The Robert Nkemdiche saga

By now, y’all know the story of Robert Nkemdiche, the No. 1 recruit in the country who signed with the Ole Miss Rebels on National Signing Day. And you’re probably familiar with how he ended up at Ole Miss. If not, check out SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey on the subject.

He did not consult his father back in Georgia, who was on the trip. And with his mother Beverly, a politician in the family’s native Nigeria. This did not sit well. At all.

For more on Rebels football, visit Ole Miss blog Red Cup Rebellion, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills.

National Signing Day may have seemed a bit surreal to Ole Miss fans, as their school spent the morning seeing one top prospect after another picking a Rebel-branded hat and sending in a letter of intent to play for Hugh Freeze and his coaching staff. The morning got started with a bang as top overall prospect Robert Nkemdiche spurned offers from Alabama, LSU Florida, and Auburn for Ole Miss, as SB Nation has been predicting for months now (read Steven Godfrey’s extensive insider’s account of Ole Miss landing Nkemdiche). The strong defensive end will play early and is the centerpiece of an impressive class.

Robert Nkemdiche rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His alarm, set to “More Than A Feeling” by Boston, which just so happened to be his favorite song, played the sweet sounds of the Rockman amp, which just so happened to be his favorite amp.

Today, Robert was on a television show. His whole life was being broadcast to the world. Two men sat in a studio, giving play-by-play to the masses.

Strongside defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, widely considered the nation’s top high school football prospect, has officially committed to Ole Miss. Nkemdiche chose the Rebels over LSU and Florida, though he held 15 scholarship offers and the eye of every program in the country.

In a business based on speculation and subject to a wide variety of opinion, there is remarkable consensus on Nkemdiche. He is ranked as the nation’s top player by Rivals, Scout, 24/7, and ESPN. He has a reported 4.7 40 yard dash time and is lauded for his quickness and agility. If there is a knock on Nkemdiche, it is on his technique. The raw talent is there to be harnessed, though.

Robert Nkemdiche, the nation’s top college football prospect, is expected to announce he’ll play for the University of Mississippi on Wednesday morning. The Rebels, a program just a season removed from a 2-10 implosion and a total overhaul under first-year head coach Hugh Freeze, have been the unofficial leader for Nkemdiche’s services for months.

That’s largely thanks in part to his older brother Denzel, a now-standout linebacker. But having a brother on the roster alone wasn’t enough to convince Nkemdiche, or even his parents, despite his mother’s public statement that she wanted her sons to play for the same college.

Robert Nkemdiche, the nation’s top overall recruit, visited LSU on Friday. This put a bit of panic into the hearts of Ole Miss fans, who have felt that Nkemdiche was a sure thing for quite some time now. In the past, visits like this have been shrouded in mystery, but thanks to the sheer magic of social media, Nkemdiche and LSU running back Jeremy Hill pulled back the curtain and live-tweeted the whole night.

The order of events may not be correct, but it would seem that the two young men took in a Wale concert, and by all accounts, he put on a fine performance. They also went to an establishment called Mike’s in Tigerland, of which Hill did not sing the praises afterwards. After a bit of digging, this place of business has a total of zero Yelp and Google Local reviews, and it’s online presence is limited to a Facebook page and a sparsely updated Twitter feed.

Ole Miss is going to have an especially good National Signing Day class. It already ranks No. 11 in Rivals’ national ranking, well above the Rebels’ average of No. 27 and their No. 40 showing last year, and is likely to get a big boost from the expected Wednesday morning commitment of No. 1 recruit Robert Nkemdiche, plus other possible commits like No. 1 offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, five-star safety Tony Conner AND MORE.

Let’s say the Rebels end up signing a top-five class. The specific number 5 isn’t extremely important here, but let’s say they do. Here, via Rivals.com, are all the classes to rank in the top five despite not ranking in the top 15 the previous year:

The nation’s top-rated recruit, Georgia-based defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, told the assembled masses on Twitter Thursday night that he would, in fact, visit LSU this weekend:

The visit comes as a surprise. Nkemdiche had reportedly canceled his planned visit to Baton Rouge earlier this week after taking his official visit to presumed frontrunner Ole Miss last week. Either those reports were incorrect or Nkemdiche had a change of heart.

A visit that some believed was off will apparently now happen for top national recruit Robert Nkemdiche, who tweeted that he’ll be visiting the LSU Tigers over the weekend.

More on this tomorrow on SB Nation Recruiting.

The top recruit in college football, Robert Nkemdiche, has made the time of his Signing Day announcement official, setting a finish line for when top colleges will know his destination.

Grayson High School released a schedule for Signing Day, which features his timeline, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution recruiting writer Michael Carvell tweeted it:

Top defensive end prospect Robert Nkemdiche canceled his scheduled visit to LSU this weekend, and it is looking more and more like he’ll end up committing to play for the Ole Miss Rebels. Ole Miss has been one of the favorites to land Nkemdiche since he decommitted from Clemson back in November.

More than three months ago, SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey wrote that there was a distinct possibility of Nkemdiche going to Ole Miss, and that was even while he was still committed to Clemson. At that point, Godfrey felt that Clemson was losing its grip on the nation’s top recruit, and indeed, he decommitted a few weeks later.

The 2013 recruiting cycle is in its home stretch, and a number of high-profile recruits are visiting Ole Miss this weekend. The nation’s No. 1 prospect, defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, leads the pack, but he’s not alone. Defensive end Chris Jones, a Mississippi State commit, is also in Oxford, along with wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and safety Tony Conner. The above photo was tweeted out by Treadwell on Saturday afternoon, and by all accounts, the visit went well:

The Rebels are heavy favorites to land Nkemdiche (who was seen getting some ink done in Oxford on Saturday), and are right up there with Alabama in pursuit of Conner’s services. If they can get Jones to flip from Mississippi State, it would be a massive boost for the Rebels, as well as a huge blow to their biggest rivals. Regardless of which way Jones goes, Ole Miss will be one of the most active teams in recruiting ahead of National Signing Day.

Friday’s visitors are highlighted by the nation’s top recruit, Robert Nkemdiche, who is widely reported to be leaning toward a commitment to Ole Miss. Nkemdiche, whose brother plays for the Rebels, was a Clemson verbal commit until early November before reopening his recruitment. While Florida and LSU remain in play, Ole Miss is seen as the leader entering the final stretch before Signing Day.

Bud Elliott’s take:

Top 2013 recruit Robert Nkemdiche is taking an official visit to Ole Miss this weekend -- it will be the third time he’s been on campus in Oxford since last November -- and there are rumors that he might end his recruitment and commit to the Rebels during the trip. Nkemdiche is thought by many to already be privately committed to Ole Miss.

Nkemdiche originally committed to Clemson, but he decommitted on Nov. 8 of last year. Since then, much of the talk surrounding his recruitment has focused on Ole Miss, since his brother Denzel is a linebacker for the Rebels. At one point Denzel told reporters that Robert would make his college choice in December, but that did not happen.

“It was fun hanging out with the other Florida commitments,” Nkemdiche said. “I met a lot of them during practice for the Under Armour All-America Game, and they all told me good players like to play with other good players, which is true. They were just letting me know we could do great things together at Florida and continue that tradition in Gainesville. I think I could make a big impact at Florida and really help this incoming class a lot.”

Nkemdiche is also considering Ole Miss -- where his brother plays linebacker -- and LSU, and says that all three schools are even at this point. He is going to take a visit to Ole Miss this weekend, and he is scheduled to visit LSU on Feb. 1, which is less than a week before national signing day.

Florida is expecting to welcome a nice group of official visitors this weekend as it tries to wrap up its 2013 recruiting class.

The biggest name visiting is Robert Nkemdiche, a consensus five-star defensive end and the No. 1 player in the class from Loganville, Ga., Grayson High School. Nkemdiche also has an upcoming visit to Ole Miss on Jan. 25.

In between talking about Chip Kelly’s departure for the NFL and the whole Manti T’eo fake-girlfriend saga, there was a brief moment there when recruitniks were surprised to learn that the top recruit in the country, Loganville (Ga.) Grayson defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, was going to take a visit to Kentucky.

Now, the Wildcats have some recruiting ties to Nkemdiche after new head coach Mark Stoops and a former Florida State assistant made their way to Lexington, and have certainly generated some positive momentum, but something seemed a little odd about it.

Update: The original report was an amusing mistake.

Robert Nkemdiche, the top recruit in America for the class of 2013, will take an official visit to the University of Kentucky according to Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times Picayune.

Robert Nkemdiche will take a visit to Florida this weekend, per 247 Sports, meaning the school could be amongst three in the running for the top recruit in the nation.

Nkemdiche, formerly a Clemson recruit, had previously narrowed his choices to Ole Miss and LSU, and was planning visits to both schools, but seemingly wasn’t interested in scheduling any other visits. Florida wasn’t considered in the running until news broke of his intended visit.

College football recruiting has grown rapidly in exposure over the past few years. It’s gone from a small cottage industry to almost as big as the actual football being played. Each year, the top prospect in each recruiting class gets more and more attention, and this year is no exception. Five star defensive end Robert Nkemdiche is 2013’s top prospect, and the latest strange development in his recruitment is the appearance of a Robert Nkemdiche rookie card, which is currently listed on eBay for $99.99.

If you want one of these beauties, you may want to hurry. There’s only six left, and I’m sure a $100 playing card of a high school football player will do nothing but appreciate in value. Retirement fund, y’all.

One of the top college football recruits in the country has set up two of his official visits. Grayson defensive end Robert Nkemdiche has scheduled his official visit to Ole Miss on Jan. 25. Also getting scheduled is an official to LSU, which will probably happen sometime this month. No official date has been set for his visit to Baton Rouge. Kipp Adams tweeted the following:

Interestingly, it doesn’t appear as if Nkemdiche is setting up any other real official visits, so LSU and Ole Miss could be considered the favorites over everyone else in this race. Our Steven Godfrey had this story on the many reasons Nkemdiche might end up picking Ole Miss.

Robert Nkemdiche, the undisputed No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2013, made some promising comments for Ole Miss fans while speaking with reporters Wednesday after practice for the Under Armour All-American Football Game.

“It would be real hard for me not to go to Ole Miss; that’s a family thing,” Nkemdiche told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “It would be real hard not to do that, real hard.”

Robert Nkemdiche, the top recruit in the country, has two leaders in Ole Miss and LSU, he told ESPN Sunday at the Under Armour All-America check in. Out of Loganville (Ga.) Grayson High School, Nkemdiche is one of the most famous names in the history of recruiting. At 6’5 and 270+ pounds, Nkemdiche moves like a man 50 pounds smaller, and is deserving of his five-star status.

Ole Miss has long been thought of as the favorite to land Nkemdiche for a number of reasons, even while he was committed to the Clemson Tigers over the summer. Nkemdiche’s brother Denzel is a fantastic freshman linebacker for the Rebels, and strongly wants Robert to join him in Oxford. Stronger still are the feelings of Robert’s mother, who wants both of her sons to play together. Momma Nkemdiche is a politician in Africa, and has stated that she does not want her sons to play at different schools due to the difficulty in seeing both of them play when she is in the country. Nkemdiche has visited Ole Miss numerous times in 2012.

Parker: 5,806

Nkemdiche: 185

Our Ole Miss site, Red Cup Rebellion, has perhaps the greatest December college football dead zone discussion topic ever:

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