Ole Miss is interested in Syracuse point guard Joseph Girard
Chris Beard has been hitting the recruiting trail hard in the NCAA Transfer Portal since he was hired. He received a commitment from Brandon Murray earlier in the week and now he is combing the available prospects trying to put together a roster for the 2023-2024 season. And now Ole Miss has reached out to Syracuse point guard Joseph Girard.
This news was first reported by Jon Rothstein. The former Orange guard is also receiving a considerable amount of interest from LSU, Kansas, Texas Tech and Georgia.
Girard has also entered the 2023 NBA Draft but will maintain his eligibility, per On3’s Jamie Shaw.
At Syracuse, played four seasons and will have one final year at the college level due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2022-2023, he averaged 16.4 points and 3.0 assists while shooting 38.0 percent from three-point range. The year before, Girard averaged 13.8 points per game and shot over 40 percent from deep.
In high school, he led Glens Falls (N.Y.) to New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class B state titles in football (2016, 2018) and basketball (2019), capping off a legendary high school career.
He made his varsity team debut as an eighth grader, scoring 31 points. He ended the year averaging 21.7 points per game and became the first eighth grader to be named to the Foothills Council Second Team. As a freshman, he finished the year with five 40-point games. He averaged 33.9 points and Glens Falls finished the year 20-4 and state runner-up. As a sophomore, Girard averaged 36.4 and then he followed it up with a junior campaign where he averaged 50(!) points per game.
Then as a senior, Girard averaged 48.6 points per game and led Glens Falls to its first New York Federation title, scoring 53 points in the championship game. He also broke the record of 2,946 points owned by Lance Stephenson from Brooklyn’s Abraham Lincoln High School and Glens Falls finished with a 29-1 record. The New York native scored 34-or-more points in 29-of-30 games, including a 69-point effort against Schuylerville.
Girard ended his high school career with 4,763 points, good for 10th place on the all-time list, according to the National Federation of High Schools.
Oh, by the way, he also finished his high school football career with 6,767 passing yards and 83 touchdowns while rushing for more than 1,500 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Syracuse guard Joseph Girard attempts to dribble around a Florida State defender during a game on Feb. 8, 2023. (Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)
Ole Miss has really needed a shooter who can make teams pay from deep. Joseph Girard is the shooter.
The former Gatorade Player of the Year had four impressive seasons in the ACC for Jim Boeheim and is now looking for a new home. Chris Beard and Ole Miss would be an excellent landing spot for the talented point guard. A spot-up shooter would help free up things in the backcourt for players like Matthew Murrell and the aforementioned Murray to create off the bounce.
The competition is stiff but the Rebels have a roster which is in need of a three-point specialist like Girard.
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