ATLANTA — Ole Miss forward Mikeal Brown-Jones was back with the team Thursday and is available to play Friday, Beard said.
Brown-Jones missed the Southeastern Conference Tournament and the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament due to “personal reasons.” This season, Brown-Jones has played 10.8 minutes per game, scoring 4.1 points and grabbing 1.6 rebounds per contest. He’s shooting 47.9 percent from the floor.
“It feels awesome,” Brown-Jones said. “It feels very good to be back with the guys. I’m very excited to be here with the guys and take this journey on.”
Brown-Jones said watching his teammates beat North Carolina and then Iowa State in Milwaukee was “an unreal feeling.”
“I was very happy for the guys,” Brown-Jones said. “I know how hard we work. For them to come away with the wins, it made me very happy and I know the guys were excited to get to this point.”
Brown-Jones said he knew his teammates were prepared, so while he felt “different” watching on television, he was nothing but happy to see his friends “take care of business.”
Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield said the team is thrilled to have Brown-Jones back.
“He has a great personality,” Brakefield said. “We enjoy everybody’s spirit on the team. Having him come back, it brought life to the locker room even more.”
Family affair for Davis: Dre Davis’ two-year-old daughter, Malia, is in Atlanta this weekend to see her dad play in the Sweet 16. She’s likely too young to understand the significance, of course, but it’s super meaningful to her father.
“For me, it’s huge for me to have her here. I’ll never forget this,” Davis said.
Davis’ parents are taking pictures and videos, “capturing everything,” Davis said. “When the time comes, we can look back on this moment.”
Davis has scored 10.3 points and grabbed 4.8 rebounds per game for Ole Miss this season, his first in Oxford after transferring from Seton Hall.
“It’s been a wonderful year,” Davis said. “I’m blessed to be in the position I am here. I’m blessed to be on this stage. This is what we talked about doing when I was trying to figure out where to go. To have this full circle moment to be here and think about those conversations we had during my recruitment and to look to now and see everything coming true, it’s an unbelievable position to be in. I’m highly blessed.”
Davis’ brother, Tae, is in the transfer portal after scoring 15.1 points and grabbing 5.3 rebounds per game this season for Notre Dame. The 6-foot-9 Davis is in Atlanta this weekend watching his brother play.
“We talk almost every day,” Dre Davis said. “He’s asked me what my experience was like when I hit the portal. With him being a high-value player, I told him just to enjoy this moment. …To be in a position where you get to choose is a highly blessed position.”
Atlanta flashback for Klafkes: Some 29 years ago, a little more than a mile from State Farm Arena, Eduardo Klafke’s dad, Rogerio, was part of the Brazilian national basketball team facing the United States in the 1996 Olympics.
Rogerio Klafke scored three points in 20 minutes in that game, a 98-75 loss to the Americans. One of the top Americans on that team was Scottie Pippen. Pippen’s son, Justin, is on the Michigan team that is in Atlanta this weekend, though he entered the transfer portal earlier this week.
“It’s a great feeling for me,” Eduardo Klafke said. “My dad said that Scottie was the probably the greatest player he ever played against. It’s a great feeling to be here close to his son now.”
Klafke comfortable with role: Klafke has carved out a spot on a veteran-laden team, using effort, defense and intensity to earn minutes.
“It's just about knowing what you have to do and knowing your role,” Klafke said. “I feel like since day one was very specific what I have to do to play in this game with veteran people. So it's just about knowing your role and knowing what you have to do to be on the court with these guys.”
“I feel like for Eduardo it comes with preparation,” Brakefield said. “He’s done a great job with that. If you all don't know, he was here early in January of last year. So he kind of had a head start. I don't treat him as a freshman. That's why I get on him every once in a while, act like a vet.
“I feel like he's somebody who's been under Coach (Chris) Beard’s wing and my wing. So him being ready to go in the game is no question.”
Earning that respect, Klafke said, is meaningful.
“It feels really good,” Klafke said. "I feel like since the first days of practice, I feel like I kind of earned their respect just by playing hard. They know how hard I play and how competitive I am inside the court and off the court. So it feels really good to be treated like that.
“I know that I have some kind of responsibility playing alongside these guys being a freshman, so it feels really good.”
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