Chris Beard Goes on At-Home Visit with UTSA Point Guard

OXFORD, Miss. — As college basketball season winds down and the Elite Eight is set, the transfer portal is still going full steam ahead. Ole Miss has been very active so far in the portal, and that momentum has not slowed down. Per On3’s Joe Tipton, Beard has recently had an in-home visit with Jordan Ivy-Curry, the No. 24 point guard in the transfer portal class.

Ivy-Curry, a senior guard from LaMarque, Texas, recently finished up his junior season at UTSA. The Texas native committed to UTSA right out of high school, and played two seasons with the Roadrunners in San Antonio before transferring out west to Pacific for his junior season. At Pacific, Ivy-Curry’s numbers and playing time took a little bit of a dip, and he decided to transfer back to UTSA. 

In his senior season with the Roadrunners, Ivy-Curry was only able to play half the season due to the two-time transfer rule that inhibited Brandon Murray and Moussa Cisse; however, that did not slow Jordan Ivy-Curry down. The senior averaged 17.1 PTS, 5.2 REB, and 3 AST per game in only 21 games played. Ivy-Curry led the Roadrunners in scoring and came off the bench for head coach Steven Henson’s squad. Despite coming off the bench, Ivy-Curry had a team high usage rate of 32.6% which is extremely high and in the 99th percentile among all players in the country.

The 6-foot-2 point guard is a player who would be a fantastic fit coming off the bench as a 6th man for Chris Beard’s squad, and he is a player who could run the offense and not be scared with the ball in his hand.

The point guard has the ability to score in bunches off the bench, shown in his 17.1 PTS per game with UTSA, and he is an excellent passer, carrying a 25.1% assist rate. He is the type of scorer who can score at all three levels (around the rim, mid-range, and three point range), but he specializes in playing downhill and getting to the rim.

Last season, Ivy-Curry scored 26% of all his FGAs at or near the rim. The shifty guard has the speed and quickness to blow by perimeter defenders and challenge defenders at the rim. Because of his ability to get to the basket, he also averaged around 5 free throw attempts per game, converting on 79.6% of those. 

He is also very deadly playing out of pick-n-roll scenarios. Thirty-two percent of his baskets were scored out of PNR plays as he is deadly while driving to the rim and an effective three point scorer with deep range. Ivy-Curry would slot in nicely on the Rebels bench, as they really struggled with scoring this past season. He would be a much-needed spark plug to ignite the Rebel bench.

Outside of his at-home visit with Chris Beard, the 24-ranked point guard also had a zoom meeting with Virginia Tech. The senior has also been contacted by high majors such as Kentucky, Auburn, Seton Hall, LSU, Texas A&M, and Virginia. 

Stay tuned for more transfer portal updates, and look for many more transfers setting their sights on visiting Oxford this spring. Make sure to keep track of all of the different players Coach Beard and his staff have reached out to so far on our Transfer Portal Tracker.