Ole Miss is doing an incredible job of recruiting this year. Whenever you see a middle of the pack team suddenly come into its own on the recruiting trail, it doesn’t raise any suspicions at all. After all, top recruits who want to make a living playing professional football one day very often choose to go places that don’t typically make that happen for college football players.

Hugh Freeze is just an up and coming coach doing a great job in leading his program. The fact is, with a handful of years’ experience as a head coach, he cut his teeth at schools like Lambuth University and Arkansas State, and now that experience is paying dividends in a big way at the University of Mississippi.

And wow, is it. Ole Miss is on the cusp of possibly signing the top recruit in the country, Robert Nkemdiche, adding this five star stud to the gems it’s already bagged.

But it’s no big deal because Nkemdiche’s older brother, Denzel, plays at Ole Miss. And younger brothers with bigger football futures than their older siblings always go where big brother went, even if it means going someplace where their future may hit a dead end.

Ole Miss, the only SEC West school (besides Texas A&M) who hasn’t made it to the SEC Championship game since its inception in 1992, is simply trying to make up for lost time. They couldn’t get there with Eli Manning, Mike Wallace, BenJarvis Green Ellis, Patrick Willis, Greg Hardy, Peria Jerry, Michael Oher and Jerrell Powe. But now there’s a new list of names they’re paying close attention to, hoping their investment will result in big things, helping them cash in on hardware bought by the hard work of young men willing to do what it takes, whatever the cost.

According to Rivals, the Rebels…Black Bears…er, Black Rebels…Black Bear Rebel thingies…currently have commitments from seven four-stars and a five star, with the much coveted Nkemdiche’s commitment hanging in the balance. One of these commits chose Ole Miss over Florida and Ohio State. Another picked Oxford over Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Another picked the Black Bears over Nebraska and Texas A&M…but then, what does A&M have going for it anyway? Another wanted to play for Freeze over LSU and USC. Live in Southern California for 4-5 years? Yuck.

Before anyone draws any tired, worn out conclusions of payola happening in Oxford, it’s worthy to note that in the 1960’s Ole Miss was a powerhouse, of sorts. So there’s some sort of underlying tradition there that’s got to be drawing this talent to Oxford. The opportunity to don the red and blue jersey and play in front of screaming sons and daughters of rich, wealthy alumni wearing red pants is just too much to turn down.

National signing day is in 10 days. We’ll continue to watch and be amazed at the unbelievable job Hugh Freeze and his staff are doing.

UPDATE – 1/29/13

Apparently five star receiver commit Laquon Treadwell thinks Ole Mi$$ recruiting is going just fine as well, this from the Clarion Ledger

Nice work, Ole Mi$$. Nice work.


(Follow ITK on Twitter for Bama news, commentary and smack.)

88 thoughts on “RECRUITING: Ole Miss doing a GREAT job at recruiting this year (Updated)”

  1. Jealous? U open by saying ole miss doesnt send players to the next level but then a few sentences later start naming off some of the best players in the NFL who just so happen to have played at this dead end school. Good luck to you.

    1. Do you realize how irrational it is to accuse someone of being jealous of your school when they haven’t been on the wrong end of a game with you since 2003?

      Especially when that team owns three natty’s in four years?

      And whose team has finished in the top five in recruiting the last five years, and is about to do it again?

      All I’m saying is, when an also-ran like Ole Miss suddenly is in the position it’s in now, it’s just curious.

      1. Didn’t saban go 7-6 his first year before he pulled in a badass recruiting class?

        Also if big bad bama is so much better than ole miss why are you so worried that you have to write this weak flame article? It makes you sound scared.

        Is it hard to believe Nkemdiche wants to play with his brother and that Laquon Treadwell wanted to follow his older teammate to play at ole miss?

        Also are you saying black kids don’t normally have money? What if his parents gave him that? What if thats the money he got reimbursed for travel from Illinois?

      2. That is not all you are saying, and you know it. Your use of the $100 bills and your subsequent posts prove otherwise. You should be ashamed of yourself. You malign (if not slander) Coach Hugh Freeze and the players and recruits who belive in him. You should put up or shut up. Where is your proof? You have none. Instead, you rely on speculation and innuendo. You must think that tearing others down lifts you up. Pitiful. Grow up.

  2. If you are going to make accusations about paying players present the evidence. Otherwise you have no credibility. For Ole Miss everything just fell into place since the #1 player in the country was interested in the school because his brother is there. This drew interest from other top players. Once they got on campus that was enough to sway some kids.

    Believe it or not, every good player in the country can’t go to BAMA (scholarship limits) or even wants to. Ole Miss also is seen as a program on the move up in the best conference in football. For some recruits that is enough.

    1. I like Ole Miss, honestly. Like a cute little kitten, they’re never really a threat, and when they bear their claws and hiss, it’s cute.

      1. Speaking of cute, I liked it when Saban cried about Ole Miss’ offense this season, saying it’s not safe, saying it’s not fair. What a joke. He knows his system is ancient and it’s about to be exposed.

        1. Yep. Winning three national titles in four years…..each one coming against other physical football teams….is really starting to expose the Tide.

          Some say they played other physical teams because teams that run the gimmick, ping-pong, mamsy-pamsy style of ball Ole Miss does can’t sustain for a full season to get to the big game. But history and all those trophies are probably wrong. You’re probably the one who’s right.

    2. Yep, a 7-6 season, following 4-8 and 2-10 seasons, always grabs the attention of the nation’s top recruits and gets them to see that program as moving up.***

  3. Hey recruits…

    If you want to work on your mysterious lady parts then go on to Ole Miss. The official Miss America school of the SEC.

    If you don’t play football at Bama then F@&! You!!!

  4. Well said. If only Eli Manning, Mike Wallace, BenJarvis Green Ellis, Patrick Willis, Greg Hardy, Peria Jerry and Michael Oher had gone to Alabama, they wouldn’t be the miserable failures they are today.

    1. Nobody said they are failures.

      All I said is even with them, Ole Miss is still the only SEC West team to have never darkened the door of the SEC Championship game.

      Unless you count Texas A&M, but since Ole Miss has had a 20 year jump on them, I don’t guess that’s fair.

      But then, Bama has never played in the Birmingham Pizza bowl, or whatever it is, and Ole Miss has, so I guess that’s something you can brag about.

    3. LOL… I was laughing at this not the statement below. Moved it down there for some reason…. But the pizza bowl was some what funny. Look at it this way. You would of had a good chance to play in the pizza bowl but was on probabtion at that time.

      1. I was really kinda sad Bama never played in the pizza bowl when they were down.

        A good trivia question would be, what happened last, Bama playing a game at Legion Field or Ole Miss beating Alabama anywhere?

  5. Have you guys forgotten about The DuBose, Franchione & Shula years. Your records (10 wins every 3rd year 7 at the most the others) are similar to the growing pains Ole Miss went through. Suddenly Saban a coach who is amazing shows up and your back. Freeze is not be Saban today but he is definitely a coach on the rise, who has been an excellent recruiter for some time.

    1. Freeze was coaching high school football about five years ago. Saban already owned a crystal football five years ago.

      Tap the brakes there, Tonto.

  6. I don’t think there’s any question that Bama is an incredible team, and it’s completely understandable why recruits want to go there. Personally, I think Bama could beat a number of NFL teams – they’re just on another level.
    But with that said, you sure as hell better be if you’re paying your coach $5+Million every year. Ole Miss is a small school in terms of SEC, and hasn’t been able to compete with LSU & Bama monetarily for that reason.
    Back in the early-mid 2000s Alabama had probations and not the most successful seasons, and what did they do? Hired a new coach. And what happened? Things started to crank along again and Bama started winning. College football has its ups & downs, especially in this competitive conference, and Ole Miss finally got smart enough to remove all of the athletic leadership and start anew, and it’s working.
    Call us the cute little kitten all you want, but by fall 2014 (Bama still has a lot of depth going into 2013), it’s gonna be fun to watch that little kitty play.
    And in terms of us not winning with all of those players — yeah, i agree we should’ve won more but you also have many of those players overlapping. The difference now is that you’ve got a whole, full class coming in together to build and play together, rather than having a standout senior and freshman who only get to play 1 year together…

    And we’re still the Rebels … the BlackBear is our mascot … the same way Bama is/are the Roll Tide but you have an Elephant on your field as your mascot …. does either of it make sense? Nope. But you can’t knock it you have an Elephant as your mascot…

    1. It takes more than one good class to do damage. Look, I hope it comes together and gels to the point that you beat Auburn and State every year. I’m your biggest fan on those days.

      But in terms of recruiting momentum, when it comes to Bama, you’re chasing a locomotive on foot. Just keeping games close should be the object, with celebrations immediately following if/when it happens.

      As for the elephant mascot, there’s a story there, but it makes about as much sense as your black bear. 🙂

  7. Wow ! I guess Bama has never broke the NCAA rules ? I want to say Bama was on probation when you won a natty ? And you recruit players that can’t even read ! Julio …. And Bama is not respected as a clean program by anybody… I have friends that played for Bama and let me tell you your a foul if you think Bama is clean.. Btw it’s just football you act like its some major breaking story that Bama can out buy everyone !

  8. I guess it was unfair of me to assume you only have one emotion. Must be fear! Mark your calendar….Vaught-Hemingway(2014) 3 natty’s yes and ya’ll have had some good teams. But……
    2009 was probably the weakest the SEC has been in 2 decades. We had Bama and Florida and lets face it, when mullins left, their offense went with him.

    2011 You had the best team in the country,,,no doubt. But LSU beat you in Tuscaloosa and you didn’t deserve a second chance. Rarely will you ever see an SEC team lose twice to the same team.

    2012 I call it the luck of the tide. The only good thing that came from this year as that hopefully the BCS confirmed that its just BS. I felt sorry for the irish fans, almost as much as i felt sorry for bulldog fans.

    I also don’t dispute alabama recruiting or the coaches. Both are tops. But I think anyone outside of the bama family will agree. The fans are not why the recruits come there.

    1. Whew! Thank goodness you don’t dispute Bama recruiting or coaching. For a minute the entire Bama nation held its collective breath while we worried about what an Ole Miss fan thought.

  9. If you want to talk about history and tradition, I believe Bama was the last SEC team to get caught paying a player (not including Scam Newton, since no one was punished for that)…a bust DT from Memphis circa 2006 (I don’t remember his name, excuse my ignorance, my knowledge of Alabama football is a bit rusty. I thought about looking it up, but then I just went on living my life) . I realize that is probably ancient history to Bamers though, and St. Nick would never do that, but in case you forgot it was dark times in Tuscaloosa before Nick got there to revitalize the Tide. The point is good coaches have been turning programs around throughout the history of college athletics, and I don’t think that will end anytime soon. If I didn’t know any better I would think someone sounds intimidated by the momentum the Rebels and Hugh Freeze are building off of last season. Good think you cleared that up with the cute kitten comment though. A+ on that remark, great journalism there! I can’t wait to read more of your insipid literature. I’ll check your twitter account for new articles right after I finish reading the dictionary.

    Cheers,

    Rebel Nation

    1. Oh I remember those dark times well. They were awful. And yet, Ole Miss was STILL only able to beat Alabama just ONE TIME in the Dubose, Franchione, Shula era.

      I can understand how your frustration would lead you to “live your life” apart from college football. Dang. If I were an Ole Miss grad/alum/fan, I’d do the same.

  10. The BCS confirmed it was BS by putting an undefeated powerhouse against a 1 loss conference champion POWERHOUSE? The nation wanted to see that match up. The build up leading to the game….. ND had something for Bama. Brick wall goal line defense. Unstoppable offensive line…… Heisman runner up. Bama shut that down in every aspect of the game point blank and now the BCS is a joke??? SEC DOMINANCE makes every other conference a JOKE. Wait till you cry babies get your wish when the playoffs arrive all SEC. So get the excuses ready cause you are gonna need them. Damn it feels good to be on the top looking down upon you. ROLL TIDE ROLL. You can call us what you want but you can’t call us losers!! RTR! RAMMA JAMMA!

  11. I hope you see your issue. You think that the alabama football team is a reflection of you as a person. Truth be known, you are like the other half of albama that came out of the woodwork 3-4 years ago and have only driven by the football stadium.

  12. Oh yes, we can call you losers. “The Fans” that is. Absolutely the worst fans in the sec. LSU beat us all the time too and their fans are rowdy, but even if we do beat them, ten minutes later they are over it, having fun, and will even invite you to their RV for a beer and food. But I remember 2003, i was there and after the game the bama fans acted like rednecks who thought i shot their coon dog…LOL. But i didn’t take it personal bc i know they act like that all the time.

      1. Believe me, when Alabama beats Ole Miss, we are over it within 10 minutes as well. Half the time the game isn’t even worth watching. That’s why there is no fear in scheduling Ole Miss for homecoming so many years.

  13. Last piece of therapy for you today and Im gone.

    “Pride cometh before the fall”

    Feel free to lay back on the couch and tell everyone else what you really think.

    1. Here’s another:

      Ole Miss sucketh and will get caughteth for cheatingeth because MSU won’t let them get away with it-eth.

  15. s forest – u stupid ignorant slut – the bama scandal and memphis dt was 2000 and then the probation yrs/damage 2000-2007 no room for fringe fans on this board….fact ole miss is throwing cash at croots

      1. The only cash Bama recruits need to see is the legit money waiting for them after playing in Nick Saban’s system after 3-years.

    2. And Mr. Hammah how do you know it’s a FACT that Ole Miss is paying recruits? Link, evidence, source? Anything?????

      1. I’ll speak for Hammah…

        It’s called common sense. A top recruit doesn’t go to a middle of the pack wanna be like Ole Mi$$.

        Wait, you’re an Auburn fan. Common sense has already escaped you.

  16. Great article. I’m just curious about one thing. There’s a rumor that those 100 dollar bills in the article are some of the actual bills Alabama boosters gave to recruits a few years back. Can you verify this rumor?

    1. If you’ll look closer, all of the bills share the same serial number, meaning it’s a photo of the same bill multiple times.

      Meaning, if you asked everyone in the world who thought your quip had the “gotcha” power you thought it did, each contributing $10, that’s the amount of money you would’ve raised.

      Hope this helps.

      1. ITK

        It is better to be thought of as ignorant than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!!!!

      2. Alabama is without a doubt the dirtiest program in D l football, and they have the balls to write an article about another school……. Remove the burr from your butts Bamites, your reign is about to be rained on, you have enjoyed your last NC, or Natty(so cute) as you call it. There are some new kids on the block and guess what, they aren’t afraid of you.

        1. Its the SEC, not sure any team is scared of another.

          We will win another NC…just look at our resume.

          Just not sure what you are basing your predictions on? To be honest, we’ve been hearing that same prediction for the past 5 years…..makes us yawn.

  19. Lets not forget the election night race riot. How much $$ did it take to ease this worries? Maybe just a blonde like @AuburnHedgepeth . Check her out on twitter. She constantly “strokes” the croots “egos”. Which leads us to another dilemma, an Ole Miss sorostitute named Auburn…

  20. Pingback: RECRUITING: Ole Miss doing a GREAT job at recruiting this year | Y'all Sports

  21. I wonder how the new helmets will look @ Alabama when they start growing their antlers from the illegal HGH they have been using. No wonder they are hard to tackle, have you ever tried to tackle a deer?

      1. I thought it was equal to the funny article you wrote about ole miss cheating. I think you are scared of what Freeze is about to pull off- the right way!!

        2. I’m as scared as Ole Miss as I am of the cat sleeping on my living room floor at this very moment.

          I just think possible cheating, when a pic is posted by the Clarion-Ledger, is worth the time.

    2. Careful with what you wish for, if Bama is in trouble for the antler spray, some Ole Miss players will likely have to answer for it too. I don’t know if you realize it, but just about every school in the SEC and more outside the SEC and NFL have players that will be implicated in it as well. But you guys keep praying for SOMETHING bad to happen. Because playing it out on the field isn’t working out for you guys, no matter who your coach is.

      1. Oh, sorry. You’re a little slow. Alabama paid around $200,000 for Albert Means 10 years ago. They were caught and penalized by the NCAA. Alabama is the most cheating program in the history of college football. Clear now?

        1. Yeah, and around the time Bama was doing that, they were losing, trying to catch up with everyone else. Guess what? It it work out in the long run. Bama has paid the price, changed the culture, and Saban has re-built the Alabama program into the best on in the nation, that everyone else wants to be like. Tell me, how many times have you dreaded playing Alabama since Saban has been coaching there?

          For your sake, you had better hope that Ole Miss is not taking any shortcuts. Because the truth always comes out, and cheating doesn’t help you in the long run.

          But I like the way you want to use something that happened 10 years ago as some kind of proof for Bamas success now. Just think, all the cheating and coaching mistakes you have made over the years has paved the way for you guys to get Coach Freeze. Will he surpass Saban? Doubtful. You hope so, but you still fear Bama and you know it.

          You know as well as I know that Saban has built an NFL factory, and the odds of getting to the NFL making NFL first round money is greater at Bama than any other SEC school right now.

        2. Okay…

          #1 If you are from Mississippi, you shouldn’t call anyone else “slow”.

          #2 It was more than 10 years ago

          #3 They were penalized by the NCAA, yet had less evidence than the NCAA had on Cam.

          #4 Look up who leads the NCAA with probations.

          #5 What does Albert Means have anything to do with Ole Miss possibly paying players?

          #6 Hopefully, by this step you will realize how dumb you really are…. (I mean the whole “Alabama is the most cheating program in the history of college football” comment pretty much proves to everyone your intelligence level.)

  24. It will take many more $100 bills to reach $200,000. Alabama is the most corrupt program in college football and everyone knows it. Best team money can buy. And buy the way everyone knows you have the SEC office and Slive to back you.

    1. We’ve got the trophies, Ole Miss doesn’t. Its good to be king.

      As far as owning the SEC….we sure do. Isn’t anything you can do about it, either.

      You’ll just have to take another ass whipping this year and like it.

  25. And I could barely make it through the article because of all of the sh!tty writing and grammatical errors – not to mention your disgusting homerism.

  26. If we got Quon for $305, I call that a bargain. And why even put that garbage in your little blog post (because even though you think you are a journalist and maybe even a professional writer, you are just a blogger. How does it feel to fail at life? Must be miserable.)? The ring is his state championship ring. So dumb.

    1. Yet all this “shitty” writing is getting all this attention from Ole Miss fans…..

      Sorry, Charlie. You’ve got to do better than that!

      If it makes you feel better, I don’t mind if Ole Miss cheats. That is their best option to finish at least third in the west.

  27. We know Slive and SEC are in our pocket. Did you see our schedule for next year? Do you remember the 2009 LSU interception that wasn’t one? Suck it SEC West! Slive and Birmingham will protect us.

  28. It must have been Freeze that put a spittoon on the table for the alumni to fill up with recruiting $$ before he would take the job…oh wait, that was another coach at another school.

    ITK, you are such a winner. The effort and time it must have taken for you to decide to be a Bama fan must have been overwhelming for you. I suppose that I could say I won WWII because I’m an American. But, it all pays off for you when you get to trash talk someone, make accusations and believe that you can justify your arguments because of the accomplishments of someone else.

    When Jr.’s and Drummond’s checks stop clearing, get back to me.

    1. “You sound like” ?????

      Is your computer reading the sentences for you? Is that the sound you are referring to…?

      Sorry, dumb question. What is the literacy rate in Mississippi, again?

  30. Your tattooed stick boy Qback can’t get enough of those Auburn sorotitutes homer. Get ready for some sacks this year cause your entire O line is gone. We will see if he really is a good Qback like Manziel.

    1. BAMAS O-LINE: Only two are gone, but they will upgrade at center, and have plenty of quality depth that will step up. The backups also played in a lot of games this past season, and they were all part of seceral top ranked recruiting classes as the starters were. I hope you really believe Bama’s line will not be any good. Remember, you said last season their defense wouldn’t be any good either, but we all seen what happened there.

      But AJ? Wow. Just look at his stats against Auburn as a starter. 25-2 record. Not to mention a consistent group of bad-ass receivers, tight ends and running backs to throw and hand off to. I would bet Bama gets over 40 points on Auburn again this season.

  31. And talk about paying recruits your top dog donor is a freaking gambling dog track thug, what a classy booster. Wish we could claim that title, our top boosters run companies that could buy the University of Mullet Tiresmell Hellhole Tuscaloosa 1000 times over. How you like them apples? Auburn will beat the fuck out of Alabama this year and I can’t wait. Ole Miss and A&M for sure will.

    1. I didn’t know uncle Milton was a Bama booster! How about that… but about that Iron Bowl… will you consider it a moral victory if you only get beat by 21 this season?

      I see you already are repeating the same attitude from last season. (Which is AWESOME! I hope you all feel this way! That way the disappointment will hit that much harder.)

      You really think Auburn has what it takes to compete with the big boys already? What a dumbass you are! You really think Bama is dropping so low as to lose 3 games next season? That is hilarious! (Bamas schedule this season is easier than last season)

      I can’t wait for next season to begin as well. We all know Bama will be the team to beat, but watching Auburn try to compete this year is also going to be fun for us all! How much pressure is on these guys to succeed this year? How many chances will Malzahn get against Saban before he is fired? What will happen if Auburn is blown out and embarrassed by A&M, LSU, BAMA, GA, OLE MISS, and MISS ST. this year? Man, I can’t WAIT to watch that again! Roll Tide you grumpy lil bitch!

  32. Rebel is funny calling Alabama most cheating considering how bad NCAA hammered Old Miss before Tubs got there to clean things up. Or that Auburn is trying to get top spot in most NCAA sanction history.

    Like Ole Miss relevance you guys just make shit up.

  33. This is amazing journalism. Ive honestly never read a story with this much substance. Did you graduate from Alabama? I may have to look into their journalism school.

    What I don’t get though is why do you even care? You have absolutely no idea where that kid got that money, and to be honest, if OM did pay him, and thats all they paid the guy then I think they got a good deal. Maybe he wanted to go there to be a star player rather than just another player on the team. Next you decide to write a little story, get a little bit more info before you try and write it off as fact, you look really stupid in mixed company. Though most bama grads probably can’t tell the difference.

    1. Ask the Clarion-Ledger. That’s where the picture came from.

      But you’re welcome to get mad at us if you wish. It’s cute.

      And you’re right. ANY top player wants to go to the only school in the SEC that’s never made it to Atlanta. Your logic is as curious as the sudden rise in recruiting prowess your Black Rebel Bear Thingies are enjoying.

  34. Any man that excessively uses the word cute, especially within the confines of a football related article, automatically loses all credibility!

    1. What do Ole Miss fans know about football? You shouldn’t even be commenting here, based on that logic!

      At Ole Miss, “Football”and “Credibility” is an oxymoron.

    2. Well, I just can’t help it. Ole Miss fans are cute, like a little fierce, fuzzy puppy that loses its temper, growling with its furry, adorable little face. Give us something to fear and we will. Until then, you’re just a cute wittle bunch!

  35. Wow.. Bama fans are starting to sound whiney.. since yall are the best in the biz, why worry about a little school in MS? I hope they don’t poison the grove..

  36. Pingback: FAN REVIEW––Ole Miss: A culture of supremacy | Capstone Report

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