Ole Miss basketball just hired Kermit Davis as the new head coach and now he will have his hands full with recruiting for the future.
With a new head coach for Ole Miss basketball and the NCAA tourney underway there is a lot of excitement surrounding basketball right now. Of course, with the hiring of head coach Kermit Davis there is a renewed optimism, and maybe a little skepticism, surrounding the Rebels hoops program. It’s only natural in the early stages of a new coach.
Despite what some college basketball pundits may say, coach Davis is not inheriting a total mess. Actually he is picking up a very talented team with a number of key players returning who have valuable experience. There are also a number of highly touted players on the roster we really don’t know much about. They didn’t get much playing time this past season.
Of course, we know the success coach Kermit Davis had at his last stop hinged on really good recruiting. Now coach Davis is looking at a whole new recruiting atmosphere to take advantage of in Oxford and should be able to have a certain degree of success. According to Ben Garrett of OMSpirit, one of his first orders of business will be salvaging a somewhat shaky 2018 signing class.
The 2018 Signing Class
Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
Currently the 2018 Ole Miss basketball recruiting class stands with 3 signees from the early signing period for collegiate basketball. Anthony Higgs is a 3-star SF out of Perry Hall in Nottingham, Maryland. Higgs is listed at 6’8 and 200 lbs and ranked by 247Sports as the No.12 player in the state of Maryland. Higgs also held offers by Cincinnati, UMass, Kansas State and Xavier.
Zach Naylor of Weatherford Community College in Texas is another 3-star SF who is signed to play with the Rebels during the early period. Naylor is listed at 6’7 and 220 lbs. Naylor is tied to former player and coach Rahim Lockhart who is no longer with the Ole Miss basketball program.
The other early signee is Brian Halums out of Ittawamba Community College. Halums is a 6’5 185 lb SG who is 3-star rated by Rivals. Halums also held offers by LSU, Louisiana-Monroe and Murray State.
The class did have four early signees however Serrel Smith out of St. Petersburg, Florida requested a release from his original letter of intent. As reported by Ben Garrett of OMSpirit, coach Davis and his existing staff have already begun the process of reaching out to the signees and targets in the 2018 class. So far the response has been positive.
Offers And Targets
We’d have to wait and see how coach Davis works the offers and targets which Andy Kennedy had. Kermit Davis may be new to the SEC but he isn’t new to the whole college basketball recruiting scene. Of course, he had extremely good teams while he was in Murfreesboro and it was because of hard-nosed recruiting. The majority of his players on the current roster at MTSU were indeed from the southeast United States. These include three players from Mississippi.
For the 2018 class there really isn’t much left to choose from after the early signing period. Most top recruits are either signed or hard committed to their schools of choice. However, there are a few who are still in the mix for Ole Miss basketball. One who is still available is Michael Barber out of Jackson Academy. Barber is 6’7 and 200 lbs and is listed as a 3-star SF. Besides Ole Miss Barber has offers from Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Baylor, Miss State and UMass.
Others holding offers from the Rebels who are still uncommitted include Tyler Harris of Cordova, Tennessee. Harris is a 3-star PG who is listed at 5’9 and 150 lb. Harris is ranked as the No.2 player in Tennessee and also holds offers from Baylor, Memphis, Indiana State and Miss State. Another is 4-star rated Courtney Ramey of St. Louis. Ramey is a 6’3 and 170 lbs. Ranked as the No.1 player in Missouri, Ramey was considered a long-shot before coach Davis was hired.
Recruiting Will Heat Up
National Signing Day for basketball is less than a month away and we can count on recruiting ramping up in the coming days. No, this particular recruiting class may not have the fervor of a Kentucky class but it will be special. It will be coach Kermit Davis and his staffs first recruiting class as part of the Ole Miss basketball program. If Kermit Davis is really serious about hitting the ground running we’ll see the effects in just a few weeks.
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National Signing Day for college basketball will be April 11. We are excited to see what our new basketball coach has in store for the Ole Miss basketball program. Good luck to coach Kermit Davis and his staff as they attempt to begin things in Oxford with a strong 2018 recruiting class. Check back for the latest Ole Miss basketball recruiting updates. Hotty Toddy!