Chris Beard opened his first press conference of the season with a marketing pitch and a joke about beer prices. Then he got to the part that matters.
Ole Miss hosts Alcorn State on Monday at 7:30 p.m. CT inside the Sandy and John Black Pavilion, opening a season that follows his first losing campaign in 15 years. The Rebels went 15-20 and 4-14 in the SEC last winter — a 10-game losing streak in the middle of it — one season after a Sweet 16 run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The roster has been nearly rebuilt.
Asked whether a season like that changes his urgency, Beard didn’t entertain the premise.
“No. Because every season to me is the most important season of my life. Every game to me is the most important game I’ve ever been in. And I mean that and those people that have played for us and know me understand that.”
“We’ll attack this game Monday just like we would attack a regional semi-final game. It’s the next game on a schedule.”
That’s the frame he’s putting on a Monday night game against a SWAC opponent in front of what he hopes is a fuller building.
Selling the building
Beard spent the opening minutes of his availability doing something unusual for a season-opening presser: a detailed walk-through of ticket strategy. Game-by-game tickets are on sale at the ticket office, including premium seats in the front row behind the bench for the two SEC games in early January before students return.
He was candid about why it’s necessary.
“A lot of our fan base doesn’t live in Oxford. A lot of our fan base has life outside of Ole Miss basketball. I understand. I hope we get to the point where Ole Miss basketball is more important than Wheel of Fortune.”
“But I understand that Ole Miss basketball isn’t going to trump going to watch your own kid play or something like that.”
He thanked season ticket holders directly and said the program is committed to improving the game-day experience this year, tying attendance to the bigger picture: better crowds lead to better recruiting, and better recruiting leads back to better crowds.
The tall roster
The roster Beard has assembled is transfer-heavy and unusually long. Micah Handlogten, a 7-foot-1, 255-pound center from Florida, is the most experienced big on the team — and he won’t play Monday.
“I wish Micah was playing on opening night. That depth gets me really excited. He’s our most experienced big and he’s a national champion for a reason.”
Santiago Trouet, a 6-11 forward from Arizona State by way of Buenos Aires, and Christian Brown, a 6-8 sophomore from James Madison, add size. Budd Clark, a 5-10 senior point guard from Seton Hall, projects as the primary ball-handler. Ilias Kamardine and Patton Pinkins return to starting roles, and Zach Day gives Beard a returner with experience.
The Rebels are predicted to finish 14th in the 16-team SEC — a projection Beard has been open about rejecting.
Learning from last year
Beard didn’t dodge the 2025-26 record. He framed what went wrong in one sentence.
“Where we lacked last year was just we didn’t build the resume over the course of the season.”
But he was equally firm that the late run was real. The Rebels won three straight games against NCAA Tournament teams in Nashville before falling short in the SEC semifinals.
“We were like a Sweet 16 type team at the end of the year. I mean, we beat three straight NCAA Tournament teams and then, you know, AJ’s shot could have sent us to the championship game.”
“I’m not shying away from last year’s adversity. We’ll learn from it. But I’m also going to always remind people that those guys never quit. They represented the school. They played hard, and when it mattered most, they gave us a magical ride in Nashville.”
Freshmen will get their shot
Beard said the newcomers will have opportunities, but he’s warning them off the emotional rollercoaster of game-day minutes.
“I try to encourage those guys, man, to not gauge their mood or their view of themselves based on game day. It’s hard to play at this level early, but all of them are doing really well in practice.”
He offered one concrete example of how the staff is doling out chances. A freshman earned playing time in the exhibition “based on practice performance” — a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover line in preseason work.
There’s a competition running inside the locker room, too, over who leads the team in assists.
“There’s a healthy competition in our locker room on a daily basis on who can lead this team in assists.”
It’s not idle talk: Ole Miss racked up 22 assists on 32 made field goals in Tuesday’s exhibition against UAB.
The breakthrough
For all the talk of résumés and attendance and roster turnover, Beard landed on a version of this season that’s bigger than one November night.
“Guys like Sean Padulla and Guju and Bre, they laid it on the line. It created momentum. And so this is why we get facility upgrades.”
“We need some breakthrough moments. This is the year. This is the year I think we’re going to break through in a lot of ways.”
The opener
Alcorn State is the first of four straight home games and the front end of seven games in 24 days in November — the stretch Beard will use to sort out roles on a roster that has barely played together.
Ole Miss is 6-0 all-time against the Braves, winning by an average of 25.3 points, with the closest meeting a 76-70 decision in December 1985.
Beard will treat it like a regional semifinal anyway.