Malik Dia, 4-Star Men’s Basketball Transfer, Set to Visit Ole Miss in April

OXFORD, Miss. — As the men’s basketball transfer portal action continues on, Chris Beard’s Ole Miss Rebels have been very active thus far in the portal. They have reached out to many different players from all across the country in hopes of boosting next year’s roster to the next level. Coach Beard now has a highly-rated prospect planning to visit Oxford in the near future.

Malik Dia, a junior forward, from Murfreesboro, Tennessee is the next big-time player to visit Oxford during this transfer cycle. Per On3’s Joe Tipton, Dia is scheduled to visit the Ole Miss Campus on April 12-14th. Dia, the 27th best player in the transfer portal, is the first player to visit Oxford this cycle. 

The 6-foot-9 forward from Belmont began his collegiate career with Vanderbilt, and was a three-star prospect out of high school. As a freshman with the Commodores, Dia only appeared in 20 games and averaged 2.6 PTS in 8.5 minutes played. Because of the lack of playing time and opportunities, Malik decided to transfer to crosstown, Belmont. 

With Belmont, Malik Dia’s numbers skyrocketed. In his sophomore campaign, the Tennessee native averaged 16.9 PTS, 5.8 REB, and 1.2 AST per game on 48.8% shooting. These numbers were good enough for Dia to earn All MVC-Third Team Honors. As his team’s second leading scorer, Dia ranked 6th in PPG in the MVC and 6th in FG%. He even ranked 3rd in FGAs, so even as a high-volume scorer he was very efficient. Dia had a usage percentage of 39.3% which was the highest amongst qualifying players in college basketball. 

Dia is the type of player who likes to play with his back to the basket. He attempted about 48% of his total shots around the rim while scoring 66% of those shots. Defensively, Dia does not have the shot-blocking capabilities that Jamarion Sharp possesses; however, Dia did average 1.4 blocks per 40 minutes; good enough for top 15 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Dia also has the ability to stretch the floor when need be and shoot the three-ball. Dia averaged around 4 three-point attempts per game and shot 34.4% on those three point attempts. He would slide in nicely to the 3 or 4 role on Beard’s squad because of his versatile offensive capabilities.

After Belmont’s season concluded, Dia decided to enter the transfer portal and enter his name in the NBA draft combine. With two seasons of eligibility remaining, Dia has many suitors around college basketball who would love to have his services for next season. Some of the programs that have contacted Dia are UCONN, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Virginia, USC, and many other top programs across the country. 

Dia is the first player to have a visit date set with Ole Miss in this transfer portal cycle. The Rebels have had in-person visits and zoom sessions with other potential prospects. More information on those will come out as we learn about it.

Stay tuned for more basketball transfer portal updates and visits with The Rebel Walk all offseason!