Ole Miss Adds Three To Lane Kiffin’s First Signing Class

OXFORD, Miss. (Ole Miss Athletics) – Ole Miss football added three more prospects to its 2020 recruiting class, head coach Lane Kiffin announced Wednesday during the February signing period.

Running back Henry Parrish joined the fold along with a pair of offensive linemen, Cedric Melton and Luke Shouse. As Kiffin noted during his signing day press conference, the Rebel staff is not yet finished adding to the 2020 class.

“When we were here (in December), we talked about it being halfway through with two different signing days. Today it’s still not over,” Kiffin said. “We left ourselves some room for some kids that are still out there. Some grad transfers, some regular transfers, and also, we can save some for next year too.”

Parrish comes to Oxford as a 4-star prospect and one of the top 150 prospects in the nation according to Rivals.com. The recruiting site also ranks Parrish as the No. 10 running back in the country and one of the top 25 prospects in the state of Florida.

The Goulds, Florida, native ran for 2,319 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior as he led Columbus High School to the Class 8A state championship. He totaled 4,653 rushing yards over his prep career, averaging 9.3 yards per carry and 129.3 yards per game to become his school’s all-time leading rusher. For his efforts, he was selected First Team All-State, was a finalist for Florida’s Mr. Football and received the Nat Moore Trophy, given to the top football player in South Florida. Parrish joins December signee Kentrel Bullock as the second ball carrier in this class.

“I think that’s a good problem to have with these guys coming in, four running backs within 12 months of each other,” Kiffin said. “We play really fast and we’ve got high play counts. You can never have enough running backs. We’re excited to have these guys in two true freshmen.”

The other two additions to the class will help pave the way for Parrish and the growing stable of Rebel running backs.

Melton, a consensus 3-star prospect out of Houston, Texas, was named to the 2019 Whataburger Super Team and the 2019 All-Greater Houston Second Team. Melton earned Offensive MVP honors as a senior for Klein Cain High School.

Shouse also comes to Ole Miss as a 3-star prospect according to 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN recruiting rankings. The Brentwood, Tennessee, native is the No. 23 prospect in Volunteer State in the 247Sports Composite rankings. At 6-foot-6, 270 pounds, Shouse will bring plenty of size and length to the Rebel offensive line room after leading Ravenwood to a 13-2 record and a berth in the Class 6A state title game as a senior.

With three additions in the late signing period, three mid-year enrollees and 12 early signees, the Rebel class now stands at 18 with some work still ahead for Kiffin and his staff.

“It’s hard to come in with this early signing period when already 75 percent of the kids are gone,” Kiffin said. “We didn’t want to reach like I said. We’ll sign deeper and better classes every year that we’re here and have more time to go and recruit things guys with the staff. We’ve already been around the schools, you can’t talk to them, but we’ve seen the juniors and seen their coaches and things like that.  We’ve already had several of the top recruits on campus some point over the last three weekends. It goes dead here with the new rule at the end of February. I think March 1 things go live again. We have a lot of work to do.”

FEBRUARY SIGNEES

NAME                             POS.        HT.         WT.       YR.       HOMETOWN (PREV. SCHOOL)                                           

Cedric Melton                 OL           6-5         270       Fr.        Houston, Texas (Klein Cain)

Henry Parrish Jr.              RB           5-10       180       Fr.        Goulds, Fla. (Columbus)

Luke Shouse                    OL           6-6         270       Fr.           Brentwood, Tenn. (Ravenwood)

MID-YEAR SIGNEES

NAME                             POS.        HT.         WT.       YR.       HOMETOWN (PREV. SCHOOL)                                           

Demon Clowney*            DE           6-5         220       Fr.        Baltimore, Md. (Saint Frances Academy)

Otis Reese*                     DB           6-3         210       Jr.        Leesburg, Ga. (Georgia)

Kenny Yeboah*               TE            6-5         240       Sr.        Allentown, Pa. (Temple)

DECEMBER SIGNEES

NAME                             POS.        HT.         WT.       YR.       HOMETOWN (PREV. SCHOOL)                                           

Eli Acker                          OL           6-6         280       Fr.        Columbus, Miss. (Heritage Academy)

Derek Bermudez*           DB           6-0         180       Fr.        Jacksonville, Fla. (Sandalwood)

Tobias Braun                   OL           6-7         310       Fr.        Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany (Salisbury School)

Jakivuan Brown               LB           6-2         235       Fr.        Horn Lake, Miss. (Horn Lake)

Kentrel Bullock                RB           5-11       190       Fr.        Columbia, Miss. (Columbia)

Lakevias Daniel*              DB           6-0         175       Jr.        Louisville, Miss. (Jones College)

Daylen Gill*                    LB           6-0         230       Jr.        Louisville, Miss. (Jones College)

Cedric Johnson                LB           6-3         230       Fr.        Mobile, Ala. (Davidson)

Austin Keys*                    LB           6-2         240       Fr.        Collins, Miss. (Seminary)

Kade Renfro*                   QB           6-4         195       Fr.        Desdemona, Texas (Stephenville)

DeSanto Rollins               DL           6-4         290       Fr.        Baton Rouge, La. (Parkview Baptist)

DaMarcus Thomas           TE/WR     6-2         230       Fr.        Saraland, Ala. (Saraland)

* will be a mid-year enrollee