Ole Miss football recruiting 2013, National Signing Day recap: The Nkemdiche revolution

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.

The celebration continued in Oxford as consensus five-star prospects Laremy Tunsil and Tony Conner also signed with Ole Miss. Tunsil is ranks as the top overall offensive tackle, while Conner is a top-five safety. Both hail from SEC territory, and are part of a class that is compiled of entirely of players from the South, save for one.

That one was a big get. Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell out of Crete, IL is rated as the best at his position in the country. The 6’3 deep threat with 4.4 speed chose the Rebels over offers from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Arkansas.

All that talent has Ole Miss in the top 10 of the rankings of every recruiting service. That is quite a change from year’s past. Last year, the Rebels finished No. 41 in the composite rankings from 247 Sports, and were No. 21 in 2011. The group at the top will get immediately playing time and should compete against current starters on the roster.

That roster finished with just three wins in SEC play, but was close against some of the top teams. Ole Miss lost by just one score to Texas A&M and LSU. The problem for the Rebels is that those schools loaded up on National Signing Day as well.