Beard: Ole Miss still in a holding pattern on Cisse and Murray eligibility waivers
Ole Miss head basketball coach Chris Beard took his turn at the SEC Media Day podium mid-morning on Wednesday.
Auburn transfer Al Flanigan was one of two player representatives (the other was star senior guard Matthew Murrell) the Rebels took to Birmingham, Alabama, where the event is held each year.
Naturally, then, Beard spent most of his opening minutes fielding questions about Flanigan, who, as he explained in a recent sit-down with the Ole Miss Spirit, has already established himself as a leader for the new-look Rebels. Ole Miss is looking to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Beard, by comparison, has led three separate programs (UALR, Texas Tech and Texas) to the tournament since 2016.
Eventually, Beard finally got around to the pressing issue facing his program with his debut Rebel season fast-approaching. Ole Miss has a free-admission exhibition against Tusculum October 30 before opening the 2023-24 campaign against Alabama State November 6.
The availability (read: playing) status of two other off-season transfer additions, Moussa Cisse (Oklahoma State) and Brandon Murray (Georgetown), are still completely up in the air. They’re each awaiting a granted waiver from the NCAA for one final season of eligibility.
RELATED: Matthew Murrell’s final Ole Miss supporting cast is new, but familiar. It’s also in flux.
Unfortunately, there’s no end in sight for their wait.
“Both guys, Moussa and Brandon, have attacked this situation, I think, with a lot of professionalism and a lot of maturity,” Beard began. “We have a truth-telling program. We don’t spend a lot of time in our organization trying to play mind games; we put it out there.
“Obviously a lot of unknowns right now, especially as the season approaches quickly. We have our first outside competition this weekend. On one hand, we talk about it (and) keep everything in the open air. But on the other hand, these guys are doing a great job of controlling what they can control — whether it’s practice or the individual workout or the academic piece of being a student-athlete.
“So, two-fold. We’re definitely not ignoring what’s going on with that. But, also, we’re just attacking each day and controlling what we can control.”
Cisse is a former five-star prospect with previous college stops at Memphis and Oklahoma State. He was the nation’s No. 17 player in his recruiting class, as well as the No. 2 center nationally and the No. 2 player in Tennessee. He averaged 6.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game for Oklahoma State last season.
Murray, a wing, is formerly of LSU and Georgetown. He put up 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Hoyas last season.
“Half the guys I’ve already known just throughout the years playing with them,” Murrell said, in a previous sit-down interview with the Ole Miss Spirit. “I’ve been playing against Al (Flanigan) the past couple of years while he was at Auburn. Brandon Murray, played against him when he was at LSU, (and) played against him in high school. Played against Moussa in high school. Austin (Nunez), same thing.
“Moussa’s one of the best shot-blockers in the country. Brandon, dynamic scorer. Austin’s really crafty with the ball. (Jamarion) Sharp’s one of the best shot-blockers.
“They all bring something to the team that we all can build off of.”
