Four-Star LB Dawson Merritt Includes Rebels in Top 10 Schools | Recruiting Tracker

Ole Miss Rebels Recruiting Tracker: Check back often as we keep you up-to-date on Rebel news as Ole Miss looks to improve on an already impressive class.

March 13

The Ole Miss Rebels made the short list for another 2025 recruit on Wednesday, this time in the form of linebacker Dawson Merritt out of Blue Valley H.S. in Overland Park, Kansas.

Per On3, Merritt is a four-star recruit, and he included multiple premier programs in his list. You can view the announcement here and find his list below.

- Alabama Crimson Tide

- Texas A&M Aggies

- Missouri Tigers

- Nebraska Cornhuskers

- USC Trojans

- Florida State Seminoles

- Oklahoma Sooners

- Ole Miss Rebels

- Michigan Wolverines

- Kansas Jayhawks

March 11

The Ole Miss Rebels continue to grab the attention of top prospects in the 2025 class, securing a spot in the Top 5 schools list of tight end Nate Roberts on Monday.

Roberts hails from Washington (Oklahoma) High School, and he holds multiple offers from Power Five programs. Alongside the Rebels in the Top 5, he included the Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Oregon Ducks and Oklahoma Sooners.

The only school on this list that Roberts has yet to visit is Ole Miss, but he will remedy that with a trip to Oxford scheduled for April 27-29, per On3.

March 10

The Ole Miss Rebels find themselves in the final cut for yet another 2025 prospect, this time in the form of three-star wide receiver Eugene Hilton Jr. out of Zionsville, Indiana. He also happens to be the son of NFL legend T.Y. Hilton.

You can view his complete list here.

Alongside the Rebels, Hilton has included the following schools in his Top 7:

- Georgia Bulldogs

- Kansas Jayhawks

- Purdue Boilermakers

- Miami Hurricanes

- Missouri Tigers

- Wisconsin Badgers

Hilton officially measures in at 5-10 and 170 pounds, and in his high school career, he has hauled in nearly 1,500 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns, 10 of which came last season.

March 6

Can the Ole Miss Rebels secure one of the top talents in the state of Mississippi?

The Rebels are still in the running for Oak Grove (Hattiesburg, Miss.) four-star defensive lineman Andrew Maddox after making his Top 12 list on Tuesday. You can view the announcement here as well as a list of the schools below.

- Auburn Tigers

- Tennessee Volunteers

- Florida Gators

- Texas Longhorns

- Georgia Bulldogs

- Florida State Seminoles

- LSU Tigers

- Alabama Crimson Tide

- Miami Hurricanes

- Arkansas Razorbacks

- Mississippi State Bulldogs

- Ole Miss Rebels

March 4 

Ole Miss is looking to add its first quarterback prospect in the 2025 recruitment cycle, as four-star signal-caller Husan Longstreet announced his commitment date on Monday and included the Rebels in his final eight programs. According to On3, the 6-2, 190-pound prospect will announce his commitment on April 14, and will be choosing between Ole Miss, Oregon, UCLA, Michigan, Miami, Texas A&M, Auburn, and Louisville.

Longstreet is rated as the No. 5 recruit in the state of California and No. 6 quarterback in the 2025 cycle. Per On3, he is currently the top uncommitted quarterback in the 2025 cycle.

March 3

The Ole Miss Rebels will play host to 2025 Cedartown (Ga.) defensive back Tae Harris on March 30, and he recently opened up about what attracts him to Lane Kiffin's program.

According to Harris, Ole Miss has made a strong push in his recruitment, and he feels like he is a priority for the coaching staff. With that in mind, he is excited to see Oxford at the end of this month.

"Like I said, they really just made a push for me," Harris said. "Coach Nabors really made it clear that he wants me to come play for him. Coach Kiffin is showing me that I'm a priority, and I really like that, so we're going to see what's going on down in Oxford."

According to On3, Harris is a four-star prospect, and he measures in at 6-0 and 180 pounds. He decommitted from Georgia in January, and in his junior season, he registered 44 total tackles, according to his team's MaxPreps page.

Feb. 29

Good news on the recruiting trail found the Ole Miss Rebels on Leap Day 2024 as in-state running back Akylin Dear included them in his Top 12 schools.

Dear, a four-star out of Quitman (Miss.) High School, accumulated over 2,000 rushing yards in his 2023 season, and he is poised for another strong campaign as a senior this fall. He also earned second-team All-State honors last season and has accepted an invite to participate in the 2025 Under Armour All-America game.

You can view his narrowed list of suitors below.

- Alabama Crimson Tide

- Georgia Bulldogs

- Tennessee Volunteers

- Auburn Tigers

- Miami Hurricanes

- Texas Longhorns

- Florida State Seminoles

- Florida Gators

- Ohio State Buckeyes

- Texas A&M Aggies

- Mississippi State Bulldogs

- Ole Miss Rebels

Feb. 22

Four-star tight end DaSaahn Brame has set an official visit date with the Ole Miss Rebels, On3 reported on Thursday.

Brame is part of the 2025 class of Derby (Kansas) High School, and he measures in at 6-4.5 and 225 pounds. Last season, according to his team's MaxPreps page, Brame participated in 13 games where he hauled in 46 receptions for 942 yards and 13 touchdowns.

His Derby Panthers finished the year with an 11-2 record in 2023. Alongside an offer from Ole Miss, Brame has offers from the Oregon Ducks, Kansas State Wildcats, Oklahoma Sooners, Tennessee Volunteers, Auburn Tigers, Arkansas Razorbacks and others.

In total, he holds offers from 33 FBS programs, and he is expected to be in Oxford from April 12-14

Feb. 19 

The Ole Miss Rebels are in the running for the No. 1 defensive player available in the NCAA Transfer Portal, as Lane Kiffin and his staff have reportedly been in contact with former Michigan Wolverines safety Keon Sabb.

Sabb entered the portal when Michigan's 30-day portal window opened up, and the talented defensive back has since heard from 18 programs interested in acquiring his talents, per On3. The former four-star recruit is rated as the No. 1 available safety in the portal after recording 28 total tackles, 0.5 tackle for loss, 0.5 sack, two interceptions, and four pass breakups in 2023. Sabb was rated as the No. 8 safety in the 2022 class.

Feb. 15

Four-star defensive lineman Christian Garrett out of Prince Avenue Christian School (Bogart, Ga.) released his top seven schools on Thursday, and the Ole Miss Rebels made the cut.

Garrett is rated No. 71 nationally and the No. 9 defensive lineman in the 2025 class, according to On3. Along with the Rebels, Garrett is also considering the Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs, Clemson Tigers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Tennessee Volunteers, and USC Trojans for his commitment.

In his junior season, Garrett totaled 86 tackles, nine tackles for loss, and five sacks, according to his team's MaxPreps page. He also had a huge game in the state semifinals, posting 10 tackles and two tackles for loss.

Feb. 13

The Ole Miss Rebels have reportedly offered three-star 2025 safety Marcus Wimberly out of Bauxite (Ark.) High School, he stated on Tuesday.

Ole Miss joins the likes of the Tennessee Volunteers, Arkansas Razorbacks, Oklahoma Sooners and Michigan Wolverines on his offer list. According to his team's page on MaxPreps, Wimberly suits up on both sides of the ball for the Miners, but he projects as a safety at the next level, having earned a three-star ranking from On3.

Wimberly officially measures in at 6-foot-1 and 183 pounds. He was visited by Ole Miss special teams coordinator Jake Schoonover in late January.

Feb. 10

The Ole Miss Rebels are one of the top teams being considered by elite in-state linebacker prospect Jarcoby Hopson, as he included them in his Top 8 schools on Saturday morning.

You can view the post on social media here. Hopson included Ole Miss alongside the Texas A&M Aggies, Miami Hurricanes, Arkansas Razorbacks, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Texas Longhorns, LSU Tigers, and Auburn Tigers.

Last season at Lake Cormorant (Miss.) High School, Hopson racked up 71 total tackles in 10 games, 51 of which were solo.

Feb. 2

Texas Longhorns quarterback commitment K.J. Lacey is set to visit the Ole Miss Rebels this weekend for Junior Day, sources confirmed to The Grove Report on Friday.

Lacey is a product of Saraland (Ala.) H.S. and has been committed to the Longhorns since June 3. Over the course of three varsity seasons, Lacey has thrown for 6,841 yards and a whopping 83 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions. The 2023 season saw him throw for 42 touchdowns and over 3,400 yards.

The Rebels also had an early enrollee in the 2024 class join their campus recently in the form of A.J. Maddox of Oak Grove H.S. (Hattiesburg, Miss.).

Jan. 29

In-state 2025 wide receiver Caleb Cunningham released his Top 12 schools on Monday, and the Ole Miss Rebels made the cut.

A five-star prospect, Cunningham is entering his senior season at Choctaw County (Ackerman, Miss.) High School where he saw an offensive revival in 2023, hauling in 48 passes for 1,138 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 23.7 yards per catch. 

Lane Kiffin and Kelvin Bolden also stopped by CCHS to visit Cunningham last week.

His Top 12 schools are as follows:

- Ole Miss Rebels

- Auburn Tigers

- Florida State Seminoles

- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

- Oklahoma Sooners

- Florida Gators

- South Carolina Gamecocks

- Tennessee Volunteers

- Georgia Bulldogs

- Alabama Crimson Tide

- LSU Tigers

- Mississippi State Bulldogs

Jan. 23

The Ole Miss Rebels will host a junior day event next weekend, and a 2025 linebacker out of Georgia announced his intention to attend on Tuesday.

Mantrez Walker, an inside linebacker out of Buford (Ga.) High School, announced via X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday that he is set to visit Ole Miss next weekend. You can view his post here.

In two varsity seasons at Buford, the three-star has totaled 59 tackles, 32 of which have been solo.

Jan. 11

The Ole Miss Rebels picked up some more steam on the defensive recruiting trail on Thursday, earning a commitment from junior college linebacker CJ Barney out of Northeast Mississippi Community College.

You can view his commitment announcement on social media here.

Barney is a native of Madison, Miss., and he played his prep ball at Madison Central High School. He then joined the Northeast Tigers where he has spent the last two seasons, putting up a total of 118 tackles, 10.5 TFLs, four sacks and three forced fumbles.

These seasons for Northeast included nine games apiece, so Barney averaged 6.6 tackles per game during his junior college career.

Jan. 5

2025 three-star linebacker Mantrez Walker announced via social media on Friday that he will be visiting the Ole Miss Rebels on Feb. 3. The 5-foot-11, 215-pound recruit is rated as No. 50 linebacker in the 2025 cycle and the No. 48 prospect in the state of Georgia. 

The Buford, Ga., native has received 22 offers from programs including Ole Miss, South Carolina, Michigan, Penn State, Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU, Ohio State, and Missouri. According to On3's recruiting prediction machine, the Gamecocks lead the way with a 20.9 percent chance of landing Walker's pledge. 

You can view Walker's post below. 

Excited To Be Visiting The University Of Mississippi 2/3 ! 🦈 #HottyToddy @CoachGolding @Lane_Kiffin @jdhess7 pic.twitter.com/TF1WX180y7

— Mantrez Walker (@MantrezWalker) January 5, 2024