Ole Miss recruiting: Cam Akers is now the No. 1 RB prospect in the country

Cam Akers’ performance at Saturday’s Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game was modest by his standards—65 yards rushing on 19 carries—but he’s still having one hell of a week.

The most coveted recruit in the Magnolia State did enough during all-star practice to convince 247Sports to make him the No. 1 running back prospect in the country, surpassing Cali product Najee Harris. Two days later, Akers, who ran for 34 touchdowns and over 2,000 yards as a quarterback this season, was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Mississippi.

The accolades will continue to roll in for Akers, who’s one of six finalists for the 2017 U.S. Army Player of the Year Award. Where he’ll play his college ball, however, remains a mystery. Ole Miss was among six schools who reportedly visited Akers at home on Sunday, the last day before the beginning of a recruiting dead period that stretches to Jan. 11. Akers will have probably picked his school by then—he’s expected to announce during the Army Bowl on Jan. 7.

The 5’11, 213-pound five-star cancelled his official visit to Ole Miss last week, though there’s still reason to believe the Rebels could be among his top three. Akers said last week that the NCAA investigation “don’t make a difference,” but Hugh Freeze’s impending offensive coordinator hire might.

If Freeze can’t convince Akers, maybe Rae Sremmurd’s DJ can.

#TheNetwork

A QB recruit hinted that Ole Miss has made an offensive coordinator decision.

Three-star Mississippi product Myles Brennan, who’s currently committed to LSU but still being recruited by the Rebels, let this slide after the AL-MS All-Star Game:

The front runner at this point has to be Sam Houston State OC Phil Longo, who’s name began popping up everywhere last Friday. After Sam Houston State’s humiliating 62-7 blowout to James Madison in the FCS playoffs, however, the Spirit began circulating a report that Ole Miss planned to reach out to Texas OC Sterlin Gilbert, TCU OC Sonny Cumbie and Memphis OC Chip Long.

Ole Miss hosted a bunch of croots over the weekend.

Lead among them was four-star defensive lineman LaBryan Ray, who told the Ole Miss Spirit that he and his family were “really impressed” by their trip to Oxford.

"I got to spend a lot of time with their staff,” said Ray, who’s rated the ninth-best defensive end in the country. “I had a chance to spend a lot of time with coach (Chris) Kiffin. We watched a lot of tape. I got to see the type of things he teaches and how they would use me. He's taught a lot of great players like Robert Nkemdiche and all of those guys. He really wants to use me a lot of the ways he used Robert."

Wrestling the Alabama native away from Nick Saban will be a tall task, but getting him on campus is a good start.

Among the dozen or so visitors were four-star corner Chevin Calloway, JUCO linebacker Donyae Moody, JUCO corner Javien Hamilton and three-star DT Jordon Scott, who’s expected to choose the Rebels over Louisville and Florida State when he announces on Christmas.

Two of the JUCO visitors committed while in Oxford.

Three-star dual-threat quarterback Jordan Ta’amu and three-star linebacker(!) Brenden Williams made verbal pledges on Saturday. At 6’3, 200 pounds with good speed, Ta’amu appears to be Freeze’s prototypical backup quarterback in the mold of Barry Brunetti and Jason Pellerin. Willliams, a 6’4, 230-pounder with the athleticism of a former wide receiver, could be an immediate contributor at a position of desperate need.