Malik Dia Tabbed Preseason All-SEC Third Team by Media, Ole Miss Picked to Finish Eighth

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – (Release) The Southeastern Conference announced their media preseason poll and all-conference teams on Monday, selecting Ole Miss senior Malik Dia to the third team and choosing the team to place eighth in the SEC standings. Voting was conducted by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.

The Dia file

Dia returns to Ole Miss for his second year with the program after finishing third in scoring and leading the squad in rebounding a season ago. He started all 36 games for head coach Chris Beard in 2024-25, averaging 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per outing, helping lead the Rebels to 24 wins and their Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament.

He scored in double figures in eight of the last 10 games of the season for Ole Miss a year ago, including a 19-point and eight-rebound performance in the SEC Tournament win over Arkansas and 18 points and eight boards in their NCAA Tournament win over three-seed Iowa State.

Dia is joined on the preseason All-SEC Third Team by Aden Holloway of Alabama, Karter Knox of Arkansas, Jaland Lowe of Kentucky, and D.J. Wagner of Arkansas. The media members chose Kentucky guard Otega Oweh as the preseason Player of the Year.

Ole Miss finished in a tie for sixth place in last year’s SEC standings, picking up 10 conference wins. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament before taking down North Carolina and Iowa State en route to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

This year’s team kicks off the 2025-26 campaign with an exhibition on Sunday, October 26 at 11:30 a.m. in the SJB Pavilion against Saint Mary’s. Admission to the exhibition game is free. Their regular season begins at home in Oxford on Monday, November 3 when they host Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m.

First Team All-SEC
Alex Condon – Florida
Josh Hubbard – Mississippi State
Otega Oweh – Kentucky
Tahaad Pettiford – Auburn
Labaron Philon Jr. – Alabama

Second Team All-SEC
Nate Ament – Tennessee
Boogie Fland – Florida
Ja’Kobi Gillespie – Tennessee
Thomas Haugh – Florida
Mark Mitchell – Missouri

Third Team All-SEC
Malik Dia – Ole Miss
Aden Holloway – Alabama
Karter Knox – Arkansas
Jaland Lowe – Kentucky
D.J. Wagner – Arkansas

SEC Player of the Year
Otega Oweh – Kentucky

Predicted Order of Finish
1.      Florida
2.      Kentucky
3.      Tennessee
4.      Alabama
5.      Arkansas
6.      Auburn
7.      Missouri
8.      Ole Miss
9.      Texas
10.    Mississippi State
11.    Vanderbilt
12.    Oklahoma
13.    Texas A&M
14.    Georgia
15.    LSU
16.    South Carolina