Ole Miss men’s basketball has an almost entirely new roster for the upcoming season, including several players who arrived only a couple months ago.
Three returning players are all that’s left from last year’s team that went 15-20 overall and 4-14 in SEC play.
That group includes Ilias Kamardine, who started all 35 games and averaged 11.3 points and 3.7 assists, and Patton Pinkins, who averaged 9.3 points as a freshman.
The only other returning Rebel is Zach Day, who appeared in 18 games.
Everything else is new. Ben Henshall was cleared less than two weeks ago.
There’s talent, but plenty of questions, and it shows in the SEC Preseason Media Poll.
No Ole Miss player made any of the three All‑SEC teams, and the Rebels were picked to finish 13th.
That’s ahead of LSU and Mississippi State, if that helps soften the blow.
If there’s a gripe to be had, it’s Kamardine being left off the All‑SEC teams. He wasn’t always the best player on the floor, but he started every game, averaged double figures, led the team with 47 steals and ranked fourth with 13 blocks.
Of course, none of this matters beyond bulletin‑board material. Predictions are usually wrong, and breakout players tend to come from places nobody expects.
SEC Media Preseason Polls
Predicted Order of Finish
- Florida
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Vanderbilt
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Texas A&M
- Auburn
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- Mississippi State
- South Carolina
Preseason Player of the Year
- Thomas Haugh (Florida)
Preseason All-SEC First Team
- Rueben Chinyelu (Florida)
- Juke Harris (Tennessee)
- Thomas Haugh (Florida)
- Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State)
- Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt)
Preseason All-SEC Second Team
- Amari Allen (Alabama)
- Alex Condon (Florida)
- Milan Momcilovic (Kentucky)
- Jordan Smith Jr. (Arkansas
- Matas Vokietaitis (Texas)
Preseason All-SEC Third Team
- PJ Haggerty (Texas A&M)
- Malachi Moreno (Kentucky)
- Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn)
- David Punch (Texas)
- Billy Richmond III (Arkansas)
