Men’s College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: Ole Miss Rebels

The SEC is loaded this year as most teams used the transfer portal to their advantage and shored up their talent as well as their depth. Teams like Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn built elite freshman classes while LSU, Arkansas (as usual) and Florida made key additions via the portal.

SEC slates are going to be high scoring and mega exciting all year long. For DFS players this is the conference that will command your attention, so keep that at the top of your mind as we go team-by-team through the SEC to preview the coming season.

In this one, Ole Miss.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

Ole Miss Rebels 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 16-12 (10-8 SEC), sixth in SEC
Postseason: Lost in NIT first round

Key Departures | Ole Miss Rebels

• Devontae Shuler (playing professionally)
• KJ Buffen (transferred to UAB)
• Romello White (playing professionally)

Key Additions | Ole Miss Rebels

• Daeshun Ruffin (top 60 recruit)
• Nysier Brooks (transferred from Miami FL)
• Jaemyn Brakefield (transferred from Duke)
• Tye Fagan (transferred from Georgia)

Returners | Ole Miss Rebels

• Jarkell Joiner (12 PPG/2.6 RPG/1.1 SPG)
• Luis Rodriguez (7.6 PPG/6.3 RPG/1.6 SPG)
• Robert Allen (3.6 PPG/3.2 RPG)
• Matthew Murrell (4.2 PPG/2 RPG)

Ole Miss Rebels Outlook for 2021-2022

The Rebels will need someone to step up and play the role of the alpha on offense with Devontae Shuler gone. Early indications are that true frosh Daeshun Ruffin will be thrust into a big role right away and with talk that the Rebels want to play faster this year, he should be a stupendous DFS play most of the time. He will endear himself to the industry right away as he has major swagger and personality. He also has a sickening pull up jumper that can seemingly freeze time.

Jaemyn Brakefield and Nysier Brooks bring experience with them from the ACC and both should play fairly large roles on this new look roster. Luis Rodriguez is a must play whenever he is priced in the 5k range and is a bouncy wing that can rack up steals in a hurry. Jarkell Joiner finished the year scoring 15+ points in 4 straight games and there is reason to be optimistic about his fantasy production this year.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams and top 100 players for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

This team has sneaky tournament potential, but it will all depend on how good the freshman Daeshun Ruffin can be. Jarkell Joiner and Luis Rodriguez have been sneaky DFS plays at various points of 2020, but their playability is tied to their prices. I see a lot of role players on this roster so fantasy viability might not be great at first.