AJ Storr doesn’t care much where he lives.
He doesn’t need a bustling city or pristine weather or tons of restaurants and nightlife options. “I have tunnel vision,” Storr tells Hoops HQ. “Whatever state or city I’m in, I’m there to play basketball.”
Right now, he’s in Oxford, Miss., preparing for his final season of college eligibility. A year ago, he was in Lawrence, Kan. The year before that, Madison, Wis. And the year before that, Queens, N.Y.
After transferring from Kansas to Ole Miss in April, Storr, a 6-foot-7 senior guard, is playing for his eighth team and fourth college since 2020, each one located in a different state. He sees only positives in that journey, even if it has made him the target of criticism.
For those frustrated with the level of player movement in the NIL era, Storr has become an easy mark. However, that narrative tends to overlook many of the reasons behind Storr’s moves, including the COVID-19 pandemic (two of his high school teams, Kankakee in Illinois and Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, canceled their seasons), a quest for more exposure and a coaching change. “I don’t think the narrative is accurate,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard tells Hoops HQ. “When you look at it on paper, there are some transfers and some moves, but you (have to) take the time to really understand each move. I never saw AJ as a guy who was running from anything. I’ve never heard AJ make an excuse for anything that’s happened in his past, good or bad. I think he’s just like a lot of other people in this world, not just basketball. You change jobs, you change opportunities, you make some good decisions, you run into a little bad luck, some good luck. I just believe in the player.”
The feeling is mutual. Storr committed to Ole Miss in large part because he believes in Beard, who has won 68.9 percent of his games over a decade-long head-coaching career. “I’ve been in the portal before, so I knew what I was looking for,” says the 22-year-old Storr, who also strongly considered returning to Kansas. “Ole Miss is a great program. Coach Beard is a winning coach. That’s something I wanted to be a part of.”
Storr also cites the opportunity to play in the SEC — “the best conference in the nation,” he says — as a major factor in his decision, especially as he works toward his ultimate goal of reaching the NBA. He has already competed in the Big East (St. John’s), Big Ten (Wisconsin) and Big 12 (Kansas).
Ole Miss is coming off a stellar season in which it finished 24-12 (10-8 in league play) and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for just the second time in program history. Beard had to rebuild his roster nearly from scratch this offseason, as only one key contributor — 6-foot-9 senior forward Malik Dia — would be returning. The Rebels signed seven transfers, including Storr, 6-foot-11 junior forward James Scott (Louisville), 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Corey Chest (LSU) and 6-foot-1 sophomore guard Travis Perry (Kentucky).
A dynamic wing with three-level scoring ability, Storr is expected to be one of the team’s centerpieces. He will be counted on to shoulder a heavy offensive load with former standout guards Sean Pedulla, Matthew Murrell, Jaylen Murray and Dre Davis all gone. “Our expectations are for him to be an All-SEC player,” Beard says about Storr. “We’re just empowering him and encouraging him to be his most aggressive person on the court. I think when he does that, his talent speaks for itself.”
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“From day one, they told me I’m going to be one of the main guys on this team,” adds Storr. “And I feel like my teammates trust me, too. They trust me to be that guy.”
So far, Storr’s transition to the Rebels has been seamless. He prides himself on being adaptable, having seen and experienced it all during his rollercoaster of a journey. As a freshman at St. John’s, Storr was mentored by Mike Anderson, the 2021 Big East Coach of the Year, and learned how to play an uptempo style of basketball. He averaged 8.8 points and shot 40.4 percent from three for a team that ranked first in the nation in pace, per KenPom.
After Anderson was fired, Storr transferred to Wisconsin, a slower team that emphasized the fundamentals. Under two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Greg Gard, Storr improved as both a decision-maker and finisher in the paint, blossoming into a star. He averaged 16.8 points and 3.9 rebounds to earn All-Big Ten Second Team honors and guided the Badgers to a 22-14 record.
Then came Kansas, which didn’t turn out the way Storr had envisioned. A loaded Jayhawks team that opened the 2024-25 campaign ranked No. 1 in the country finished sixth in the Big 12 and got bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Storr filled a limited role off the bench, averaging just 6.1 points in 15.7 minutes while shooting 38.4 percent from the field and 29.1 percent from three. He displayed flashes of brilliance, including scoring 15 points in the Jayhawks’ loss to Arkansas in the Big Dance, but struggled to find consistency. One game he would carry the offense for stretches; the next he would shoot 0 for 6. Overall, it was a significant step back following his breakout sophomore season.
Still, Storr feels as though he benefited tremendously from the experience. In addition to working with Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, Storr also received a lesson in battling adversity. “I feel like it helped me in the long run,” he says. “Things aren’t always going to go smoothly how you think they are. You just have to be able to react to whatever you’re going through. You just have to fight back.”
Storr hasn’t made any excuses about his disappointing year, nor has he expressed regret about his decision to transfer to Kansas. “That was probably the most refreshing part of the whole deal,” Beard says. “Sometimes when things don’t go your way, it’s easy to kind of play victim mode pretty quick. But not with AJ.”
Instead, Storr has concentrated all of his energy on the next chapter. He feels comfortable in Beard’s system, which blends concepts from St. John’s and Wisconsin. He may be in a new city — again — but it’s all the same to him. Storr’s sole focus is basketball, and making the final stop of his college tour the most fruitful.
“My confidence is at an all-time high now,” Storr says. “I didn’t have the season I wanted to have last year, but that’s fine. It’s in the past now. I can’t stress about it or be down about it. That’s not going to do anything to change it. I’m on to a new chapter and I’m looking forward to it.”
“It’s a restart year,” adds Beard. “It’s not a secret. I know the eyes of college basketball will be on him early, but I’m excited to be right there with him, accepting this challenge. It’s the ultimate restart. Can we get this thing turned back around? A big part of Ole Miss basketball will be if he’s successful at trying to have the best season he’s ever had.”
