An Ole Miss basketball program currently in the midst of a 10-game losing streak — its longest winless skid in over two decades — has been delivered good news, at a time when anything positive would be happily welcomed.
22-year-old French guard Ilias Kamardine, fresh off a strong showing in Wednesday’s 106-99 double overtime loss to LSU, has been cleared by the NCAA to play another year of college hoops. Jonathan Givony with DraftExpress was the first to report the news.
Kamardine committed to play for Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard’s program in April 2025, but did not arrive on campus until August due to visa-related delays. He previously competed at the professional level in France, averaging 8 points per game for JDA Dijon, and also helped lead his home country to a first-place finish in the 2023 FIBA U20 Eurobasket, where he was crowned MVP.
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Beard anticipated Kamardine’s arrival in a pursuit to repeat or improve upon last year’s Sweet 16 season’s successes. His professional experience and ability to distribute the ball were especially coveted for a team that was only returning one starter.
Kamardine showed promise with a hot start to the 2025-26 campaign, especially with a 26-point performance in an 83-77 win versus Memphis back in November. From there, he ebbed and flowed, with either a 10-plus point scoring outing or a statsheet that deemed him much of a non-factor.
On Wednesday, however, something seemed to click offensively for Kamardine versus the Tigers. Producing and facilitating, he logged his first double-double of the year, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Ole Miss has three games remaining in the regular season — one at Auburn on Saturday, followed by home matchups against No. 25 Vanderbilt and South Carolina — and is guaranteed a spot in the SEC Tournament, giving Kamardine ample opportunities to build momentum.
Ole Miss (11-17, 3-12 SEC) has virtually no shot at an NCAA Tournament appearance, barring an unexpected conference title run. Kamardine has not yet publicly committed to running it back with the Rebels, and the rumor mill has insinuated that Beard might be eyeing a new horizon in the near future. As things stand, though, the two still represent the red and blue, and there is an optimism that both will be back to right the ship in 2026-27.