Ole Miss recruiting: 4-star safety C.J. Avery visits for fall camp

After losing Trae Elston to graduation and the NFL, the Rebs added four-star Deontay Anderson on NSD 2016. Now, they’re after another stud for the back end of the Landshark defense: four-star safety C.J. Avery has been on the Rebels’ radar for quite some time and he seems to be very interested in donning the red and blue.

Avery spoke to Scout’s Yancy Porter about how impressed he was during his trip to Oxford. C.J. mainly focused on watching the safeties in practice and said “there were a lot of freshmen in their rotation... that gives me a chance to come in and play.” The Rebs might have the perfect sales pitch for the No. 18 safety prospect in the country: come replace Tony Conner. Avery is phenomenal in the open field but is also a devastating tackler close to the line of scrimmage. Sound familiar?

The No. 5 player in the state is also high on Florida State, so he’ll be glued to a television on September 5th ("I'll definitely be watching that game”). For now, the 247Sports Crystal Ball has the 6’1, 196-pound playmaker from Grenada, Miss. leaning towards Mississippi State (56 percent), with Ole Miss in second (33 percent).

A three-star 2018 WR likes the Rebs.

We all know how much receivers coach Grant Heard likes big receivers—every player in his position room is 6’1 or taller. So 6’3, 196-pound 2018 prospect Demarcus Gregory should fit right in if he decides to make his way to Oxford. The Duncan, S.C. native recently visited Oxford, Miss. and spoke with Scout’s Chad Simmons about it.

Gregory told Simmons “the facilities were very nice and the coaches are great,” adding that the coaches “made it fun” and were “crazy and having a good time.” There’s no timetable for a decision from the Palmetto State’s ninth-rated overall player, but Hugh Freeze seems to have his attention already. Last week, Demarcus caught six passes for 88 yards and a touchdown in Byrnes High School’s opening week contest.

Cam Akers is rocking some Ole Miss swag.

We all know about the five-star running back/quarterback/defensive back from Clinton, Miss. And by now, you’ve probably seen what he did to South Panola in Week 1 of the 2016 high school season.

You can’t really put much stock into the t-shirt choices of recruits, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have the No. 2 running back in the country showing off the red and blue in his downtime.

Ohio State currently leads for Akers according to 247Sports Crystal Ball (52 percent) but if I was a betting man, I don’t think Cam leaves the Magnolia State, much less the South.