NCAA Tournament or bust for Mikeal Brown-Jones and Ole Miss basketball

Talk of Champions

The home stretch has arrived for Ole Miss football, but across campus Rebel basketball is only getting started.

Second-year head coach Chris Beard will unveil his 2024-25 iteration of the Rebels on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT. The preseason-ranked No. 24 Rebels host Illinois in a charity exhibition.

But the action REALLY cranks up on November 4. Ole Miss is coming off its first 20-win season since 2018-19 and will welcome Long Island for its season opener.

The Rebels added 10 new players in the off-season to go along with six returners — among them star guard Matthew Murrell. Murrell has led Ole Miss in scoring each of the last three years.

Mikeal Brown-Jones, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward, is one of the decorated newcomers. He’s a transfer from UNC-Greensboro signed by Ole Miss in the off-season. Brown-Jones was a member of an Ole Miss portal class ranked by On3 as the 14th-best in all of college basketball.

Brown-Jones began his career at VCU and has one year of eligibility remaining. He averaged 18.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for the Spartans last season. Brown-Jones was named first-team All-Southern Conference.

Ben Garrett of the Ole Miss Spirit (OMSpirit.com) sits down one-on-one with MBJ to discuss his unique journey to Ole Miss, how he’s adjusted to Oxford’s small-town environment, the Rebels’ NCAA Tournament chances and much, much more.

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