The Ole Miss men's basketball program advanced to the Sweet 16 last year in their second season under head coach Chris Beard. This marked the first time in over two decades that the Rebels made the NCAA Regional Semifinals.

Unfortunately, much of the team has graduated, so coach Beard has been hard at work to repair the roster this offseason. He added star transfer portal wing A.J. Storr from Kansas, as well as Kentucky's Travis Perry and Louisville's Koren Johnson and James Scott.

Beard has also been putting work in on the high school recruiting trail, as he landed top-30 recruit Nike Bundalo. He chose Ole Miss over schools like Kentucky, North Carolina, UConn and Ohio State. 

Another highly coveted prospect by Beard and his staff is four-star 2026 guard Christian Gibson. The Houston, Texas native is one of the best players in the country and recently spoke to On3 Sports about his interest in Ole Miss.

“I know they got a really good fan base. Anyone I talk with about Ole Miss says that the fans are really out there, like that," Gibson said. "That is something I love about the game, I really like those types of environments where it’s loud and the fans are up in there. I’m definitely looking forward to getting down there.”

While Gibson does not have any official visits set up yet, it appears that the Rebels are a strong consideration. He also has offers from schools like Houston, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, and he is drawing interest from Kentucky.

It may be tough sledding for Beard to convince a kid from Texas to leave his home state and join the Rebels, but he has pulled off improbable upsets in the recruiting market before. Gibson could be the next young guard to develop into a star in Oxford, and it sounds like Beard and his staff are already on the right track to land a commitment from him.