Chris Beard met with reporters Wednesday ahead of Friday’s game against Central Arkansas, and the message was consistent with everything he’s said since the season began: the results matter less right now than what the staff learns about nine new players.
Ole Miss (1-0) opened with a 99-58 win over Alcorn State on Monday, forcing 26 turnovers and finishing with 25 assists on 35 made field goals — better than 70% of the Rebels’ baskets coming off assists. That last number is the one Beard cares about.
“We’ve got a lot of new faces,” he said, “and the only way to figure out who we are is to play games.”
What the opener showed
The Rebels led 52-31 at halftime and never let Alcorn State back within striking distance. All available players saw action, which Beard said was by design in a month built for evaluation.
Patton Pinkins — who shot 42% from 3-point range last season and returns to a starting role — knocked down a three to push the lead to 13 in the first half. Ilias Kamardine, the other returning starter, is the team’s leading returning scorer at 11.3 points a game.
The win was Beard’s 297th career victory across all NCAA divisions, and moved him to 12-0 in season openers as a Division I head coach — 4-0 at Ole Miss.
The Central Arkansas game
Friday, 7:30 p.m. Central, SJB Pavilion. SECN+ and the Ole Miss Radio Network.
It’s the second of four straight home games to open the season, a stretch the staff has described as a deliberate runway. Beard’s own framing before the season was that November’s seven games in 24 days — the first four at home — exist so he can tinker with lineups, settle a starting five, and identify his first man off the bench.
Central Arkansas comes in as the kind of opponent that lets him do exactly that. The Bears are a Southland Conference program, and the matchup sits between Alcorn State and Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 10.
Beyond the box score
Beard was asked about the staff around him, and it’s worth noting the program got some recognition this week: three Ole Miss men’s basketball staffers were named to the seventh annual Silver Waves Media Top Support Staff in College Basketball list — Josh Baskin (Director of Basketball Intelligence), Austin Cox (Director of Basketball Operations) and Noah Stansbury (Director of Player Personnel). Baskin’s role centers on film and scouting, using data to sharpen strategy; Cox runs day-to-day operations under Beard.
That’s a program building infrastructure, not just a roster. It also fits the season’s stated problem: Beard has said he wants to fix perimeter shooting and rebounding, the two areas that sank a 15-20 season and a 4-14 SEC finish after back-to-back 20-win campaigns and a Sweet 16 run in 2025.
The bigger picture
The SEC’s coaches and media picked Ole Miss 13th in the preseason. Beard, for his part, has talked about this being the first losing season he’s been part of in 15 years and framed the year as a bounce-back.
The schedule gives him room to build. After the four home games, the Rebels go to the Southwest Maui Invitational, where they open against Clemson on Nov. 23 and could face BYU or Washington the next day. Then Virginia Tech on the road Dec. 1 in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
Friday is a step on that path, not a destination. Beacon of the approach: he played everybody Monday, and he’ll likely do it again.
Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. CT on SECN+.