Ole Miss Basketball Adds NAIA All-American Myles Burns
OXFORD, Miss. — On Saturday, Ole Miss gained another commitment to its 2022 recruiting class as Myles Burns, a 6-foot-6 forward pledged the Rebels. Burns, who spent the last four seasons playing at Loyola University New Orleans, joins Jayveous McKinnis as the second transfer commitment this offseason.
Burns’ announcement came via Twitter: “Thank you Loyola for everything you have meant to me over the past 4 years. What a journey it has been! I will never forget the national championship we won together. With that being said, I would like to announce my commitment to Ole Miss.”
Loyola will always have a special place in my heart and I love everybody in the community💯 but after a lot of thought I’ve decided to commit to @OleMissMBB @OleMissSports #hottytoddy #OleMiss pic.twitter.com/Et1TdRMCjN
— Myl3s_3 (@21_mjb) April 17, 2022
Burns at Loyola
Burns joins the Rebels with one-year of eligibility remaining. A second-team NAIA All-American, Burns helped lead Loyola to an NAIA National Championship this past season, the program’s first championship since 1945 when they won the NAIB tournament.
In this year’s NAIA tournament, Burns won the Chuck Taylor Award as tournament MVP after averaging 19.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG, and 5.2 STL. In the 71-56 win over Talladega College, he recorded an impressive 17-points, 17 rebounds double-double.
Loyola finished the season with a 37-1 record.
In his past three seasons, Burns earned All-American honors three times as an Honorable Mention. The one game the Wolf Pack lost was a 73-92 matchup against Faulkner college where Burns had to sit out due to COVID-19. When the two teams met later in the season, Burns almost recorded a triple-double with 21 PTS, 9 REB, and 10 STL, in a 121-69 Loyola victory.
Defensive Anchor
Burns played a major role as the defensive anchor for Loyola this year. This past season, after notching 152 steals, he won the Marquese Haynes Award, honoring the player with the most total steals in college basketball, regardless of competition level.
During the year, Burns not only led the Wolf Pack in steals but also led the team in rebounding. He averaged 14.5 Points, 8.9 Rebounds, and 4.5 Steals per game.
In his career at Loyola New Orleans, Burns and the Wolf Pack played six exhibitions games against Division I opponents, and he played significant minutes in five of those contests (McNeese St., Tulane, UL-Lafayette, Southern Miss, and New Orleans). In those games, Burns averaged 14.8 PPG and 8.2 RPG.
- McNeese State (Nov 16th, 2018)
- 16 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL in 36 min
- 79-78 Win
- Tulane (Nov 1st, 2018)
- 13 PTS, 11 REB
- 85-74 Loss
- UL-Lafayette (Dec 5th, 2018)
- 14 PTS, 7 REB, 3 STL, 3 BLK in 32 min
- 84-87 Loss
- Southern Miss (Dec 28th, 2020)
- 13 PTS, 9 REB, 2 BLK
- 54-74 Loss
- University of New Orleans
- 18 PTS, 7 REB, 2 AST, 6 STL in 32 min
- 80-72 Win
Coming out of high school, both Rivals and MaxPreps listed Burns at 6-foot-3. He attended Lamar High School in Houston where he was a two-sport star, excelling in both football and basketball. On the basketball side, he earned First Team All-Defensive honors. That being said, he still averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds per game.
In an interview with The Buzz Magazine’s Kevin McKenna while in high school, Burns described his best attributes as a player.
“I feel like I’m very well-rounded and can do a lot of things at a high level on the basketball court, but I feel like my willpower is my best attribute. I could be completely gassed, but I’d still run for that one loose ball because that’s what it takes to win.”
Myles Burns
Ole Miss 2022 Commits
The 2022 Ole Miss class now has five members in it. Burns joins McKinnis, Amaree Abram, TJ Caldwell, and Robert Cowherd. The Rebels still have one available scholarship for the next year with Jarkel Joiner entering the portal earlier this week.
With the additions of McKinnis and Burns, head coach Kermit Davis has added some athletic defenders with high motors — something at the top of his list.
McKinnis and Burns bring seven conferences Defensive Player of the Year awards to the Rebels’ roster. Two years ago, Ole Miss bolstered one of the top defenses in the SEC with a group that was atop the SEC in multiple statistical categories.
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Hotty Toddy!
(Feature image credit: Lee Ann Herring, The Rebel Walk)
TJ Oxley
TJ Oxley is the Vice President of Operations and the Director of Community Relations for The Rebel Walk. He is also the Director of Basketball Content and Senior Basketball Writer. He has over five years of experience providing in-depth analysis of college basketball through multiple platforms. A former MBA graduate of Ole Miss, TJ started with The Rebel Walk in 2019.
