Everything Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said as summer workouts press on

Third-year Ole Miss men’s basketball coach Chris Beard on Wednesday met with local media to weigh in on summer workouts, the status of French signee Ilias Kamardine and a host of other topics.

The Rebels last season won 24 games and matched the program’s greatest-ever single-season accomplishment by reaching the Sweet 16.

Here’s what he had to say.

ON THE TEAM’S ‘SECRET’S IN THE DIRT’ MOTTO

Beard: We’ve got a select few things within our culture. Kind of want to try to keep the main thing the main thing. Less is more. We don’t want 14 slogans around here, but there’s some core values, and that’s definitely one of them. 

So, a story from that was, grew up being a Dallas Cowboys fan. Grew up in Irvin, basically kind of bicycle ride distance to the old Texas Stadium. Saw Michael Jackson there in concert. So, always kind of watched that program from afar, and then certainly with my time with coach [Bob] Knight, he was personal friends, maybe best friends, with Bill Parcells. Had some access and just always kind of followed that team. 

When we were at Texas Tech had some players on our team from the Dallas area as well. Got some Cowboys fans in the building. The story goes … Jason Witten, one of the best-ever players at his position, leader of that team, just the pro’s pro veteran. It’s my understanding when he decided to retire, training camp started the next season. Witten was back in the facility. The players he played with were excited he was back and the rookies and new players. It’s my understanding he wasn’t a big talker, wasn’t a big self-promoter. But they really encouraged him to come by and kind of see the team, the new guys.

BEARD: He kind of stood up and got that instant respect from the guys. Kind of standing-ovation-type moment.

Witt didn’t have a lot to say. But when he speaks, he means it. Basically his line was, ‘There are no secrets in this league. You’ve got to show up every day, and really the secret’s in the dirt.’ Obviously that means the secret’s in the day-to-day work. There are no secrets. When [Ole Miss strength and conditioning coach] John Reilly and myself heard that … just immediately kind of stuck.

We’ve always explained to our players we didn’t think there was any secrets, we’ve just got to work every day. Got to stack good days [and] good practices. Good games, good years sometimes. So, the ‘Secret’s in the dirt’ started on that team. We’ve used it to the present time.

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ON THE STATUS OF OLE MISS SIGNEE ILIAS KAMARDINE

Beard: Progressing well. Actually got some good news this week in terms of [Kamardine’s] academic component, his eligibility. One thing that is a challenge, not just for us at Ole Miss but around the country, is it’s always been a challenge, you know, giving the guys the I-20s so they can get the visas.

I’m not a political guy, I don’t know much. But I know that in today’s political climate, what’s going on the world with these I-20s and visas at the different embassies around the country. They’ve always taken a while. It’s always been a stressful time to get your player here as soon as possible. So, we have some challenges in that way, too. But we’re no different than a lot of other teams around the country that are relying on international players.

But short answer, it’s going well. Ilias has done everything he’s supposed to do. It’s in kind of other people’s hands now but we hope for him to be in Oxford sooner than later. We’re hoping he gets here real soon.

ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF OLE MISS SECOND-YEAR GUARD EDUARDO KLAFKE

Beard: He’s somebody I really believe in. First of all, what he did last year was really difficult to do. If you guys went back and looked at just in our league, all the SEC teams, and say each team’s got a Top 10 of players, that’s 160 players. 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. 

So, on a veteran team, for him to kind of carve out his role, how hard he played, how unselfish he was, he’s basically 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, him and [Malik] Dia, 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. But, also, you have to recognize that he’s still a young player. He’s got three years of eligibility left in college basketball. 

BEARD: He needs to be aggressive. He needs to have high dreams and high goals for himself [and] urgency on a day-to-day basis.

I support that. 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. He’ll play in tomorrow’s practice. But Klafke is a guy I have a lot of confidence in. Just gotta continue running his own race. 

Nobody can ever project how this thing works. We’ve had players in our program before we were literally talking about maybe redshirting in their best interest and they became one-and-done in the NBA Draft. We’ve had other guys we kind of forecast things might happen a little bit quicker [and] they end up being four or five-year players. You just don’t know.

BEARD: 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.

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ON OLE MISS STUDENTS RETURNING AND RECRUITING ENGAGEMENT

Beard: There’s different ways to build programs. Everybody does a little bit different. All I can speak for is how we do it. We’ve got four or five groups that are really important to us that we work on on a daily basis in a 12-month calendar. No group’s more important than our student body. We’re trying to create a home-court advantage in The Pavilion. The bloodline of that is always your student section. Season-ticket holders seem to show up more when the student section’s popping and the team’s winning. 

To me, there’s a direct relationship between attendance and environment and winning in college basketball. Find me someone that sells out their games and sold out student section, fun place to play, that’s not winning. It’s very difficult or impossible to find that.

Look at the teams in college basketball that are consistent winners year in and year out. Something that’ll pop up really quick in your study of that will be these people have great attendance. They sell out games, have a great environment. They’ve adapted, changed. Cutting edge in terms of game-day environment. So, that student body is important to us. We work on it all the time, whether it be small groups on campus, kids part of associations or clubs or fraternities or sororities or maybe they work on campus or they’re international students. We try to identify those groups and stay organized. 

BEARD: We’re just trying to have a relationship with the students.

We’re trying to encourage them that basketball, regardless of their past experience with basketball, can be a part of the college experience. It’s very similar to the SEC football model. Each Friday night and each Saturday in the Grove and game, there’s a lot of kids that might not have a passion for the sport of football per se. What’s going on on third down or special teams. But they have a passion for the school. They have a passion for being here and having the college experience and the football game is part of the college experience. 

Our thing is basketball can do that, too. Both semesters we have games. A lot of exciting opponents this year. So, just trying to get a relationship with the students. It’s a two-way relationship, too. We don’t view ourselves as people that are just always asking for you to help us — come to our game, support us. We also try to put a real effort into helping other groups on campus. I’m sure we’re not perfect. I’m sure there’s some opportunities we miss. But we pay attention to that — supporting the other organizations. 

It’s something important to us in the big picture of trying to educate or players to get the most out of the college experience. It’s like, the whole deal doesn’t revolve around you. The more our guys can get involved in other areas of campus, I just think that’s the coach’s responsibility to encourage the guys to do that.

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ON OLE MISS’ ADDITION OF HIGH POINT G KEZZA GIFFA

Beard: Lots of things with Kez. First it was his maturity, his experience. Kez is a father. He takes that role real seriously. It’s the most important thing in this life, period. I got a lot of respect for that. I’ve got three daughters myself, so we shared that bond. 

Had some great experience over the years coaching players that are fathers, ‘cause a certain maturity level is needed for that. Dre Davis last year. Just saw Dre in Vegas. Spent some time with him just last week and so much respect for him — how he balances being a student, being an athlete, being a great dad last year. 

So, with Kez, a lot of respect just before I ever got a chance to talk to him. Also have tremendous appreciation and respect for his journey. Certainly coming from France, we’ve got a lot of great players and great staff members from France. There’s a lot of connectors. 

BEARD: But Kez is a guy that’s just kept working.

He goes to UTEP as a freshman, doesn’t quite get in the rotation. Why? UTEP was really good. UTEP had a back court that year. Played in the championship game of their conference tournament, a couple of possessions away from March Madness. 

What does Kez do when things don’t quite work out at UTEP? He doesn’t make excuses, he just goes to work and chose to go the junior college route to kind of bet on himself. Myself and many staff members and [Hobert Grayson] on this year’s team, we understand the sacrifices you make to go to junior college. A lot of respect for those guys. 

He finds a great spot at High Point. This wasn’t just a mid-major team, a Cinderella. It’s a good basketball team. For two years, Kez played on a well-coached, really talented team. Probably a Top 50 team in college basketball. He’s gotten his degree. He wasn’t running from anything. He just looked for the next opportunity like all of us do in life. 

So, to have him here as an experienced player, a guy that’s got a demeanor and a composure about him, we’re pleased to have him.