Ole Miss Football: Jerrion Ealy the biggest recruiting win for Matt Luke yet
Matt Luke and Ole Miss football landed a big fish on National Signing Day as five-star running back Jerrion Ealy picked the Rebels.
Landing Jerrion Ealy seemed like a far-fetched dream for Ole Miss fans. The five-star running back from Flowood, Miss., looked like a Clemson-lean, at one point, and how do you compete with the defending national champs who also have one of the nation’s top running backs.
Matt Luke, however, wasn’t ready to give up the fight, and it paid off as he kept one of the top in-state recruits close to home.
Ealy took an official to Ole Miss back on Jan. 26 and it looked to have sealed the deal, but in case that wasn’t enough, Luke and his staff paid a visit to the nation’s No. 29 overall recruit and third-best running back, per 247Sports, on Jan. 30, right before his Alabama official. He was sold.
This is the biggest recruiting victory for Luke in his short time as head coach of the Rebels and could be a momentum-builder moving forward.
Scottie Phillips was a big JUCO recruiting win for Luke last year and he rushed for nearly 1,000 yards in his first year with the Rebels, but he’ll have some competition — or at least a complementary piece — with Ealy coming to town.
No, Phillips isn’t losing his starting job, but Ealy is going to get his fair share of carries, and why wouldn’t he? He’s one of the most explosive players in the 2019 class as a 5-10, 200-pound athletic specimen.
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Ole Miss has gotten its share of five-star recruits over the past decade, or so, but Ealy may end up being one of the best. This kid has serious NFL potential and Luke just put Ole Miss back on the map with this recruiting win.