Jan 20, 2026; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels forward Corey Chest (1) and guard AJ Storr (2) reacts during the second half against the Auburn Tigers at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Chris Beard, Ole Miss Basketball Lose Former Blue-Chip Prospect to Transfer Portal

Originally posted on Ole Miss Rebels on SI | By Zack Nagy | Last updated Apr 6, 2026 2:02 PM ET

Ole Miss Rebels forward Corey Chest intends to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal after spending the 2025-26 season in Oxford, according to On3 Sports.

Chest made the decision to join Chris Beard and Co. last offseason after spending a pair of seasons with the LSU Tigers - signing with the program out of high school as a Top-100 recruit.

The 6-foot-8, 220-pounder redshirted across his first season with the program prior to a breakout campaign in 2024-25 where he averaged 6.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 20.1 minutes per game in 26 games played.

From there, Chest made the move to Oxford for a change of scenery where he joined the Ole Miss program for the 2025-26 season - averaging 2.6 points and 3.8 rebounds on 59.4 percent shooting from the field.

Now, with two seasons of eligibility remaining, the Louisiana native will make the move to his third program after revealing intentions of entering the NCAA Transfer Portal once again.

NEW: Ole Miss forward Corey Chest plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @JoeTipton reports.https://t.co/HDSCZKR8wX pic.twitter.com/nCRDLnDVRH
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) April 6, 2026

For Beard and the Ole Miss staff, there is an opportunity to reconstruct the roster via the Transfer Portal in Oxford this offseason with the free agent market opening on Monday.

“That’s a good question. Probably not in the mental space to answer that fully now,” Beard said. “Obviously, in college basketball, guys choose to go elsewhere; they choose to come back. Each player on our team will have that decision. It will be their decision. It will be a conversation to make sure that both sides align.

“Our relationship with these players is just getting started, whether we coach them next year or not. That’s one thing you can get in our program: we’re going to have your back for the rest of our lives. These guys, hopefully, every single one of them will outlive me by a million years. Till the day I’m not here anymore, we’ll have their backs.”

Now, all eyes are on which targets the Ole Miss staff locks in on amid a critical offseason in the Magnolia State.

This article first appeared on Ole Miss Rebels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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