Ole Miss Basketball Looking to Fill the Need at Center With Nikita Konstantynovskyi a Option For the Rebels

Monmouth transfer Nikita Konstantynovskyi will visit Ole Miss on May 7, and other teams are still pushing for his commitment.

Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard has done an excellent job building the roster after a disappointing end to the 2023-24 season. Though no depth chart has been released, the rotation at each position looks pleasing to the eye for the most part. However, Beard's lack of depth at center is a slight concern.

One player Beard has his eye on is Monmouth transfer Nikita Konstantynovskyi, who is set to visit Oxford on May 7. The 6-foot-10, 245-pound big is a native of Ukraine, starting his college career at Tulsa.

In his one season with the Hawks, Konstantynovskyi averaged 9.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, playing in 33 games and averaging 23.5 minutes. Ole Miss struggled in the rebound department last season, costing them dearly down the stretch.

Beard had Jamarion Sharp and Moussa Cisse rotate at the center position for most of the 2023-24 season. However, both players struggled, averaging just 4.4 rebounds per game. Allen Flanigan led the team with 6.1 rebounds per game.

Beard would love to get a commitment from Konstantynovskyi, a player who could help the Rebels improve drastically in rebounds. The Ole Miss head coach has shown if he gets a player on campus that he wants, he has a high hit rate of getting them to commit to the program in the days after the visit.

Teams like Stanford and Indiana are also interested in acquiring Konstantynovskyi, so the May 7 visit could be pivotal for Ole Miss basketball.