Ole Miss WR Tre Harris, DL Walter Nolen Named Sporting News Preseason All-American Honorees

Two Ole Miss Rebels garner praise heading into the 2024 college football season.

Dec 30, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels wide receiver Tre Harris (9) holds up the Peach Bowl trophy after a victory against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Tre Harris and Walter Nolen will be essential to Ole Miss' success in 2024. They also are already garnering praise from voters.

Nolen and Harris were named to the Sporting News preseason All-American second-team roster heading into Week 1. The duo were the only two Rebels to make the cut on any roster heading into 2024.

Harris, who joined the Rebels last offseason after a strong career at Louisiana Tech, flourished as the No. 1 option in the passing game, hauling in 54 passes for a team-leading 985 yards and eight touchdowns.

Preseason All-Americans 🇺🇸🫡@WalterNolenIII & @_treharris13 pic.twitter.com/H4OTI3cBhY

— Ole Miss Football (@OleMissFB) August 14, 2024

Harris' eight scores rank tied for sixth in the Ole Miss single-season records, while his 985 yards rank seventh. He also ranked top 10 among SEC receivers in receptions per game, receiving yards, yards per catch and yards per game.

He's also a favorite to win the Biletknikoff Award this fall. According to FanDuel, the senior has the 10th best odds to be named this year's top receiver +2700.

Nolen, the former No. 1 overall defensive recruit in the 2022 class, joined Ole Miss after a two-year stay with Texas A&M. The Powell, Tenn., product didn't show much during his freshman season, but he broke out in waves last fall, totaling 8.5 tackles for loss and four sacks.

In two seasons, the former five-star recruit made 22 total appearances and 10 starts. On top of being named an All-SEC first-team representative, Nolen's been named to the Walter Camp Award (national player of the year), Bronko Nagurski Trophy (national defensive player of the year) and Outland Trophy (best interior lineman) watchlist entering this year.

The Rebels are coming off their best season in program history, totaling 11 wins, including a victory over Penn State in the Peach Bowl. Harris wanted to better his draft stock and elected to return for one more go-around. Quarterback Jaxson Dart knew the job wasn't finished and chose to go for one "Last Dance" in Oxford.