Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard has been busy in the offseason. Three four-star recruits are going to Oxford, Mississippi, with another six transfers coming in. Beard had a massive task in overhauling a roster with 12 total seniors. His latest transfer portal commitment was from an impact player at a team in last season’s March Madness tournament, Kezza Giffa, from High Point.
According to 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer, Kezza Giffa, a high-profile transfer from High Point, is transferring to Ole Miss after decommitting from USC. Giffa averaged 14.6 points per game on 44% shooting from the field and 31.3% from the three-point line.
What is interesting about this commitment for Beard is that he was able to out-recruit Eric Musselman from USC. Musselman got started recruiting late, and the Trojans struggled last season. Meanwhile, the Rebels were one of the biggest surprise teams. They were a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament and made their way to the Sweet 16 after avoiding a massive collapse against North Carolina and blowing out Iowa State.
Giffa was a key player on a High Point team that had one of the best offenses in college basketball last season. They were the 27th-ranked offense in KenPom with a rating of 118.4. Giffa should be an excellent fit for an Ole Miss team that loves to spread the ball around and have all five positions be able to shoot threes.
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Chris Beard has had a bumpy road in college basketball circles dating back to an alleged domestic violence case that was later dropped, which ended his time at Texas. Since the charges were dropped, Beard was hired by Ole Miss and has completely revamped the Rebels’ basketball program, which has been in dire need of help.
It is worth noting that Beard made a Final Four and National Championship appearance at Texas Tech. Beard has always been a great coach, and if he is revamping a program like Ole Miss that has been dead for a while, then there is no telling what he can continue building. Beard also signed a recent contract extension after his name came up for the Texas A&M opening.
Chris Beard continues to prove on the recruiting trail that he is one of the best coaches in college basketball. If he stays in Oxford, he’s building something special.
Jake Faigus graduated from the University of Arizona in 2022 and has had stops at Catena Media, Playmaker, DraftKings, USA Today, Spike Up, and Spotlight Sports Group. He also writes for Sporting News and works at iHeartMedia in Phoenix.
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