Chris Beard and Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Break New Ground with Commitment from Former G League Guard TJ Clark
OXFORD, Miss. — The introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreements, along with revenue sharing in college athletics, has not only transformed the landscape but also blurred the lines between amateur and professional athletes. This shift is particularly evident in college basketball, where players from the G League are now eligible to participate in college programs. Ole Miss has received a commitment from former G League guard TJ Clark, as was announced this week.
The NCAA has ruled that G League players are not considered professionals under its current regulations. As a result, these players can become eligible for college basketball as long as they are within five years of their high school graduation. However, eligibility may be jeopardized if a player has gone through the NBA draft process or previously signed an NBA contract.
Many college programs are now taking advantage of this new opportunity to strengthen their rosters. Notably, Chris Beard and the Ole Miss Rebels have joined in with their commit from Clark. Sources indicate Clark will not be eligible to play until next season.
TJ Clark has committed to OLE MISS 🚨 @AllGas23
The 6’3” guard played with the YNG Dreamerz during the 2022-23 season before playing with the Ontario Clippers & Texas Legends 🔥
He is expected to have 2 years of eligibility if approved by the NCAA per @JoeTipton pic.twitter.com/MzgmPSwz7F
— Overtime Elite (@OvertimeElite) December 13, 2025
The 22-year-old, standing at 6-feet-3, is expected to arrive in Oxford with two years of eligibility pending NCAA approval. Clark’s recent experience includes stints with Overtime Elite, the NBA G League, and the Mexican professional team Rayos de Hermosillo.
Clark is only the fourth G League player to join a college program thus far.
The Journey
A native of Georgia, Clark attended New High School before joining Overtime Elite from 2021 to 2023. He then entered the NBA G League for the 2023-2024 season, playing for both the Ontario Clippers and Texas Legends. During his time with the Clippers, he averaged 3.9 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game while shooting 48.4% from the field. He was later traded to the Texas Legends, where he improved his averages to 4.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game with a shooting percentage of 41.5%.
In the following season (2024-2025), Clark took his talents to Mexico as a member of Rayos de Hermosillo in one of Mexico’s premier leagues—the Circuito De Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacifico. There he made a significant impact by averaging 10.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 42% from the field and hitting 34% from three-point range.
While Clark will not be available to suit up for Ole Miss this season due to pending eligibility status, his addition represents a strategic move for a program seeking innovative ways to enhance its roster talent as it prepares for future competition.
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Herring-Olvedo sees college football the way championship programs do—from inside the personnel room. Every evaluation, every roster move, every recruiting battle tells a bigger story about identity, culture, and how a program is built to win in December, not just July.
With more than 15 years covering the SEC and the national recruiting landscape, Herring-Olvedo has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most respected personnel-driven voices—blending film evaluation, roster construction, and long-term program vision through a true front-office lens. Her coverage of powerhouse brands like Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcatshas consistently gone beyond headlines, focusing instead on the blueprint behind winning programs: development, fit, culture, and recruiting strategy.
That foundation was formed early at Brown University, where she worked in player personnel and recruiting while competing as a student-athlete. Inside those recruiting operations rooms, she learned how elite organizations are truly built—through relentless evaluation, relationship building, projection, and trust in the board. Those experiences shaped the way she studies the game today: part scout, part storyteller, part architect.
Her analysis and reporting have appeared across major platforms including ESPN, NFL coverage spaces, USA Today Sports, and Saturday Down South. She also brought her personnel-minded approach to the airwaves as an on-air analyst for the Wake Up 502 College Football Show on Big X Sports Radio 96.1, where she became known for combining film-room detail with a wider understanding of roster identity and program trajectory.
In 2025, covering the rise of Houston Cougars football under Willie Fritz reignited the part of the sport that first drew her into football—the culture, the edge, the belief that a roster can reshape an entire city. That inspiration led to the launch of Coogs 365 Sports, a platform built to cover Houston athletics through a true scouting and recruiting lens while connecting the emotion of the game to the heartbeat of H-Town.
Now, Herring-Olvedo returns to The Rebel Walk where with an even deeper perspective shaped by years inside recruiting circles, national SEC coverage, and hands-on evaluation experience. Her return brings a familiar voice back to Ole Miss coverage—but with an evolved lens rooted in roster architecture, player development, and the modern realities of building championship-caliber football in the NIL and portal era.
For Herring-Olvedo, recruiting has never been about stars beside a name. It is about identifying competitors, projecting growth, and building a locker room capable of sustaining success. Her philosophy mirrors the best front offices in football: stack traits, trust culture, and never stop building.
