The Ole Miss Rebels made the NCAA Tournament this past season, their first appearance since 2019 and the first in the Chris Beard era. After upsetting Iowa State in the round of 32, they nearly upset Michigan State in the Sweet 16 before losing narrowly. For the Ole Miss to continue their upward trajectory under Beard, they’re going to be relying on several transfers including AJ Storr.

AJ Storr committed to Ole Miss after entering the transfer portal out of Kansas, and despite a disappointing season, Chris Beard has strong belief in him being an impact player this upcoming season, as per Grant Grubbs of On3 Sports.

“I just believe in AJ. I know his story a lot more than the next guy,” Beard said. “Spent a lot of time getting to know him and his family, and understand his path. I think when you look at it on paper, it’s easy to kind of misunderstand that.”

While Ole Miss is adding seven new players via the transfer portal, Storr is the most high profile of the group. The Rebels will be his fourth team in as many seasons. He began his college basketball career at St. John’s, transferred to Wisconsin for his sophomore year, then transferred to Kansas for his junior year. Storr had a breakout year at Wisconsin, but was unable to carry that momentum over to Kansas.

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Storr appeared in 34 games, including four starts, at a little over 15 minutes per game for the Jayhawks. He averaged a career-low 6.1 points and 1.7 rebounds with splits of 38.4 percent shooting from the field, 29.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 68.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line. His shooting percentages were all career-lows as well.

But he has the potential to be an impact player for Ole Miss for the 2025-26 season.

“AJ is not a big talker. He lets his game speak for itself,” Beard said. “But I’m very confident that he’s going to write his story this year to kind of clear up any confusion about him that might be out there, which, in my opinion, is totally inaccurate. He’s a really good player. He’s proven it over many years.”