Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Sets 2023-24 Roster
Chris Beard Finalizes His First-Year Roster Including a Strong Core of Returning Players, and Top-Ranked Transfers and Freshmen from Across the Country
OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) The Ole Miss men’s basketball 2023-24 roster has been set, composed of 16 student-athletes that will compete for first-year head coach Chris Beard and his staff.
The program returns the top two scorers from last season’s roster in veterans Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield.
After leading the team in scoring (14.4 points per game), minutes (34.3 minutes per game), and made three-pointers (62 made threes), Murrell returns to Oxford after testing the waters at the NBA G League Elite Camp this past summer. In three seasons with the Rebels, the elite scorer has amassed 925 points, 253 rebounds, 154 assists, 71 steals, and made 140 shots from beyond the three-point arc.
Brakefield will suit up for Ole Miss for his third season in 2023-24 after finishing second on the team in scoring last year with 11.1 points per game. The Jackson, Miss. native returns a combination of shooting and paint presence. Last season, Brakefield was perfect from three-point range in four contests where he made two or more, and recording a pair of double-doubles while averaging 5.7 rebounds per game.
Joining the returners is sophomore TJ Caldwell who was a standout freshman for Ole Miss just a year ago. In his first collegiate season, he saw action in 31 games and made seven starts, averaging 4.7 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists over 17.2 minutes per game.
A redshirt last season, Robert Cowherd will join the team this year after coming to Oxford as a four-star recruit out of Grayson, Ga. Cam Brent, a member of the practice squad for the Rebels last season, will round out the returning players.
Beard and staff were able to recruit a trove of players from the transfer portal this off season, bringing in seven new faces with previous college experience.
A former five-star recruit in the 2020 high school class, Moussa Cisse has established himself as one of the premiere defenders in the nation. He began his path at Memphis where he started all 28 games, averaging 6.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. Cisse then spent the last two seasons at Oklahoma State, leading the Big 12 in blocked shots in both seasons while earning two Big 12 All-Defensive Team honors and a conference defensive player of the year award.
Brandon Murray will make his return to the SEC after spending his freshman year at LSU and sophomore season at Georgetown. An impact player from the very beginning of his college career, he has started in all but one of his 60 games played during his career thus far. A selection to the 2022 SEC All-Freshman Team while at LSU, Murray went on to finish second on the team in scoring last year at Georgetown, averaging 13.7 points, and led the team in steals with 38.
Another new Rebel with SEC familiarity, Allen Flanigan comes to Oxford after spending four years at Auburn. A proven veteran, he brings nearly 1,000 career points and almost 500 rebounds to the program. Flanigan shined during his sophomore season, where he started all 27 games for Auburn and was the SEC’s most improved scorer, going from 3.2 points per game as a freshman to 14.3.
A standout both in a crowd and on the basketball court, Jamarion Sharp joins Ole Miss after spending the last two seasons at Western Kentucky. The seven-foot five-inch center is more than just a tall presence, as he has become one of the most prolific shot blockers in NCAA history. After averaging a staggering 4.36 blocks per game in 64 contests at Western Kentucky, Sharp currently ranks 10th all-time in college basketball history in that category.
A breakout player last season at Saint Peter’s, Jaylen Murray comes from his home state of New York to Mississippi to join the Ole Miss program. As a freshman, Murray, who commonly goes by Juju, played in 33 games and averaged 5.8 points. The guard returned last year as a sophomore and finished second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game, making a team-best 46 shots from three-point range.
Just two years removed from being a four-star recruit and the No. 57 player in the country according to Rivals.com, Austin Nunez will transfer to Ole Miss after a season at Arizona State. Playing in 28 games and drawing a pair of starts, Nunez led the Sun Devils in three-point field goal percentage at 37.7 percent and was named Pac 12 Freshman of the Week after dropping 15 points on No. 20 Michigan.
A Mississippi native, Cole McGrath will join the program after spending the previous four years at a pair of in-state schools. Appearing in 40 games for Northeast Mississippi CC for two years, McGrath transferred to Blue Mountain College, where he played in 53 games and made 29 starts.
Rounding out the 16 members of the 2023-24 roster, are four freshmen that are set to make an early impact for Ole Miss.
Freshman Rashaud Marshall joins the team from Blytheville, Ark., where he was rated the top high school recruit in the country according to 247Sports. He was listed as a four-star recruit by ESPN, 247Sports, and Rivals.
Hailing from Duncanville, Texas, Cameron Barnes joins the Rebels as a three-star recruit. Ranked as the 147th player nationally by Rivals, Barnes was a two-time national and three-time state champion during his high school career.
A three-star recruit and the top player in Mississippi according to ESPN, Jacob Gazzo was named to all-state teams in both Mississippi and Tennessee during high school. He most recently played at Parklane Academy and is a native of McComb, Miss.
Joining the Ole Miss program from across the country, Gavin Murphy hails from Calabasas, Calif. where he became the first player in his high school’s history to hit 100 three pointers and record 100 assists. He graduated as the school’s fourth-best scorer all time with 1,404 points.
Season tickets are now on sale and can be purchased by visiting OleMissTix.com.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
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