Freeze Pleased with Small Class

OXFORD, Miss. - Hugh Freeze basically had a three-week period to patch together his first recruiting class.

All things considered, the new Mississippi coach is pleased with the results.

"I'm never going to sit up and tell you every kid is great, because that's proven in time," Freeze said. "But we do believe it's very good."

The understated class has 17 players, including four who have already enrolled. There wasn't much drama for the Rebels, although they did get a pleasant surprise when Oxford, Ala., defensive back Trae Elston signed over other suitors LSU and Oklahoma State.

Freeze did secure letter of intents from two of the Mississippi's top in-state recruits -- defensive end Channing Ward and defensive tackle Issac Gross. Freeze expects the duo to contribute immediately.

"In this conference, to win, you've got to be good on the defensive line," Freeze said. "... You've got to feel like those guys are going to push people for playing time."

It was an undeniably tough recruiting atmosphere. Not only did Freeze have a small window of time to put together a signing class, he had to do it with the backdrop of an awful 2-10 season and 14-game losing streak in the Southeastern Conference. Coach Houston Nutt was fired late in the season and Freeze was charged with rebuilding the program.

As expected, it was sometimes a tough sell. Quarterback Jeremy Liggins went to high school less than five miles from the Ole Miss campus, yet surprisingly flipped to LSU in the waning days of the recruiting process. The Rebels also lost out on several other highly-rated in-state prospects, including linebacker Richie Brown, who signed with Mississippi State.

None of the major recruiting services rated the Rebels' class particularly high, with the program ranking at or near the bottom of the SEC.

"We didn't win all the battles we got into," Freeze said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do (in recruiting) in a full year."

Even though it's a small recruiting class, Freeze was confident it met the team's needs.

Quarterback Bo Wallace is one of the four players who has already enrolled and the 6-foot-5, 215-pound East Mississippi CC transfer is expected to compete for the starting job immediately with returning seniors Randall Mackey and Zack Stoudt.

"We expect him to raise the competition level in that room," Freeze said

The Rebels also signed four running backs to fill the void left by departing seniors Brandon Bolden and Enrique Davis. Freeze said that I'Tavius Mathers, a 6-foot, 195-pounder from Murfreesboro, Tenn., was the most complete of the bunch.

Ole Miss also signed four offensive linemen -- including two junior college transfers who are already enrolled -- in an effort to find replacements for departed starting tackles Bradley Sowell and Bobby Massie.

The Rebels also received help in the secondary, picking up a letter of intent from Elston. The 6-foot, 183-pounder from Oxford, Ala., announced his decision on television, bringing a big smile to Freeze and his staff, who all watched the decision.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)