Could Ole Miss Basketball Boast Top Interior Defense Next Season?
The Ole Miss Rebels have given the rest of the country no choice but to look their way this offseason. After all, it's pretty hard to glance past a 7-foot-5 center.
Coach Chris Beard and Co. have been working around the clock to put together a team that will bring Ole Miss into national relevancy. And though the roster makeup is far from complete, the vision continues to become clearer.
A tough-minded defensive coach like Beard is putting a major emphasis on that side of the court ahead of his first season in Oxford, evident by the two transfer big men the Rebels have acquired this offseason. A pair of additions in Western Kentucky center Jamarion Sharp and Oklahoma State big man Moussa Cisse may not appear like much on the surface for the casual college basketball viewer, but the Rebels could potentially be building an immovable wall of shot-blocking and elite interior defense.
As of now, Ole Miss has arguably the best defensive frontcourt in the country with Cisse and Sharp. One could even argue that it's not relatively close either.
Sharp has led the nation in blocks the past two seasons, highlighted by an incredible 4.4 blocks per game this past year. He was also the country's runaway leader in total blocks with a whopping 131 rejections for the season. This was 21 more than the country's second-place finisher.
It can't be overstated how insane some of Sharp's defensive numbers were last season, which is likely to give the Rebels a significant advantage against the talent of the SEC. He had 10 games of six or more blocks and a season-high eight rejections on Nov. 15. These are man-amongst-boys type of numbers.
But while the increased talent level of the SEC could prove to be a reason Sharp won't be able to lead the NCAA in blocks for a third straight season, the presence of Cisse might play an even bigger role in preventing him from getting there.
Sharp's numbers are obviously impressive, but Cisse's elite defensive play this past season while playing in arguably the best conference in the country makes his arrival all the more interesting. At 7-1, 216 pounds, Cisse led the Big 12 in blocks in 2022 (1.9) and was second in rebounds per game (eight). Averaging close to four rejections like Sharp would've been an impossible task for Cisse in the Big 12, but a closer look at the game-by-game stats tells more of the story.
Cisse had nine games of three blocks, four games with four blocks, and one game with six blocks. Add that to the fact that he averaged 6.8 points and shot 58.2 percent from the floor and you've got an all-around impactful player.
The Rebels averaged about 3.7 blocks per game last year, good for seventh in the SEC. It's a safe bet that that number will see an increase.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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