Ole Miss had lots of areas for improvement after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign and the improvements are, literally, hard to hide.
The Rebels needed to get bigger, stronger and more versatile in the frontcourt, and they went out and built a roster that looks noticeably different than the one they played with last year.
A season ago, the tallest options topped out at 6‑foot‑10. This year, depending on Micah Handlogten’s eligibility, Ole Miss could roll out two seven‑footers and another 6‑foot‑10 big who plays even bigger than his listed height.
Chris Beard likes that math.
“I like the group of bigs we have this year,” he said. “Stefan Cicic is a seven‑footer, Christian Brown is compositionally big and Roman Siulepa has good size. When you look at the depth and the individual ability, this is one of the better groups of bigs we’ve had over the years.”
That’s not Beard trying to sell something. It’s him acknowledging a real shift. Ole Miss didn’t add size because last season exposed some glaring weakness. Beard pushed back on that idea quickly.
“It was more about the conference we play in and what we’re trying to accomplish here,” he said. “I don’t think last season had much to do with saying we specifically needed to add one position or another. The compass for us is trying to win the Southeastern Conference.”
And in the SEC, size matters. It matters on the glass, at the rim, in ball screens, in transition and in the final two minutes of tight games. It matters when you’re trying to survive the physicality of January and February. Ole Miss didn’t just add height. It added competition.
Beard talks about that part almost as much as he talks about the players themselves.
“That’s one of the best things about practice,” he said. “You’re competing against each other every day, so everything works both ways. If we see a straight‑line drive to the basket, then something good happened offensively. Five seconds later, though, we’re asking what broke down defensively. When you have two talented players matched up against each other, that’s exactly what you want. Great players want daily competition. Iron sharpens iron.”
That’s where size becomes more than a roster line. When you have multiple bigs who can play, defend, rebound and challenge each other, the entire team benefits. Guards get used to finishing over length. Bigs get used to battling real size every day. Rotations tighten. Mistakes shrink. The margin for error grows.
Beard isn’t ready to say anyone has surprised him yet. He doesn’t operate that way.
“Our expectations for these guys are already very high,” he said. “We recruited these guys because we believe in them.”
But he’ll admit this much: Ole Miss is bigger, deeper and more equipped to handle the SEC’s frontcourt demands than it was a year ago. If Handlogten gets cleared, the Rebels will have two seven‑footers. If he doesn’t, they still have more size than they’ve had in years.
Either way, Ole Miss finally looks like a team built to match the league it plays in. And that alone could end up being one of its biggest strengths.
