Live Tracker: The Ole Miss take on National Signing Day

Wednesday marks Lane Kiffin’s final chance to place his stamp on the Ole Miss football program via the 2020 recruiting class.

Coming into today’s National Signing Day, Ole Miss had already inked 12 signees and three transfer players from December, adding another in January with Demon Clowney. Eight of these players have already enrolled in the University. Today will likely finalize Kiffin’s first full recruiting class with Ole Miss.

As the day progresses, this tracker will be updated with those Rebels that make their commitments official in ink by singing their national letter of intent, as well as information on some (i.e. five-star running back Zachary Evans)  who are yet to be decided and have Ole Miss in the mix.

We will also touch on where these new Rebels fit in within their specific position groupings and potential roles moving forward. Check back throughout the day, and with @nategabler on Twitter, for updates.

National Signing Day (Feb. 5)
12:38 p.m. Luke Shouse and Demon Clowney make it official with Rebels

Clowney is actually one of the early enrollees and has been on campus already. Shouse, along with Parrish, was one of the hard commits coming into the day.

12:10 p.m. Three-star safety Donovan Kaufman sticks with Vanderbilt despite late Ole Miss flip attempt

11:24 a.m. Four-star Henry Parrish Jr. makes it official with Ole Miss

Parrish is the biggest name to land with the Rebels to this point on National Signing Day. A four-star running back, Rivals rates Parrish as the nation’s No. 10 running back and the No. 149 overall player. The running back room may be the best position group on the Ole Miss team in 2020.

10:26 a.m. Rebels add another offensive lineman with three-star Brady Ward

Ward’s recruitment was relatively wide open entering the day, holding offers from Arkansas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Instead, he becomes the fifth offensive lineman in the Rebel class.

10:14 a.m. Daran Branch chooses Georgia over Ole Miss

This one is a tough loss for the Rebels. Branch, a three-star corner, had been committed to Ole Miss since November. Instead of holding that commitment through the coaching turnover at Ole Miss, he’s going to Athens.

9:37 a.m. Ole Miss lands three-star offensive tackle Cedric Melton

Melton, a Houston, TX product, becomes the fourth offensive lineman to sign to Ole Miss for the 2020 Class. Melton chose the Rebels over Texas Tech, Houston and others.

Early Signing Window (Dec. 18)

7:27 p.m. Lakevias Daniel of Jones College ends the day

Daniel, a high school and junior college teammate of Gill, was the last Rebel to publicly announce on Wednesday. He picked Ole Miss over Louisville, West Virginia and others.

2:41 p.m. Junior college linebacker Daylen Gill (3-star ILB) sends in NLI

The likely last commit of the early signing window for the Rebels comes by way of Jones College. The ex-Louisville, MS product chose Ole Miss over other offers from Louisville, Purdue and others.

12:59 p.m. Rebels ink Eli Acker (3-star OT), the top offensive lineman in the state

Heritage Academy’s Eli Acker, despite being just a three star, is the best offensive line recruit in the state of Mississippi for the 2020 class. Inherently, it’s arguably the biggest signing of the day for Ole Miss. Acker committed to Ole Miss back in May of 2018, but since took visits to Notre Dame, Alabama, and just earlier this month an official visit at Mississippi State. Keeping Acker’s commitment is a big one.

9:34 a.m.: Columbia’s Kentrell Bullock (3-star RB) inks with Rebels after prior decommitment

Bullock announced on Twitter yesterday that he would be coming to Ole Miss after a prior decommitment. He’ll join a running back room that, with Scottie Phillips’ graduation, is entirely Jerrion Ealy’s to dominate. However, there will be some other non-Ealy touches to hand out.

9:17 a.m. Horn Lake four-star DT Josaih Hayes signs with Kentucky over Ole Miss, land teammate Jakivuan Brown (3-star linebacker)

This one hurts for the Rebels. Hayes was committed to Ole Miss for quite some time, decommitting in October. He was on campus in Oxford last weekend for an official visit but in the end chose to go to Kentucky.

Brown never wavered on his signing and commitment with the Rebels. He chose Ole Miss over Auburn, Mississippi State and others and will add to the versatile Ole Miss linebacking core.

9:13 a.m.: Rebels land former FSU commit, Derek Bermudez (three-star CB)

Bermudez, who decommitted from Florida State in November, visited Ole Miss just last week. He’ll join a corner room and coaching staff that’s unafraid to play young corners, giving two freshmen starting time last year.

8:46 a.m.: Austin Keys (3-star ILB) inks with Ole Miss

Inside linebacker is one of the deeper positions on the Ole Miss defense, especially with the healthy return of MoMo Sanogo. With his return for 2020, the Rebels will have three between Sanogo, Lakia Henry and Jacquez Jones that have played a lot and played really well.

8:14 a.m.: Oxford 4-star TE/Athlete JJ Pegues selects Auburn over Ole Miss, Alabama

The backyard product is heading to the neighboring state. Ole Miss, who graduated two tight ends, could have certainly used the Oxford product. Strangely, Pegues said he never spoke to Kiffin. More on that to come later.

7:46 a.m.: DaMarcus Thomas (3-star Athlete) and Austin ‘Kade’ Renfro (3-star QB) have sent in their NLIs.

Renfro, Kiffin’s hand picked quarterback, will join a very crowded room featuring four returning sophomores or redshirt freshmen. Thompson, at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, has played both receiver and tight end.

7:24 a.m.: Tobias Braun (3-star OT), Cedric Johnson (3-star DE),  DeSanto Rollins (3-star DT) have sent in their NLI’s. Officially Rebels

The Rebels graduated three offensive lineman, two of whom were starters, from last year’s team. Braun, at 6-foot-7 and 308 pounds will help add some needed depth there. Of the two defensive lineman, Rollins in particular could see some playing time next season with Josiah Coatney’s graduation.

Full Early Window-Class:
Jakivuan Brown. OLB. Horn Lake, MS
Eli Acker. OT. Columbus, MS
Kentrel Bullock. RB. Columbia, MS
Derek Bermudez. S. Jacksonville, FL**
Lakevias Daniel. DB. Jones College. Louisville, MS**
Daylen Gill. ILB. Jones College. Louisville, MS**
Austin Keys. ILB. Seminary, MS**
Tobias Braun. OT. Salisbury, CT
DeSanto Rollins. DT. Baton Rouge, LA
DaMarcus Thomas. TE. Saraland, AL
Cedric Johnson. DE. Mobile, AL
Kade Refro. QB. Stephenville, TX**

Others Signed or Transferred:
Demon Clowney. DE. Baltimore, MD**
Otis Reese. S. Transfer from Georgia.**
Kenny Yeboah. TE. Transfer from Temple (immediately eligible).**
Chase Rogers. TE. Transfer from Louisiana.

** recognizes players who early enrolled in the University and are with the team for spring practices


SOURCE: Gabler, Nathanael. "Live Tracker: The Ole Miss take on National Signing Day." The Oxford Eagle, 5 February 2020, https://www.oxfordeagle.com/2020/02/05/live-tracker-the-ole-miss-take-on-national-signing-day/