Ole Miss lands another point guard in the transfer portal

Chris Beard took over a roster that had both of its point guards in the transfer portal as Daeshun Ruffin is headed to Jackson State and Amaree Abram is headed to Georgia Tech.

After adding sophomore Austin Nunez from Arizona State, the Rebels will welcome junior Jaylen Murray from St. Peter’s.

Yes. That St. Peter’s.

Murray was a part of that crazy run the Peacocks went on during the 2022 NCAA Tournament. He was just a freshman and was simply a role player, but adding someone with tournament experience certainly doesn’t hurt.

Jaylen “Juju” Murray was just a three star recruit coming out of high school but as you can see in the highlight film above, the kid can flat out hoop.

Here are some of his highlights from St. Peter’s during his sophomore campaign:

He averaged 12 points and 2 assists in 24.7 minutes of game time last season. He only started 11 of the Peacocks 29 games, so his addition is not one of those that is a guarantee starter type thing. Murray is going to have to earn it over Nunez and at worst will be a solid depth piece that Beard will have on roster for more than one season.

His career field goal percentage is brutal coming in under 40%, but his shooting from behind the arc has some promise. Last season he shot nearly 36% on just over four attempts per game.

While Coach Beard emphasizes elite defense, if Murray can help provide spacing alongside Matthew Murrell, that will be an important attribute for the transfer.