OXFORD — The Ole Miss football program went toe-to-toe with some of the nation’s biggest names for some of the nation’s elite prospects Wednesday.
The Rebels won some battles and lost a few others, but still finished with a consensus top-10 class.
Among the coveted pickups: Quarterback Shea Patterson, offensive tackle Greg Little, defensive tackle Benito Jones, and receiver A.J. Brown. Patterson and Jones have already enrolled and will go through spring practice. Patterson, Little, and Jones are five-star prospects. Ole Miss has now brought in 11 five-star recruits during the Freeze era.
In all, Ole Miss has 13 high school All-Americans represented in its class. Freeze and his staff signed 19 athletes ranked as four-star prospects or better by at least one of the major recruiting services.
“We feel like it is from top to bottom the best class we’ve had — and we’ve had some good ones,” Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze said. “But that’s just potential. That doesn’t mean a whole lot until you get them here to see how their chemistry is and their work ethic.”
Ole Miss finished with 24 signees, including eight who have enrolled early.
“I don’t know if our staff has ever done a better job of developing relationships that can withstand the onslaught of difficult things that are thrown at you through the course of recruiting,” Freeze said. “That’s been the case during this cycle quite a bit, and it’s a testament to everything we are doing here and what we stand for and the relationships we’ve built over the last 18 to 24 months that allowed us to bring home arguably a top-five class.”
Ole Miss ranked as high as No. 4 in the country by ESPN.com and anywhere from fifth to seventh in the other major national recruiting rankings. That matches the 2013 haul that finished with a high ranking of fourth by 247Sports.
Under Freeze, the Rebels have brought in four straight top-15 ranked signing classes. The program had just two such classes prior to Freeze’s arrival.
The Rebels missed on a few of their late defensive targets, including cornerback Shyheim Carter (Alabama) and defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons (Mississippi State).
Ole Miss still managed to grab a considerable amount of talent to replace previous stars like receiver Laquon Treadwell, left tackle Laremy Tunsil and defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche. All three juniors declared for the NFL draft after the Rebels finished with a 10-win season.
Strong relationships built with recruits and their families, first-class academic and training facilities and a winning product on the field have helped Ole Miss significantly raise the level of talent within the football program since head coach Hugh Freeze arrived in 2012.
Other things to know:
Top 25 Class: Yes
Best in class: Shea Patterson, QB, Shreveport, Louisiana. Freeze said his opinion of Patterson continues to grow now that he’s on campus: “I love everything about that kid.”
Best of the rest: Greg Little, OL, Allen, Texas. The 326-pound Little could be an immediate replacement for Tunsil at left tackle.
Late addition: A.J. Brown, WR, Starkville, Mississippi. Ole Miss managed to coax Brown away from Starkville, which is the hometown of rival Mississippi State. The Rebels hope Brown can turn into the team’s new Treadwell, who had the most receiving yards in the SEC last season.
One that got away: Jeffery Simmons, DL, Macon, Mississippi. Ole Miss had hoped to bolster its defensive line with one of the Magnolia State’s top prospects, but Simmons chose Mississippi State over the Rebels and Alabama.
How they’ll fit in: Patterson will probably get a year of seasoning behind rising senior Chad Kelly, who threw for more than 4,000 yards last season. Others like Little, Brown and Jones could play right away.
Ole Miss signees
Deontay Anderson, db, 6-1, 212, Manvel (Texas) HS
x-Gabe Angel, te, 6-2, 222, Cookeville (Tenn.) HS
A.J. Brown, wr, 6-1, 225, Starkville (Miss.) HS
Justin Connor, ath, 5-10, 187, North Panola HS, Sardis
Octavious Cooley, te, 6-3, 254, Laurel HS
Jack DeFoor, ol, 6-4, 276, Calhoun (Ga.) HS
x-Greg Eisworth, db, 5-11, 180, South Grand Prairie (Texas) HS
x-Donta Evans, lb, 6-1, 222, Archer HS, Lawrenceville, Georgia
x-Myles Hartsfield, db, 5-10, 197, Sayreville/East Coast Prep HS,
Sayreville, New Jersey
x-Eli Johnson, ol, 6-1, 287, Lafayette HS, Taylor
Jaylon Jones, db, 5-11, 171, Allen (Texas) HS
x-Benito Jones, DT, 6-1, 305, Wayne County HS, Waynesboro
Greg Little, ol, 6-6, 326, Allen (Texas) HS
Bryce Mathews, ol, 6-6, 275, Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy HS
Jacob Mathis, te, 6-4, 228, Berkeley Prep HS, Tampa, Florida
D.K. Metcalf, wr, 6-4, 206, Oxford HS
Royce Newman, ol, 6-5, 260, Nashville (Ill.) Community HS
Tre Nixon, wr, 6-1, 170, Viera (Fla.) HS
x-Shea Patterson, qb, 6-2, 198, IMG Academy HS, Shreveport, Louisiana
D’Vaughn Pennamon, rb, 5-11, 214, Manvel (Texas) HS
Jarrion Street, rb, 6-2, 207, Hewitt-Trussville HS, Trussville, Alabama
Tariqious Tisdale, lb, 6-5, 249, Lexington (Tenn.) HS
Chandler Tuitt, ol, 6-4, 220, Sandy Creek HS, Tyrone, Georgia
x-Charles Wiley, de, 6-2, 250, Stockbridge (Ga.) HS
x-Early Enrollee
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