A Victory For The Rebels!

The Ole Miss practice had two new additions Thursday as Rivals five star recruit Jerrell Powe and four star recruit Chris Strong joined the team after being admitted to the university. There is a fourteen day window where they can practice while the NCAA Clearinghouse reviews each recruit's status where after they must declare them eligible or ineligible. Both recruits happen to be famous in their own right before they have even stepped onto the field in Oxford.

A defensive tackle, Powe orginally committed to Ole Miss in 2005 but was unable to qualify academically. The next year he went to a BYU correspondence school and Hargrave Military academy which was enough education to try to get into Ole Miss again and he recommitted. Powe, who has been called a 'ready for the NFL caliber player,' did not become notorious until newspapers got a hold of court documents in a suit that was being filed on his behalf to attain NCAA eligibility. In the documents Powe's mother described her son saying, "Jerrell is a good child, he just can't read." Since this isn't Auburn where reading is not a necessity this raised some eyebrows amongst the Ole Miss administration and the NCAA. That being said it is horrible that Jerrell has been pushed along and used for his talent without people taking the time to lookout for his best interests educationally. If he had more help in his past he would not be in this current situation.

Chris Strong's story is not nearly as dramatic as Powe's but it's been a roller coaster ride in it's own right. He committed to the Rebels in January but needed to raise his test scores up to qualify. It appears now that he has done that. Strong is from Mississippi powerhouse South Panola High School and is projected to play at defensive end or linebacker for the Rebels. Chris has strong family ties to the Grove will be crossing his fingers that he makes it through the Clearinghouse in the next two weeks.

This brings up an interesting situation for the Rebels. Given Coach O's propensity for moving top flight players around it seems doubtful that these two will finish their careers at the position they begin at. Robert Lane came to Ole Miss as a Rivals four star recruit but after ineffective play the Rebels have moved him to tight end. Brent Schaeffer transfered in as a Rivals five star recruit and was anointed as Moses ready to lead the Rebels to the promised land. It hasn't quite worked out for for the quarterback though and he now finds himself at wide receiver. A walk-on is currently starting behind center for the Rebs.

Given past history we are going to project that Powe will end up as the first 350 pound safety in the SEC while Strong will be the highest drafted kicker since Sebastian Janikowski. Take it to the bank!

On another note Tyrone Prothro had better be happy that Powe wasn't the defensive back coming down on his leg.