It is the Monday following the end to a historic Ole Miss Basketball season in which the Rebels made their second-ever Sweet 16 appearance and came up just short against the Michigan State Spartans from making it to the Elite 8.
In the current age of college athletics, coaches have little rest following a season, and that is the case here, as Chris Beard is already getting to work to build next season's roster. The Rebels will lose a ton of players from the current roster due to losing eligibility, which does not count any players who elect to transfer.
The first part of building the roster will be attempting to retain Malik Dia, who developed into a star player on this team and will undoubtedly test the pro waters. You also have the two returning freshmen, John Bol and Eduardo Klafke. Finally, you have the two incoming Top 100 players, Tylis Jordan and Patton Pinkins.
However, much of this team will be built through the transfer portal, and the first visitors will be arriving on campus today. One is 6'10 Utah Valley forward Carter Welling. He averaged over 13 points and had five rebounds per game in the WAC this season. Welling is rated as the 78th-best player currently in the portal by 247Sports.
The marque visitor of the day is Creighton PG Pop Issacs. Beard and the Rebels are also the clear favourites before he steps foot in Oxford, receiving predictions to land Issacs from several major publications. Issacs is currently ranked as the 30th-best player in the portal.
NEWS: Pop Isaacs will visit Ole Miss today his agency PNW Sports Group told @TheAthleticCBB
— Tobias Bass (@tobias_bass) March 31, 2025
In 8 games played at Creighton, he averaged 16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game pic.twitter.com/FhbEAygUSX
He averaged nearly 17 points per game, five rebounds, and four assists in his shortened season at Creighton due to injury. Before his one season in Omaha, Issacs played for current Ole Miss assistant Mark Adams at Texas Tech. When Pop entered the portal last year, there was a significant buzz around him coming to Oxford, but it never materialized. It looks like the second time might end up with him in the red and blue.
Stay tuned here as the portal will continued to roll at a rapid pace and Beard attempts to retool for another run in March.