Ole Miss’ Eduardo Klafke learning to lead — without losing sight of his own race

Ole Miss returns just two players who saw the floor last season — Malik Dia and Eduardo Klafke. 

The Rebels won 24 games and matched the program’s greatest-ever accomplishment by reaching the Sweet 16. Third-year head coach Chris Beard replenished the cupboard with the nation’s No. 19 transfer class, as well as three Top 100 recruits and former EuroBasket MVP Ilias Kamardine.

Klafke can tell a difference, too.

“We’ve got a really talented group,” Klafke said this week. “Long, athletic, position-less players. We’re really talented, and we’re just trying to learn how to play with each other right now. I think we’re more athletic than last year. Last year we had a lot of veteran guys. We were very smart. This year we’re obviously very athletic and long.”

Klafke played in all 36 games as an Ole Miss true freshman. He averaged 1.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 10 minutes per game as a rotational piece. 

Klafke averaged six minutes per game in the NCAA Tournament. His most extended action came in his eight minutes against North Carolina — a 71-64 Ole Miss win in the first round.

“I’m basically just trying to learn how to be a leader for this team,” Klafke said. “I’m not even trying to think too much ahead in the future, just trying to stay present and focus on how I can be better for my teammates. How can I pass out to them everything I learned last year? How can I be just a better person for them?”

Ole Miss signed Klafke in the 2024 recruiting class. 

He was ranked as the nation’s No. 120 player by On3 and chose the Rebels over, among others, Creighton and Xavier. Klafke enrolled in the spring of 2024.

“He’s somebody I really believe in,” Beard said. “What he did last year was really difficult to do. Klafke was probably one of about maybe 10 players or so in this league that was really a part of the rotation all year long. Klafke played in every half in every game. He played in meaningful moments and winning time. He was somebody we really trusted. Just a guy that really helped us win. I don’t think we have the season we had last year substituting Klafke for another player. 

“Now the opportunity is to take the next step. Being one of basically just two returners that played … it’s kind of natural for some people to just expect and anticipate a huge step. I hope that’s the case. There’s one person that’s in charge of that fate and that’s Klafke.”

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Klafke is the son of Rogério Klafke, who played professionally in Brazil. 

He won five club championships in the late 90s and early 2000s. He also competed at the 1994 FIBA World Cup, the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 1998 FIBA World Cup and the 2002 FIBA World Cup.

Eduardo Klafke is three semesters into his Ole Miss career. The Rebels are currently in the midst of summer workouts.

“He needs to be aggressive,” Beard said. “He needs to have high dreams and high goals for himself [and] urgency on a day-to-day basis. But he also has to have the discipline and maturity to kind of see long-term here and to run his own race. He’s had a good summer. He’s had some adversity, been banged up a little bit with nickel and dime injuries. They’ve kept him from all the practices, but he’s done a good job getting back on the floor. He’s on the floor right now.

“One of the best things about Klafke, for the most part, he embraces day-to-day. Tries to live where his feet are. Doesn’t get too high or too low, which is a challenge for him, because he’s very competitive. The Klafke our fans know that plays so hard on game night, he approaches practice like that, too. It’s just continuing to mature, continuing to get older. But he’s certainly a player if he continues to run his own race I have a lot of confidence in.”