MOUNTAIN BROOK, Alabama — All-Miss men’s basketball coach Kermit Davis said there was “no question” the Rebels expect to be in the NCAA Tournament this season for the first time since 2019. .
But it’s not exactly a “big dance or bust” question, said guard Daeshun Ruffin.
Callaway High School’s product said, “We just want to compete, win every night, and compete. We hope it leads to a spot in the NCAA Tournament.”
Ole Miss said he has a roster returning to March Madness for the first time since Davis’ first season at Oxford during a session at the Southeastern Conference Media Days in Mountain Brook, Alabama, on Wednesday. seemed confident.
The Rebel roster includes 6 returning players, 4 freshmen and 4 alumni.
Two of those returnees are Ruffin, who represented the Rebels on Wednesday, and Guard Matthew Murrell.
“We have a good mix of transfer students, freshmen, and returning students,” Murrell said. “We are all very excited to be here and play together.
Ruffin’s return to health will be key to the Rebels’ return to the postseason. The length of stay was not long. Ole Miss lost in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament and again in the 2021 NIT.
Ruffin’s promising freshman season was cut short when he suffered a torn ACL on February 1 against LSU.
Ruffin said he was cleared for contact on Oct. 10. He participated in an intra-squad scrimmage on Tuesday.
“He got a lot of pop back,” Davis said. “I’m not saying he’s 100% okay, but I think his knee is better than it’s ever been.”
The 5.9-foot point guard said he’s excited to hopefully play a full season with the Rebels. I stared at Mate’s podium.
“I’ll wait for everyone to find out about it,” Murrell said.
Murrell himself will be important to the rebels. With his 12 goals per game last season, he was his third-most scorer on the team, behind Yarkel his Joyner and Ruffin.
Murrell had the team’s highest 3-point shooting percentage of 39.2%.
“I think Matt Murrell is one of the best guards in college basketball, so I’m excited to have Matt back,” Davis said.
Guard Ty Fagan and forward Robert Allen will also rejoin the Rebels. Allen played just eight games last season after suffering a knee injury against Memphis.
Davis said Allen did not play during Ole Miss’s visit to the Bahamas in August, which included matches against the Bahamas national team and two other clubs.
Davis said the level of competition the Rebels faced wasn’t the greatest, but it still helped the team make progress in terms of chemistry.
“I feel like it was a good bonding trip,” Murrell said. “We were just playing each other all summer, so it was nice to play someone else.”
The Rebels will repeat the same on November 7 when the season opens at home against Alcorn State.
Ruffin said he is excited to face the Braves. Because he’s friends with some Alcorn State players. But this game is just the beginning of a non-conference slate that Davis thinks will set the Rebels up well for his SEC play.
Ole Miss could face Stanford University in the Thanksgiving Week tournament in Orlando and possibly Florida State. The Rebels will play in Memphis and in December he will host UCF and Temple.
“There are a lot of coaches in the league right now who think they’re an NCAA tournament team, but I think we’ve got our non-meeting schedules right,” Davis said. rice field. “We feel good about it.”
If Ole Miss can qualify to enter the 68-year-old field, the Rebels will have success throughout the school’s track and field program. The Ouremis women’s basketball won last year’s tournament, the baseball team won his 2022 Men’s College World Series, the football team won the Sugar Bowl last season, and he went 7-0 in the 2022 campaign. We are off to a good start.
It’s up to Davis’ team to join the club or not.
“Lots of wins going on at Ole Miss,” he said. “We want to keep the Rebels hot and hope football and baseball can do what they’ve been doing.”
Theo DeRosa reports on sports in Mississippi for The Dispatch. Follow @Theo_DeRosa on Twitter.
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