NCAA’s Unexpected Ruling Opens Door for Ilias Kamardine to Shake Up Ole Miss Basketball in 2025-26 Season

Kamardine played for JDA Dijon in the 2024-25 season. He made 48 appearances for the team, averaging 8.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 18.2 minutes per game. The 6-foot-4 marksman shot 43.5% from the floor and 39.8% from beyond the arc.

Ole Miss guard Ilias Kamardine has been fully cleared by the NCAA for the 2025-26 season, per CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. Kamardine is a 22-year-old international prospect from France. He arrived at Ole Miss last Sunday.

“He has some really defined goals on what he wants to do through basketball with the rest of his life. He’s somebody we believe in and we can’t wait to get him here. I think he can be a great teammate as well. Every time I text or call him on WhatsApp it’s always about, ‘How’s the team?’ It’s never about him. I think he’s an experienced, really good player.”

It’s not every day you spot a fresh international talent cleared to make an immediate splash in NCAA hoops — but that’s precisely the scene unfolding at Ole Miss this season with 22-year-old French guard Ilias Kamardine stepping onto the Rebels’ court. After a notable stint in France’s pro leagues, most recently with JDA Dijon, where he logged solid numbers and lit up the scoreboard with a sharp 3-point stroke, Kamardine finally got the green light from the NCAA to compete for the 2025-26 campaign. His journey wasn’t straightforward — visa hurdles and months of waiting tested his patience — but now, the Rebel faithful can expect a point guard who melds crafty court vision with genuine scoring punch. Behind the scenes, assistant coach Brian Burg’s recruiting prowess shines as the NCAA’s new international landscape becomes ever more connected; it’s clear Kamardine’s arrival isn’t just a roster move but a calculated piece to push Ole Miss’s ambitions further. Coach Beard’s high praise paints a picture of a long-armed, savvy defender with a world-class chip on his shoulder and clear-eyed ambitions, the kind of player who’s not just about stats but leadership and relentless team-first mentality. You get the sense Kamardine’s story is just beginning here — and it’s set to be a compelling chapter in Rebels basketball. LEARN MORE

Before joining JDA Dijon, Kamardine spent the 2023-24 season with JA Vichy in the LNB Pro B league. He averaged 11.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 23.6 minutes per game. Kamardine was the MVP at the FIBA U20 Eurobasket.

Ole Miss assistant coach Brian Burg played a major role in landing Kamardine. In June, Rebels head coach Chris Bear pulled back the curtain on Kamardine’s recruitment process.

“Certainly on our staff, Brian Burg was the lead recruiter and everyone on our staff did a great job on these players. We were able to develop a relationship with Ilias and his family, his representation, his basketball family. So just excited that he trusts us with his next step in his basketball future.”

“Like all the players we try to recruit, he has a point-guard mentality, but he can score as well,” Beard said of Kamardine. “Defensively he has some real tools with his anticipation and his length. He’s got long length, wingspan. And just like with every guy on the team we feel he has a story, a chip on his shoulder [and] he’s motivated. 

Like many international prospects joining a college roster, Ilias Kamardine was delayed in joining the team on campus. He was awaiting visa clearance for several months. Now, Kamardine is ready to make a difference for the Rebels and Beard is happy to have the standout by his side.

“It’s just such a small world now,” Beard said. “You can literally know about a guy in Spain or Russia or France or Italy just like you know of somebody in Jackson, Mississippi. So I think just the access to the information. Basketball is a small world and, if you’re really good at it, there’s all sorts of connectors.