clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics The original Air Kiffin shirt is available here

Filed under:

Ole Miss recruiting: 4-star Starkville native says Oxford 'feels like home'

Is linebacker(!) Willie Gay considering an A.J. Brown-esque defection to The School Up North? Elsewhere, AK is flirting with another point guard transfer and Keyshawn Jr.'s Nebraska commitment could affect a big-time Rebel QB croot.

By Zach Berry and Jeff Gray
Student Sports

Hugh Freeze scored one of the coups of Signing Day '16 when he slipped into Dan Mullen's backyard and pilfered blue chip wideout A.J. Brown from Starkville High. Could one of Brown's 2017 teammates be next?

Four-star linebacker Willie Gay recently told Scout.com that "I feel like I'm home when I go [to Oxford]." True, he said the same about Starkville, but that's to be expected—it's literally his home, after all. That he's saying the same thing about Ole Miss at least opens the door for the Rebels to lure another defection. For what it's worth, 247Sports' Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong Crystal Ball'd Gay to Ole Miss earlier this week, though the overall numbers still favor State, 67 percent to 37 percent.

Gay, who's ranked by the 247 Composite as the fourth best player in the state and the 18th best outside backer nationally, is also interested in Bama and complimented "the coaches and the way they develop players." Gay currently holds offers from 11 schools, including Michigan, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The Nike Opening finalist says he'll release an official top five sometime this summer but will hold his final decision until NSD.

Ole Miss, you may have heard, could use a linebacker. The 11th-hour transfers of Rommel Mageo and Detric Bing-Dukes (hopefully) shored things up for 2016, but they're short-term solutions. Gay, who has 6'2, 215 size with great lateral speed, would be a candidate to eventually replace rising junior DeMarquis Gates at the outside backer spot. During his junior year of high school, Gay totaled 87 tackles, 17 for loss, six sacks, nine pass break ups, four picks and two forced fumbles.

Here's the full interview with Scout:

Oh, did you think we were gonna ignore the best part of that video?

Will 4-star Tristan Gebbia follow Keyshawn Jr. to Nebraska?

Key's son, a four-star wideout who once had Ole Miss in his top 10, announced earlier this week that he's turning down his dad's alma mater, USC, and heading to the Cornhuskers. Johnson's decision in and of itself isn't that upsetting to Rebel fans—he dropped Ole Miss from his top teams in January—but it could possibly affect his four-star teammate, Tristan Gebbia, who's picking between Nebraska and Ole Miss.

Gebbia is Johnson's quarterback at Calabasas High in California and also happens to be the son of former Ole Miss tight end Rich Gebbia. Tristan, like Keyshawn Jr., might decide to break from his dad's alma mater and instead head to Lincoln, where he took an unofficial visit earlier this month (he took an unofficial to Oxford in February).

As it stands right now, the 247Sports Crystal Ball has him at 67 percent for Nebraska and 33 percent for Ole Miss.

Andy Kennedy is after another transfer point guard.

With Stefan Moody out of eligibility, Ole Miss hoops is in the market for a new point man. Cullen Neal, who announced last week that he plans to transfer from New Mexico, took a visit to Oxford with his mom on Thursday. He'll graduate in May and be immediately eligible to play two years.

Ole Miss isn't the only one after him, of course. A reported 20 schools have contacted Neal, including Texas A&M, Vandy, Memphis, Butler, Xavier and Purdue. According to Scout's Ben Garrett, Ole Miss is looking to add at least three players this spring to go along with transfer guard Deandre Burnett from Miami, who had to sit out the 2015-2016 season due to transfer rules.

Cullen averaged 12.3 points and 3.7 assists per game last season, but drew criticism and even death threats for his erratic play. His dad, who's also the New Mexico head coach, told ESPN that the threats forced Cullen to change his phone number twice and shut down his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Before brushing off those unimpressive stats, don't forget that Moody averaged a modest 15.7 before transferring to Ole Miss. Another point guard transfer you might have heard of, Marshall Henderson, averaged just 11.8 points per game at Utah before making his way to Oxford.