Friday Night Highlights: 3-star DB says ‘I would most definitely be a Rebel if not for the NCAA’

Jemaurian Jones, a three-star cornerback prospect from Brookhaven, Miss., was interviewed by 247Sports’ David Johnson on Tuesday. It was expected to be your standard recruiting update interview, I’m sure, but Jemaurian gave quite the damning quote to Johnson in regards to his recruitment.

This quote only confirms what we at the Cup have suspected and been saying for months now: the NCAA is hurting yet another Ole Miss football recruiting class. After practically decimating the entire 2016 class with a dark cloud of “who the hell knows”, this 2017 class sits dead last in the SEC, ranked 92nd overall and only has seven verbal commitments in it. Forget the 5-7 egg that was laid last year and Hugh Freeze’s shameful departure, the real problem is getting the NCAA the hell hell out of Oxford and being able to recruit at full capacity again.

Even though he is still trying to decide what he wants to do for the next three-to-four years, the nation’s No. 69 cornerback prospect has helped the Brookhaven Panthers bounce back from an opening season loss to Pearl (Miss.) to back-to-back wins over Lawrence County (Miss.) and Pike County (Miss.). In three games, he has two interceptions despite most teams not throwing to his side of the field much. The 6’1, 170-pound defensive back released a top three of Mississippi State, Ole Miss and UCLA back in July despite other offers from Florida State, Georgia and Oklahoma.

The 247Sports Crystal Ball for Jones reads in favor of Ole Miss (67 percent) but the NCAA cloud still looms large obviously as evidenced by his comments to Johnson. The program’s representatives, including interim coach Matt Luke, will be in Covington, Kentucky in two weeks for the meeting with the COI and if the result is favorable later this fall, Jones could join the 2017 class.

Has Phil Longo found his replacement for Shea Patterson?

Kevin Doyle, a three-star quarterback prospect from Washington, D.C., has been on Phil Longo’s radar for quite some time now, but recently his name has seemed to really heat up in recruiting circles. And for good reason. The 6’4, 210-pounder from St. John’s College High School has started off his 2017 campaign with two very impressive games. After a dominating performance in their opener against Jones (Fla.) High School in which he completed 18-of-21 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns, he once again impressed on ESPNU against De La Salle (Calif.).

Despite the Cadets blowing a big lead to the Spartans, Doyle’s game was still impressive in Concord, completing 21-of-35 passes for 308 yards but his last drive ultimately came up short because of an interception. Despite the narrow loss, Doyle’s stat line is a bit skewed because of dropped passes and an offensive line injury that forced him to bail out of the pocket on almost every drop back.

Forget the 1-1 record, Doyle’s game is ready for the Power 5 level. When you take a look at the film, the arm talent jumps off the screen. He manipulates coverage well, navigates through progressions and has quite the impressive deep ball. He also has that maturity in the pocket that we saw a few years ago with Patterson during his time at IMG Academy, keeping his eyes downfield despite the rush bearing down on him.

According to his 247Sports profile page, the Rebels hold a commanding lead over the Pittsburgh Panthers and are labeled as his favorite currently. It has been a two-team race for some time now despite his offers from the likes of Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, Syracuse, West Virginia and Yale. He’s also drawn considerable interest from Georgia, LSU and Michigan State.

The Cadets dropped to No. 20 in USA Today’s Super 25 after the loss to D.L.S., but the country’s No. 21 pro-style quarterback is enjoying an impressive start to his senior season and has certainly caught the eye of Ole Miss’ offensive coordinator.

A.K. is closing in on a 3-star prospect from Maryland.

Matt Luke and the football team won’t be hosting any official visitors until the LSU game due to the NCAA investigation, but the Ole Miss basketball is picking up the slack as they hosted a three-star prospect for the South Alabama game. Anthony Higgs, a 6’8, 200-pound small forward from Perry Hall (Md.) High School in Baltimore, was in Oxford over the weekend to take in the sights and sounds of Oxford on a football Saturday with his head coach, George Panageotu.

In an interview with Rebel Grove’s Neal McCready, Panageotu details what impressed him the most about the trip and what he thinks about Higgs future with the Rebels.

As far as where Higgs fits in in Andy Kennedy’s offense, he had some thoughts about that as well.

“We sat down and watched film of where he would be on the court,” Panageotu said. “They realize his strengths and what he can offer as a 3-man or a stretch-4. He would be a big part of his future. That caught all of our eyes. …It’ll be more beneficial for his game to be the stretch-4 and be the guy who can take the ball 25 feet from the basket and beat his guy off the dribble than just be a rim protector.”

According to Higg’s 247Sports profile, Ole Miss is the favorite and the three-star forward has an official trip planned to Colorado in a few weeks. The Rebels’ 2018 class is still empty, but they could be closing in on a commitment from the nation’s No. 78 small forward if he decides to end his recruitment after visiting the Buffaloes.

As a junior, the athletic rim protector helped Perry Hall win the Maryland 4A state championship, chipping in 15.7 points per game, 8.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. The southpaw is also a member of Team Melo when he competes on the AAU circuit. He also holds offers from Kansas State, George Mason, Old Dominion, St. Joseph’s, UMass and Xavier.