Year after year, the Hugh Freeze-era Ole Miss Rebels have grown accustomed to elite recruiting classes near the top of the national rankings. Then came 2017.
The looming specter of NCAA sanctions has been hanging over Ole Miss for a while, as the program awaits potential penalties from a long-running investigation. This time, it took a bite out of the recruiting results.
This time, no five-star recruits, only three four-star recruits and a lot of questions about what NCAA penalties could mean down the road.
On National Signing Day, Freeze blamed the “extreme rhetoric” surrounding the Rebels’ NCAA woes for scaring recruits away, but he gave thanks to those who chose to sign with Ole Miss.