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Brakefield leaves lasting Ole Miss legacy, begins pro journey in Japan

Ben Garrettby: Ben Garrett07/09/25SpiritBen
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Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla and forward Jaemyn Brakefield (Photo credit: Ole Miss Basketball/X)

Jaemyn Brakefield on Wednesday became the latest Ole Miss basketball Rebel to receive a professional opportunity.

Brakefield is headed to Nara, Japan, after signing to play for the Bambitious Nara of the Japan Professional Basketball League. They’re in the B.League in Japan’s Second Division.

Brakefield wrapped his decorated Ole Miss career in March. The Rebels, who won 24 games, snapped a six-year NCAA Tournament drought and made their 10th all-time appearance. They also matched the program’s greatest-ever single-season accomplishment by reaching the Sweet 16.

Brakefield scored in double figures for three straight seasons at Ole Miss. He came off the bench in all but one game as a senior and was second on the team in scoring (11.1 per game). His 36 games played are tied for the most in a single season in school history.

He’s fourth all-time in career games played (133).

“I love him,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said of Brakefield in March and following the Rebels’ second win over a Top 4 team last season, a first for the program. Brakefield scored 19 in the second half, including the game-winning put-back. “I love the way he plays. I love his game. 

“He’s patient, and everything he did with his shot fakes, driving. We wanted him to shoot threes. If you want a guy to shoot a three, why would you ever take a shot fake? We kept leaving our feet, and he doesn’t need much room. He’s a really good angle player. Got great hands. He’s a terrific player. He had his way with us. Whatever he wanted to do. 

“You let a player like that start feeling good, that rim opens up for him, [gets] bigger. But he really fought hard to get space where he wanted it, which really good players do.”

Brakefield played four seasons at Ole Miss following a freshman year spent Duke. 

He’s 18th in program history in career scoring. 

Brakefield was one of two Rebels — the other being guard Sean Pedulla — who participated in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a postseason, pre-NBA Draft camp restricted to college basketball seniors. 

Pedulla was named to the All-Tournament team and earned an invite to the G-League Elite camp. He signed an Exhibit-10 contract with the Portal Trailblazers and will compete in summer league with an invite to training camp.

Brakefield averaged a double-double in three games in Portsmouth.

“It means a lot, obviously just sticking around and seeing the growth,” Brakefield said after Ole Miss’ Sweet 16 loss to Michigan State. “Even off the court, in the community, just engagement in general. Oxford is a beautiful place, and I’m glad that we were able to execute.”

“Brakefield, you guys might have heard us tell this story, but he basically helped us put this team together,” now-third-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said. “He was part of every official visit, almost every initial phone call and Zoom. He had his hands all over this team. I don’t know what Brake’s going to do later in life, but the minute he tells me he wants to coach, he has a job — although I’ll try to do everything I can to discourage him to do that.”

Matthew Murrell was Brakefield’s long-time Ole Miss running-mate. He’s still recovering from the knee injury that hampered him all last season. However, he signed an Exhibit-10 contract with the Utah Jazz after the draft. Dre Davis received a Summer League invite from the Brooklyn Nets.

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