Ole Miss is still waiting to find out what it’s final roster will look like.
Two players who were recruited to be significant contributors, Micah Handlogten and Corey Stephenson, are on campus, in class, practicing, learning the system and doing everything asked of them after forgoing an NBA path to return to college after the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility rule has been sued into an mess you need a law degree to understand.
But what we don’t know is if they’ll be able to play for Ole Miss this season.
Coach Chris Beard didn’t try to spin it when asked for an update.
“Micah and Corey are both here. Obviously, they’re in class and working on some graduate stuff they were actually interested in doing,” Beard said at a media availability Thursday. “In terms of the NCAA process, we know about as much as you guys know. We’re just controlling what we can control and keeping an open dialogue with those players. I think they’re bringing great value to our team, and I think we’re bringing great value to them in terms of their futures. But there’s no real update.”
That’s the reality. They’re here. They’re working. They’re fitting in. And everyone is waiting on someone else to make a decision.
The timing is what makes it tricky. Beard built this roster with the expectation of depth. Ole Miss didn’t stumble into late additions. They planned for them.
“Our roster was always a work in progress,” Beard said. “The additions that happened after the summer started weren’t late additions based on, ‘Man, he’s a good player.’ It was always part of our roster build to get to 14 or 15. We continued to recruit a lot of players around the world, not just the country, and then made decisions based on who was available and what was going on in the climate of college basketball.”
Handlogten and Stephenson were part of that plan. Their experience was supposed to raise the floor of the roster and help the younger players grow faster.
“When you go from 12 players to 15, your team gets better,” Beard said. “I think the experience of those three players has impacted a lot of guys. One example would be our younger players. I think our three freshmen have benefited greatly from having three veteran players with voices. But they’re the right guys. They fit into the team kind of seamlessly. They’ve made us better from Day 1 for sure.”
That’s the part that gets lost in the waiting. These aren’t fringe pieces. They’re players who have already made the team better in practice. They’ve already changed the way Ole Miss looks behind closed doors. But until the NCAA signs off, that impact stays behind those doors.
Beard didn’t hide the frustration.
“Frustrating is a fair word,” he said. “It’s just the time frame of when these things are going to be decided. We seek information daily through our compliance office and through our conference. Again, we’re just controlling what we can control. We’re no different than most other schools and programs around the country. But, yeah, to say it’s frustrating is accurate.”
Still, he isn’t worried about the season being defined by this. Ole Miss played 12 guys in Puerto Rico. He liked that group. He trust that group.
“We’re fine either way for sure,” Beard said. “That was the roster construction that we did. We had a really good group this summer. We played 12 players in Puerto Rico. I think these guys make us better because it’s just more depth, but they don’t necessarily impact what could be with our season.”
That’s the balance Ole Miss is living in right now. The Rebels know they can win with the roster they already have. They also know they’d be better with Handlogten and Stephenson available.
And until the NCAA decides, they’re stuck in the middle, practicing with two players who might be rotation pieces, might be difference makers, and might still be waiting when the season starts.
It’s not ideal. It’s not dramatic. It’s just the reality of college basketball right now.
