Ole Miss coach Chris Beard will have another weapon available for the 2024-25 season, with Belmont transfer forward Malik Dia reportedly set to withdraw from the 2024 NBA Draft to return to school.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported the decision on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.
Malik Dia averaged 16.9 points per game for the Bruins this past season. He scored in double figures 30 times for Belmont during the 2023-24 season, including 12 instances of scoring 20 points or more.
The 6-foot-9 sophomore originally began his career at Vanderbilt, so he has some experience in the Southeastern Conference already.
He was a three-star recruit out of high school, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 200 overall recruit and No. 5 player out of his home state of Tennessee.
Belmont finished the 2023-24 college basketball season with a 20-13 record, finishing fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference’s regular season standings. They were awarded a bye into the quarterfinal round of the MVC Tournament, where they fell to Northern Iowa 67-62. Malik Dia was the Bruins’ second-leading scorer on the afternoon, scoring 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting despite playing just 24 minutes due to foul trouble.
His best performance came much earlier in the season, scoring 32 points during a 22-point win over Drake on Jan. 7. He made a season-high five 3-pointers and shot 10-of-16 overall.
During his time at Vanderbilt, Malik Dia was not as productive. As a true freshman, he appeared in 20 games but never cracked former head coach Jerry Stackhouse’s starting lineup.
He averaged 8.7 minutes per game while scoring 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds per outing during his lone season in Nashville.
Ole Miss is coming off a season in which it narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament after going 20-12. One of the primary issues was the softness of the Rebels’ non-conference schedule, which the team steamrolled through before having more mixed success in SEC play.
The Rebels went 7-11 in conference play.
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