Jarkell Joiner is one of the better transfers in the market this offseason. He returns home to Ole Miss basketball in a big pickup for the future.
In the last few years, Ole Miss basketball has been led by great guard play. Stefan Moody, Deandre Burnett along with Breein Tyree and Terence Davis have been the Rebels’ stars in recent years and it figures to continue for a while.
But the program will have to find their next set of talented guards for the future. Davis, the Rebels leading rebounder and passer this season, has graduated, while Tyree has entered his name into the 2019 NBA Draft. There’s a very good chance he’ll return but since the guard will be leaving after next season regardless, preparations will have to be made by the Rebels to not suffer from a lack of talent overall on the guard line.
The transfer market is a great way to bring in proven players in Division 1 Basketball and there’s plenty available, with over 700 currently in the transfer portal. With around half being guards, there has to be at least one the Rebels could find to make an impact. And they did with Jarkell Joiner.
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The 6’1 guard made an instant impact out the gate at Cal State Bakersfield, immediately starting and putting up double-figure scoring numbers. Joiner elevated his game as a sophomore, averaging 15.6 ppg on 45% shooting from the field.
Joiner shot the ball well from deep (37%) and showed a potential to put up massive points in a single game, evident by his career-high 34 points in a win at Cal Baptist. Joiner was named First-Team All-WAC for his efforts and was the clear go-to guy for the Roadrunners on offense.
There was a bit of luck involved with the Rebels getting Joiner, as he’s an Oxford native. Not too many advantageous situations occur like this on the transfer market for a team and who knows if Ole Miss would’ve even been interested in him without his breakout sophomore campaign.
He’ll have to sit out a year (barring an unexpected waiver from the NCAA) and will likely be a starting guard for Coach Kermit Davis, along with Class of 2019 four-star guard recruit Austin Crowley for the 2020-21 basketball season.
Joiner won’t receive much national fanfare and due to him sitting out, isn’t going to be on many minds nearly two years from now. But don’t underestimate the impact he’ll have down the road after these current Ole Miss guards are gone.
The Rebels might not be able to bring in the top-50 recruits like Kentucky, LSU, and other SEC teams, but that won’t stop them from bringing in the necessary talent needed to remain viable moving forward.