Cameron Larkin
Daeshun Ruffin, who served as the Ole Miss starting point guard for two seasons, decided to enter his name into the transfer portal.
The former Callaway high school phenom spent much of the last two seasons sidelined with multiple injuries; this, coupled with the recent coaching changes, made it seem like the right time for Ruffin to look for a fresh start.
In high school, Ruffin averaged 33.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in his senior season, which earned him his second-straight Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year award. That same season, he was named to the McDonald’s All-American Team.
He held all the hype as a four-star prospect entering college, but numerous injuries hindered his development. The 5 ‘9 point guard appeared in just 11 games for the Rebels during the 2022-2023 basketball season; the year prior, his season was cut short by an ACL tear on February 1, 2022.
As a Rebel, Ruffin averaged 9.5 points, 1.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting a career 36% from the field.
Being in and out of the lineup for the better part of two years, Ruffin could never get into a rhythm, and understandably so.
After Ole Miss fired head coach Kermit Davis, everyone began to wonder what the future held for all the players he recruited. Amaree Abran, Robert Allen and Maliqe Ewin are the three Rebels still in the transfer portal, while Ruffin and James White have chosen their next teams.
Whenever it became public that Jackson State had an interest in Ruffin, many people saw the move as a foregone conclusion.
Ruffin grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, lived there his whole life and played his high school basketball there. His family is still there, former NBA player Mo Williams is the coach, and he can be the guy for the Tigers. All of this is the perfect storm for a match made in heaven.
Last season, JSU finished third in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a conference record of 12-6 and an overall record of 14-19. The Tigers capped their season off by winning nine of their last 11 games, which is a very good sign of things to come.
Ruffin may have never panned out exactly how Ole Miss fans would have hoped, but the fact remains that he was a Rebel through and through. His transfer is not a slight to Ole Miss as a university or the basketball program itself, but rather a step forward for him in his basketball journey.
Before Ruffin left the Ole Miss basketball program in February, he gave a statement in which he said, “This decision is me simply putting myself and my future first, alongside my family.”
