Ole Miss football: Names, storylines to watch for on National Signing Day

OXFORD — Ole Miss will have the opportunity to complete its 2020 roster on Wednesday.

Wednesday is National Signing Day for college football, opening the period between Feb. 5 and April 1 when recruits may sign with the Division I college of their choosing. For Ole Miss, Wednesday has the potential to be one of the busier National Signing Days in recent memory as Lane Kiffin and his new coaching staff try to put together their first recruiting class in Oxford.

The Rebels signed 12 players in December and have since added a 13th freshman to the recruiting class, as well as two transfers. This still leaves plenty of room for the Rebels to fill out their class with a handful of additional signees, some of whom could be immediate contributors.

Let's take a look at some of the names and storylines to pay close attention to on Wednesday.

What's up with Zachary Evans?

Team Pressure running back Zachary Evans (3) in the
Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Fla., on
Thursday Jan. 2, 2020. (Photo: Mickey Welsh)

Few players have had more bizarre recruitment processes than five-star running back Zachary Evans. He's the No. 1 running back in the country, according to all three major recruiting services and he sent in his National Letter of Intent to Georgia back in December. But Evans has since been released from his NLI by Georgia.

Ole Miss appeared as a player in this process, hosting Evans for a visit the weekend of Jan. 17. Evans has also visited Tennessee since the end of the Early Signing Period and has long been connected to Texas A&M, which he officially and unofficially visited during the season.

Getting a pledge from Evans would be a huge get for Ole Miss, especially one year after signing another five-star running back in Jerrion Ealy. But given the circuitous paths Evans' recruitment has taken in the last few months, it's impossible to guarantee if his decision will be final, especially since recruits can only sign one National Letter of Intent per recruiting cycle. Therefore, whatever school Evans chooses next, he'll do so without the contractually-binding nature of an NLI.

Is McKinnley Jackson off the table?
The top-rated prospect in Mississippi by ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals.com, four-star defensive tackle McKinnley Jackson seemed to be considering Ole Miss throughout most of his recruitment process. That doesn't seem to be as much of the case anymore.

Jackson never took an official visit to Ole Miss. His primary recruiter from Ole Miss was Freddie Roach, who has since left for Alabama. Jackson has not tweeted anything about Ole Miss since former coach Matt Luke was fired on Dec. 1.

The 6-foot-2, 327-pound lineman will announce his college decision on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Given his recent connections to schools like Alabama, LSU and Texas A&M, it might be a surprise to see Jackson include Ole Miss in his decision, let alone select Ole Miss. 

A long list of receivers
One position that Ole Miss hasn't nailed down a commitment or signee from yet is wide receiver. The Rebels loaded up with five wide receivers last season and will return every scholarship receiver from 2019 this spring, so depth might not be an issue. 

But based on the types of players who have been visiting Ole Miss in recent weeks, adding a receiver to the class seems to be a priority. In the last two weeks, four wide receivers or athletes who play receiver have taken official visits to Oxford. They include Marc Britt and Malachi Wideman, ranked as four-star prospects in the 247Sports composite rankings, as well as three-stars Detraveon Brown and Leonard Manuel.

Britt told 247Sports that his choice will come down to a 50-50 split between Ole Miss and Florida. Brown, who will make his announcement on Wednesday at 1 p.m., tweeted on Sunday that he loves his time in Oxford and previously posted that his home visit with receivers coach Derrick Nix went "great."

Wideman is a Florida State commit who is expected to hold steady on his commitment, with 86% of experts voting that way in the 247Sports Crystal Ball projections. Manuel is a Florida commit who is expected to make his college choice on April 1 between Ole Miss, Florida, Oregon and Baylor.

Other positions of note
Two other position groups Ole Miss seemed to target in January were defensive backs and offensive linemen.

Offensive tackles Brady Ward and Cedric Melton and guard Marcus Henderson all visited Oxford last month. Melton decommitted from Arizona two days before visiting Ole Miss. Henderson is a Memphis native who has taken official visits to Arkansas and Georgia as well as Ole Miss. Ward has visited Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Ole Miss has spread a wide net when it comes to defensive backs. Long-time Ole Miss cornerback commit Daran Branch visited last weekend but visited Georgia one week prior. Phenix City, Alabama product Mike Harris visited Ole Miss on Jan. 24 after decommitting from Arkansas, but a late offer from Baylor might've swayed Harris' commitment. And three-star safety Donovan Kaufman used his final official visit to come to Oxford despite being committed to Vanderbilt.

In December, Kiffin told the media that defensive line, defensive backfield and wide receiver would be the three biggest targets in February, but the Rebels seem to have backed off their pursuit of defensive linemen since signing consensus four-star edge rusher Demon Clowney in January.

Ole Miss' 2020 recruiting commits
In addition to Ole Miss' 13 signees, the Rebels have three more players committed for 2020. They are:

- Four-star running back Henry Parrish
- Three-star cornerback Daran Branch
- Three-star offensive tackle Luke Shouse

Shouse's high school will hold its signing ceremony at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. According to the school, Shouse will be a greyshirt at Ole Miss, meaning he'll postpone his scholarship enrollment until the second semester he's on campus. 

Neither Parrish, Branch nor their high schools have publicly announced commitment times yet as of Monday afternoon.

Ole Miss' 2020 recruiting signees
Ole Miss has already announced 15 players as members of its 2020 recruiting class, including a pair of transfers. The list goes as follows, listed alphabetically by last name:

- Offensive tackle Eli Acker
- Defensive back Derek Bermudez
- Offensive lineman Tobias Braun
- Linebacker Jakivuan Brown
- Running back Kentrel Bullock
- Defensive end Demon Clowney
- Defensive back Lakevias Daniel
- Linebacker Daylen Gill
- Linebacker Cedric Johnson
- Linebacker Austin Keys
- Defensive back Otis Reese
- Quarterback Kade Renfro
- Defensive lineman DeSanto Rollins
- Tight end Damarcus Thomas
- Tight end Kenny Yeboah

Yeboah is a graduate transfer who is immediately eligible as a senior. Reese is a junior transfer who will have to sit out 2020 per NCAA rules but may redshirt. Gill and Daniel are both junior college transfers with immediate eligibility.

SOURCE: Suss, Nick. "Ole Miss football: Names, storylines to watch for on National Signing Day." Mississippi Clarion Ledger, 4 February 2020, https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/ole-miss/2020/02/04/ole-miss-football-names-storylines-watch-national-signing-day/4624660002/

Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.