Transcript: Everything Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said in this week’s presser

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard met with media Tuesday and discussed everything from upcoming roster-limit changes to studying the NBA Finals for takeaways for his Rebels team.

Here’s everything Coach Beard had to say: 

Question: I don’t know if we’ve asked you this, but your thoughts of just y’all getting to expand by two scholarships from 13 to 15. Does that play into any kind of coaching philosophy of adding or not really at all?

Coach Beard: Well, they basically have taken away the walk ons. And so we’ve always had really, really quality walk ons in our program. You know, guys that are working towards getting a scholarship. We’ve never really had any different expectations for those guys than the guys that are on scholarship. They’ve all been players for those years. We’ve had so many guys that weren’t on scholarship be in our rotations and be meaningful players. So, you know, if the rule would have been you still can have walk ons in 15 scholarships, I think it probably would have impacted the overall game a little bit more. So this year, it’s my understanding you’ll see some teams that have more than 15 players on the roster, because guys that were walk ons in the past are kind of grandfathered in. I think the future of the sport appears to be we have 15 guys and I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about why that is. With the monetary stuff and all that. But I think from, from basketball standpoint, um, you know, the more depth you have, the better, over the course of the years, a couple of guys are banged up, can’t practice. And as a coach, when you hit those first couple of days, we only have 11 guys. That impacts your practice. So, I would like to see many players get the opportunity to play at this level. But under the current rules, I think they’re trying to make it a clear cut 15 when this cycle of walk ons is done.

Question: How did the NC state series come about? How pleased were you to get it done?

Coach Beard: Yeah, just our quest to, you know, try to play the best teams in the country. Um, and then a lot of a lot of respect for Will, what he’s done along the way in his coaching spots, most recently with McNeese. And so proud of Brandon Murray, what he did there last season. But, a chance to play a BCS opponent. With the coaching staff, we have a lot of respect for how they play the game. We know they’ll be an NCAA tournament team this year, in my opinion, kind of like the way I felt about Louisville last year.

Question: Where will the return game be played? Has that been determined yet?

Coach Beard: Basically just has to be neutral. In the state of Mississippi. It’s a complex thing. I think as coaches, I just speak for myself. It’s all I can do. But I much prefer those games to be on campus. You know, the home and home of college basketball. But it’s very challenging in today’s scheduling format. You know, the criteria that you look at all year to get to the NCAA tournament, there’s higher value placed on neutral site games. So that’s why you see that I think a lot in college. I think in my opinion, something needs to be done for that. It’s got to be something where programs are rewarded for the old school home and home because you want your season ticket holders and your students to enjoy that part of college basketball. Now, here in Oxford, we’re blessed. Whether we take that game to Southhaven or Tupelo or Jackson,we’ve got some locations here with some great cities and some great facilities. But I don’t know exactly where that will be returned to.

Question: So that’s why we’ve seen teams like Duke and maybe Arkansas, they’re playing in Chicago or something. It’s because of the value on neutral games?

Coach Beard: Yeah. I think one reason. Yes. I mean, the first thing is, you know, instead of starting like a two year series, you can play somebody like that, um, in a one time pop. Um, obviously there’s some money generating ways with those games as well. Um, but I think one of the equations now is, Um, you know, we’re all looking for quad one games. Uh, we’re trying to stay away from the the quad threes and even the quad twos. Um, and you just in some cases, you get the game is more valued. So for us last year, um, I think I’m accurate in saying this. Uh, the Colorado State game ended up being a quad one game for us. Um, because of the season they had, um, and we did our part of that deal too. So it was a great game for both teams.

Question: What have you liked so far? I guess in two plus weeks with AJ (Storr) and what he’s been able to do during practices so far?

Coach Beard: Yeah, I just believe in AJ. I know his story a lot more than the next guy, spent a lot of time getting to know him and his family and understand his path. I think when you look at it on paper, it’s easy to kind of misunderstand that. But his moves along the way….Covid cost him one of his high schools and then one of his high school programs got shut down. Then as a senior, you know, you get a chance to go play at a national high school. You know, that’s what you do. There’s not a lot to think about there. In some cases, did a great job for Mike at Saint John’s. He’s one of the best freshmen in college basketball. And there was a coaching change and certainly, I think, every decision along the way, it was a lot of things were out of his control. And so that’s the first thing about AJ. You know, you get to know AJ, the person, the human being, the player. And then just the intel was off the charts. I mean, every single person we talked to, from high school coaches to summer coaches to his college coaches. I mean, it’s just like a broken record. You know, this isn’t a good a good kid. This is a great kid. This is a an outstanding young man. This is a guy that his teammates loved to play with. The coaching staffs love to coach him. So he’s just a talented guy. Um, and I think, um, you know, I think he’s got a huge chip on his shoulder right now, which has always been something that I kind of strive for, trying to find motivated people, whether it be coaches on our staff or people in our organization or certainly the players. Um, but I think, you know, AJ is not a big talker. Uh, he lets his game speak for itself. Um, but I’m very confident that that he’s going to write his story this year to kind of clear up any kind of confusion about him that might be out there, uh, which in my opinion, is totally inaccurate. It’s a really good player. It’s proven it over many years. He’s a great person. He’s a great teammate. He’s a talented guy. You know, he’s a six-five guard that can play inside and out. He plays defense. Um, you know, we really believe in him. And I was really pleased when he, you know, he trusted us with his last year college basketball.

Question: Your teams have always been known for being really defensive minded. Um, whether that’s fair, universally or not is probably up for debate. I guess your teams want to be very good defensively. I know it’s not apples to apples, but the NBA finals just ended two elite defensive teams getting all the way to game seven. Is there anything that you take as just an observer of basketball?

Coach Beard: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, we’re watching as many clips uh, from this year’s finals right now with our team than we are anything else. Um, I think first, the Oklahoma City defense from really opening night until game seven was, um, it was much talked about and deservingly. So, um, a lot of positional type stuff, their ability to switch, uh, and switch back, uh, the pressure they put on the ball, they’re just very aggressive. Um, what I would say is, and I think some people shared this opinion is, uh, was the season started going on? I mean, the Pacers were in the same category. I mean, uh, the Pacers defense was was just outstanding in the playoffs. Um, you know, individual players making plays. The help and rotation. So um, yes, we’ve always studied the NBA finals with our team because it always coincides with summer starting. We’ve always studied USA basketball when they’re playing in the Olympics or the World Championships or whatever. That’s always been a part of our summer journey. But this year, as much as ever, you know, I think we’ve got enough video to work it all the way to the last day of the summer, too. So we’re kind of on game six and seven right now, and we’ll end up getting back to game one through five with our team. Lots of parallels to what we try to do. Also, lots of things that we’re considering adding to our defense. You know, based on what we saw in this year’s NBA season.

Question: Grayson (Hobert) was one of the later additions for y’all in this class. What is it that jumped out to you and watched him over there?

Coach Beard: Yeah, I just, first of all, Deuce played for really good coaches. He played for Wes, his brother, in junior college, one of the best coaches in college basketball has been doing it a long time. Um, so, you know, we’re always looking for guys that have been coached. Um, and then certainly, you know, last year, uh, Coach Nut’s been doing this a long time, and, uh, Deuce and those guys, you know, they won championships, they played in NCAA tournaments. And he just established himself as a really good player. Um, I think it’s personal for me as well. Um, you know, my Division two background. Let’s see. Incarnate word, Abilene Christian, uh, McMurry Angelo state. Um, you know, I’m proud I’m proud to be associated with Division two basketball, some of the best players and the best coaches, um, that I ever competed against and competed with. Uh, we’re in Division two, and I think this year’s, uh, job cycle. Um, I think I think I’m accurate in saying this. I think, uh, maybe four Division two coaches got Division one job opportunities this cycle. And, um, that doesn’t surprise me. And so for us to get, uh, Duce from knowing where he’s been and the sacrifices that he’s made to play college basketball. I think he’s another guy like AJ. It’s got a little bit of chip on his shoulder. Um, you know, we value that around here. He’s a talented guy. You know, pound for pound. Uh, one of, if not the best athlete on our team, just in terms of measurables and athleticism. Uh, I’m excited to coach him. It’s got a huge ceiling. Um, only got one year with him to get that done. So I think we both feel the urgency to to, uh, to see if we can’t work really hard towards him finding a role in this year’s team.

Question: I asked him this, but what will be the biggest challenge for him making that adjustment from that level to this level, just on a day to day basis?

Coach Beard: Yeah, I think in my opinion, it’s, um, you know, on on his previous teams, uh, last year, uh, he had a lot of responsibility. Um, I think at this level, um, you know, his role will be a little bit more defined. So we want to keep him aggressive. Uh, we don’t want to turn him down at all. We want to, um, you know, see if he can do all the things he’s done in the past, see if it translates. But at the same time, he doesn’t need to press. He just needs to kind of play the game and try to find a role for us that starts on the defensive end. And, you know, two weeks in, he’s shown an ability to really try to embrace that. Uh, I’ve only been around him for a couple of weeks. Uh, but he seems to be a guy, you know. You tell him what? What needs to be done and show him how we want it done. And then he does his best to try to do that. So he could be a real factor on this year’s team. Uh, we’ll see how it all plays out. Uh, he brings great value in practice every day. Um, you know, just with his maturity in terms of physicality. He’s a young grown man. And so, uh, you know, for some of our other guys to be able to practice against him every day, there’s value there. Uh, but I wouldn’t want to limit, you know, what? Deuce could maybe get done on the floor this year. Ultimately, he’ll have to earn that. He knows that, um, he’s not going to turn it over a day or a week or one good performance. He’s gonna have to do it through consistency. Uh, but we had a really transparent recruiting process with him. He had other options. Uh, other real options. Uh, but he chose to come to Ole Miss with no promises, just to, um, you know, an opportunity. So I respect that.

Question: I know you said you guys are watching, but did you guys get a chance to watch Sunday’s game, like, as a team? And, uh, obviously the next level as a goal for your players, is that a goal for yourself on the.

Coach Beard: So I think the guys, uh, watch the game on Sunday night together. Uh, we did not as a team. I think a lot of the guys watched it together. We’ve been showing clips of the game. Um, in terms of me, I got practice here in a couple hours, and I don’t think much ahead of that. Um, but what I would say is, I. I’ve been asked that a few times over the years. I don’t shy away from that. Um, one thing about me is I love coaching the best players, and I love being in the most, um, stressful moments in terms of competition. That’s what kind of fires me up. Um, and so, you know, I don’t know, I think, uh, if ever given the opportunity to coach the best players, um, I would never be one of these coaches that just said, no way. Um, try to try to just kind of answer questions on based on how I really feel today and not project what’s going to happen in the future. But, um, I love I’ve always loved the NBA team. Um, got some college guys that don’t watch it at all. Some guys that are obsessed with it. Um, I’m probably farther on the end of obsession because again, to me, it’s like it’s the best players. It’s the best coaches. It’s the best competition. And so to not to not take a look at that closely often I think is just foolish. Um, some of the things of the game don’t translate, but many of the things do. Uh, it’s really hard to find something that doesn’t translate. Um, what happens in the NBA normally kind of permeates down to college, in my opinion. Um, you know, I’ve seen it in my in my lifetime. You know, we used to all throw the ball into the post. Then we started setting ball screens. Now we’re playing with space. Uh, we value the lane being open on defense. Um, you know, the NBA was switching long before college was switching. So I think we’ve always been ahead of the curve a little bit in terms of that. And a lot of the, uh, the ideas and the things that we’ve done that we’ve gotten some praise for over the years. Um, when I say we certainly not me, but we a lot of it’s been MBA based, you know, our desire to keep the ball out of the middle of the floor years ago, uh, was just something that, uh, the NBA has been doing for a long time.

Question: Coach, how important are analytics for you in today’s game? Do you spend a lot of time going over the numbers and that sort of thing?

Coach Beard: Yeah, we got people on our staff that are really, really good at that. I get the kind of dumbed down version, um, so I, I believe in it for sure. Uh, anything that can give us a 1% advantage, I’m more than interested to spend time and looking at it. Um, I’m probably not as involved on a day to day basis. Uh, is that other people we can compete against? Uh, but we’re totally committed to that. Um, we try to share the information to the players and the most concise, efficient way ever. Um, a big part of our process is efficiency. We ask our players to do a lot. Um, and so we’re constantly on a quest to try to find out where the dead time is and eliminate that. You know, it’s like if a guy has to lift, go to the training room, go to the film room, shoot, work on his game team practice, eat four times a day. It’s a lot going on. So, uh, we try to make it as efficient as we can for the players. You know, we don’t lift at nine, then come back 30 minutes later and shoot. We we believe in efficiency, uh, with our players, with our summer process, with our team practices, with everything we do all the way down to our timeouts. And so one thing with the analytic game, I think once you get going on that, it can kind of become overwhelming. You know, it’s kind of hard to put down. Uh, so with our players, we try to give them the nuts and bolts. You know, we’d rather give them two minutes of real talk that they can absorb and go execute than give them, you know, two hours of a lecture that your head’s kind of spinning when you walk out, you know? I always thought the same thing with kind of like the motivational speaker that comes and everybody has a good message. But for us to ask our players to sit there and listen to somebody for an hour, it’s kind of self-defeating. So, um, the best motivational speakers we have are guys that come in and, you know, in 8 to 10 minutes, it’s one message, it’s three points. Um, and that way our players can walk up from that experience and walk away and maybe take some of that stuff and really put it into their life. So it’s kind of the old quality versus quantity do uh, which is coaches were always looking at, you know, like, you know, do you really want a guy going in the gym for five hours at night and shooting? That sounds awesome. Uh, but now we’re talking quantity versus quality. And so one thing we really, uh, value is, you know, let’s get things done. You know, if we’re going to practice today at 3:00 and we got 45 minutes on paper, let’s make sure we max out our 45 minutes. So kind of the same thing with analytics. I mean it’s a it’s a lot you know it’s it’s a lot to look at. But if we can get right down to the nuts and bolts of it, that’s what we try to present to our players.