss fans and players from every era.
"That's one of our top objectives, and I'm very optimistic that we'll be able to get it rolling sooner than later," Beard said. "I think our challenge is no different than other places we've been is trying to unite everybody, get everybody on the same page, whether you played for Kermit or [Adam Kennedy] or coach (Rob) Evans or coach (Rod) Barnes or coach (Bob) Weltlich before them is trying to get all the different generations, the time periods of Ole Miss basketball back under one umbrella."
Beard said that in the midst of assembling the 2023-24 roster, which will feature Matthew Murrell and five four-star transfers among others, he has focused "developing these relationships" with the coaches and players.
The 2019 AP National Head Coach of the Year, who was hired as the 23rd head coach in program history March 13, said he "inherited a nice foundation" from Davis.
"A good culture from Kermit, somebody I have a lot of respect for, somebody that did a great job here," Beard said. "We benefit from his work here. That's the plan to try to get this thing rolling and it's been done before, and so I'm optimistic that we can get it done quickly."
You can follow Casey Smith on Twitter at @casey_smith2419
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