NASSAU, The Bahamas – Ole Miss men’s basketball begins a six-day foreign tour to The Bahamas today, a trip to Nassau that will feature three games for the Rebels on Aug. 1 (Bahamas Select Team), Aug. 2 (Discount Distributors Rockets) and Aug. 4 (Raw Talent Elite).

Ole Miss will call Nassau and Atlantis home during its stay in The Bahamas, with all three games taking place at Sir Kendall Isaacs Gym. The NCAA allows basketball teams to take an international trip every four years. Although the preseason games do not count toward the 2022-23 campaign, the week provides extra practice time and game-action for a Rebel roster that has eight new faces.

Ole Miss enters year five under head coach Kermit Davis, and will feature two of the most exciting guards in the SEC – junior Matthew Murrell and sophomore Daeshun Ruffin – as well as eight brand new additions.

The Rebels added ESPN’s 12th-ranked high school signing class for 2022-23 with top-100 signees No. 81 Malique Ewin (Forward, 6-10, 220, Lawrenceville, Georgia/Berkmar HS), No. 97 TJ Caldwell (Guard, 6-4, 190, Dallas, Texas/Faith Family Academy (Oak Cliff)), No. 98 Amaree Abram (Guard, 6-4, 190, Port Arthur, Texas/Southern California Academy) and fellow four-star high school signee Robert Cowherd (Guard, 6-5, 195, Grayson, Georgia/Southern California Academy).

Additionally, Ole Miss has added four transfers for the 2022-23 season: Jackson State graduate transfer Jayveous McKinnis (Forward, 6-7, 225, Brandon, Mississippi); Loyola New Orleans transfer Myles Burns (Forward, 6-6, 210, Houston, Texas); Louisiana transfer Theo Akwuba (Forward, 6-11, 225, Montgomery, Alabama); and Buffalo transfer Josh Mballa (Forward, 6-7, 220, Bordeaux, France).

Cowherd (torn meniscus) and Mballa (knee sprain) will not play for the Rebels in their upcoming three-game stretch as part of their foreign tour in The Bahamas this week.

“Really unfortunate for both Josh and Robert,” said Davis. “They both had made really good progress this summer leading up to our trip to The Bahamas. We expect both back before official practice begins. That said, we are still very excited to watch and evaluate our team over the next few days and to enjoy a fantastic experience growing together.”

Also still out are sophomore guard Daeshun Ruffin and senior forward Robert Allen, who are both still in rehab for torn ACLs suffered during the 2021-22 regular season.

Action begins for the Rebels in Nassau on Monday night, when Ole Miss will take on the Bahamas Select Team at 7 p.m. CT.