Ole Miss recruiting: Could the Rebs still land a 4-star WR despite all of this?

After the news broke on Thursday that former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze was resigning after a pattern of inappropriate behavior surfaced after athletic director Ross Bjork did some investigating, the weekend’s camp sessions were in most people’s rear view mirror. That was until a certain someone showed up on campus.

Four-star wide receiver Elijah Moore still made the trip up from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to check out the campus, meet with the staff, interim head coach Matt Luke and his primary recruiter, receivers coach Jacob Peeler. The Opening selection and U.S. Army All-American narrowed things down earlier this month and is focusing on Miami (Fla.), Ohio State and Ole Miss. And the fact that Moore even showed up after all this, should be something Ole Miss fans take as a good sign.

That and his current 247Sports Crystal Ball predictor is sitting at 90 percent for the good guys.

As far as a decision for Moore, only time will tell unfortunately. He mentioned in an interview with David Johnson earlier this month that it would come “very soon”, but nothing as of now. But, make no mistake about it, dude would be an unreal pickup for Ole Miss and Coach Peeler and would be something that they really have had in recent years. He is an extremely quick, elusive pass catcher that would give linebackers nightmares in the slot position, much like former West Virginia and current Los Angeles Rams receiver Tavon Austin does.

Peeler knows that having a guy with Moore’s quicks and route running in the slot would be an amazing addition to a room that ALREADY includes five former four-star receivers. And current commit Demarcus Gregory also knows how key Moore would be to continuing the WRU dominance.

Keep an eye on Mr. Moore. If he announces his intentions to commit to the Rebels despite all this turmoil, it could show others that things aren’t all that bad and to squad up as well. Like I said, only time will tell.

There were two decommitments over the weekend.

Even though Moore made the trip up, the news wasn’t all great. 2018 commit Jaylin Williams and 2019 commit Bobby Wolfe both parted ways after the Freeze news broke. We don’t know for certain that it was directly-related to Freeze but one would surmise that that was the case for them reconsidering.

Williams, the defensive back from Germantown, Tenn., is still picked to join the Rebels on 247Sports, but I would imagine that he will go back to the drawing board and entertain other options like Arkansas State, Indiana and Vanderbilt. The 5’11 170-pounder is being recruited by Maurice Harris, a Memphis native, so best believe they will stay in touch throughout the process.

Wolfe on the other hand has been busy since his decommitment. The 2019 defensive back from Houston, Tex. visited Texas last week and is starting to show a lot more love to the LSU Tigers and, of all people, Baylor on Twitter. Despite the removal of a verbal pledge, Wolfe’s Crystal Ball still favors the Rebs (100 percent) but he has a long way to go before his national signing day.

A 4-star 2019 quarterback also made the trip this weekend.

The 2018 class still does not have a quarterback commit. And probably won’t anytime soon. But, a 2019 target made the trip south to Oxford from Iowa over the weekend. Max Duggan, a pro-style quarterback prospect from Council Bluffs, Iowa, visited the Rebels over the weekend to meet with Coach Luke and workout for offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

The 6’2, 175-pounder has been this summer, camping and visiting Georgia and receiving offers from the likes of Alabama, Kentucky and Central Florida. The No. 7 ranked pro-style quarterback prospect for next year’s class also holds offers from Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina and Penn State, among others.

Longo has been very selective in this process and I would expect him to be very picky on who he goes after, especially if there isn’t anyone that he particularly likes in 2018. Duggan is certainly on his radar now.

Tennessee receiver is not a fan of people bashing Ole Miss.

The backlash from all the Hugh Freeze drama was quite brutal on social media over the weekend. Lots of “I told you so” and “stop drinking the Kool-Aid” kind of nonsense. Well, a certain wide receiver target didn’t seem to appreciate all the bullshit. Three-star Tykee Ogle-Kellogg out of Alcoa, Tenn. made it very clear where he stands after all the dust settled on Thursday.

The Tennessee Mr. Football star doesn’t seem to care much about the accusations against Freeze and for now is saying it’s not effected his status with the Rebs. The nation’s No. 117 ranked receiver recently put Ole Miss in his top three and it appears that they will stay there for the time being. The 6’5, 195-pound croot also holds offers from Louisville, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech, among others.

A high school in Georgia sent five recruits to Oxford.

Callaway High School out of Hogansville, Ga. also made the trip to the 662 despite Freeze’s departure. And they sent a full truckload of talent, headlined by 2019 four-star offensive lineman Keiondre Jones. The No. 3 offensive guard in the nation almost certainly made the trip to meet with new interim coach Matt Luke and to get a feel for how the program is handling the transition.

Also joining Jones was 2020 wide receiver target Jacob Freeman and three other 2021 targets. Callaway is the former home of 2017 signee Braylon Sanders and we all know that the Peach State is a hot bed for football talent so not a bad group to come visit, given the circumstances.

Ole Miss baseball added two commitments over the weekend.

While the football program was undergoing a massive transition and doing damage control, Mike Bianco had a decent weekend, adding two verbal commitments for the future. 2019 infielder Peyton Chatagnier declared his allegiance to the Diamondbearz as well as 2020 infielder Reagan Burford.

Chatagnier, a shortstop out of Cypress, Tex., is a rising junior Cy-Fair High School and despite playing sparingly last season, hitting just .267, he still posted a .783 OPS and a .450 on-base percentage. Burford, a rising sophomore at St. George’s in Collierville, Tenn., is a 6’0, 170-pound infielder who chose the Rebels over the likes of Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee, Virginia and Vanderbilt.