TRANSCRIPT: The Ole Miss-only insider answers from the Spirit’s All-Day AMA (Ask Me Anything)

The Ole Miss Spirit held its weekly, message-board-exclusive AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Sunday, with topics ranging from Rebel football’s roller coaster of a recruiting week, to an Ole Miss baseball reunion in Dodger Stadium.

Any and all subscribers are welcome and encouraged to chime in throughout an AMA day. Not a member? Join today! Our next question-and-answer session will be held next Wednesday.

HOW IT STARTED

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): Traveling to Los Angeles for most of the day with the wife. Anniversary trip, and long plane rides await.

Seeing Grae Kessinger against the Dodgers this afternoon. That’ll be dope. Third-generation Ole Miss big-leaguer. Touristy stuff tomorrow.

The vibes are immaculate, is what I’m saying, even if the recruiting news (and a lot of this message board) isn’t. Speaking of, Isaiah Autry is on my flight. We’ve been talking about recruiting for a while but just met in person for the first time. I’m still not convinced I sufficiently explained who the hell I was and why I was approaching him randomly at the airport at 5 a.m. Recruiting is weird.

Acknowledging I’m probably kicking a hornets nest, fire away with your Ole Miss (or non-Ole Miss) questions. I’ll be in and out until my head hits the pillow in Hollywood. This will be the only AMA this week because, you know, vacation.

HOW IT WENT

MikeHiltonFan asked …

The NBA draft was a couple of days ago, so I have a basketball related question. Which one of (Ole Miss’) players do you think is most likely to be drafted next year, and why?

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): Matthew Murrell. He was floated as a potential lottery pick entering last season and has serious blow-up potential under Chris Beard. He hasn’t even scratched the surface of what kind of player he could be.

One of the biggest (justifiable, I would argue) criticisms of Kermit Davis’ tenure is Murrell is pretty much the same on-court player today as he was the day he landed at Ole Miss — as, at the time, the highest-ranked signee in school history.

Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell

kbm05555 asked …

I don’t follow recruiting like many on this board. But based on what I am seeing, we seem to be missing on a number of players we thought were leaning to Ole Miss. Your thoughts.

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): Depends on the prospect. Sourcing is mixed on JJ Harrell. I’d been reporting Braylon Burnside as a State lean for weeks, even if others were hearing different. Ole Miss sources were/are confident on Jamonta Waller. However, those closest to the player’s recruitment have made sure to regularly throw cold water on Ole Miss’ chances. As I said on a podcast last week, the outcome (not Ole Miss) wasn’t a surprise, so much as the pick being Florida.

I’ve heard Kamarion Franklin is down to Ole Miss, Tennessee and Miami (Fla.) right now. That one needs to fall in the Rebels’ favor for myriad reasons. I don’t feel a strong conviction one way or another right now.

Jimothy Lewis surprises me most of all, only because of what I thought I knew about where things stood with him. But I freely admit his recruitment is and has been one I’m particularly limited on as far as reliable information.

OBREBEL65 said …

Ben, I know some will say BS. But based on his offers, do you not think it is possible, if not likely, that we just did not value Lewis like Mississippi State did? Though evidently we wanted Lewis, (Ole Miss) was not going to bend over to get a commitment. Not this early in the game. Not when his final three were an illustrious Mississippi State, Ole Miss and South Florida?

Now, Kamarion Franklin, when everybody in the free world is after the guy (and he’s) an hour from your campus? That’s a different story. We are gonna do everything possible to keep him. Just not the case with Lewis.

Your thoughts?

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): I don’t dismiss any possibility. It’s true he was a limited starter for his high school team last season. Still, his upside is obvious. There’s a reason he’s a four-star. It’s less about what he is RIGHT NOW than his projectability for the next level, which remains high.

But, again, I admit I am not a Jimothy Lewis expert. I just share what I know, whether I know a lot or a little. And I try to be honest about it.

Jimothy Lewis (Photo credit: On3)

Murph said …

Pay for play is sky-rocketing. Ole Miss has done as good as we could hope to compete in the short-term.The honest reality is that there is absolutely no way (Ole Miss) can compete in the long-term, financially, against the powerhouse schools with infinite resources.

With this all in mind, would you agree that while Chris Beard is here, basketball is actually our best best to compete on the highest level for five years?

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): I don’t think that’s a baseless argument to make, mostly because Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is still a coach who is very much unproven in comparison to a Top 10 salary without Top 10 results yet.

Beard is established as Top 10 in his sport. He is going to win. The question is and will be how long he stays.

Landshark54 asked …

I have our football team going 7-5 this year, mainly due to lack of start power on defense. Can you talk me into 8-4 or 9-3?

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): Buddy, I’m apparently the president of the 9-3 Fan Club, as I wrote in a Spirit’s Picks W-L story that ran here on the site earlier this month:

Ole Miss football has a wide range of potential win-loss outcomes in 2023.

But somehow I ended up at 9-3.

I know, and I agree. 9-3? Too rich. But I shot off at the hip when I was putting this together and 9-3 is somehow where I ended up. Ole Miss has the toughest schedule in the country next season. One could easily make just as persuasive a case for 6-6.

Vegas has Ole Miss’ win total at 7.5. There’s a reason Vegas is always right. But hope springs eternal in June and I’m vibing as I sit on the beach with the family.

W — Mercer — I mean, come on.

W — at Tulane — Tulane is a good football team and a scary non-con opponent for Ole Miss in 2023. But the day the Rebels start worrying about the Green Wave under Kiffin in preseason predictions is the day some tough conversations will need to be had.

W — Georgia Tech — I honestly talked myself into Ole Miss as a national title contender last season with the way the Rebels demolished the Yellowjackets in Atlanta. Little did I know …

L — at Alabama — Legit can’t name three Alabama skill players, which speaks more to my own incompetence than how good or bad the Crimson Tide could be next year. I simply always default to Ole Miss losing to Alabama because, well, Ole Miss, historically, loses to Alabama.

L — LSU — Don’t even know if it’s a hot take anymore: I think LSU wins the West. I also think the Tigers lose to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

W — Arkansas — KJ Jefferson is the recruiting misevaluation that continues to haunt, but Ole Miss has a better roster. So, I’ll say the never-ending cycle of weird games between these teams goes the Rebels’ way this time.

W — at Auburn — Already dreading this week and the coverage that’s coming. The nauseating self-bloviating an Ole Miss loss would bring is too much for me to consider right now.

W — Vanderbilt — Ole Miss beats Vanderbilt. Ole Miss also typically allows Vanderbilt to frustratingly hang around and sometimes win. But Ole Miss beats Vanderbilt.

W — Texas A&M — The Aggies are going to be better. But the marriage of Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Petrino has next-level dumpster-fire potential.

L — at Georgia — Georgia has replaced Alabama as the Thanos of college football. Sneaky-fun matchup, though. Gives off similar vibes to Ole Miss-Alabama in 2020.

W — UL Monroe — Lookin’ like a layup, as my guy Big K.R.I.T. would say.

W — at Mississippi State — The Egg Bowl is always messy and never fun. And I long for the day when it stops being played on Thanksgiving. Ole Miss better win this game. We’ll leave it at that for now.

Nov 12, 2022; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin walks through the Walk of Champions in the Grove at the University of Mississippi before the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Mississippi Rebels. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Aidens dad asked …

Why do you think Ole Miss struggles so much recruiting players from Mississippi? I know last year the Rebels got three of the Top 5, but most years they struggle. I understand losing them to Alabama or Georgia, but it seems they’ve been losing a lot of battles to State.

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): Ole Miss believes itself to be a national recruiting brand. Now, that is debatable, but because of this belief, the Rebels are selective in all their primary recruiting territories, including their home state of Mississippi. Again, the approach is arguable, but that’s why. State is almost always exclusively dependent on in-state talent to fill out classes. Ole Miss does its heaviest lifting in the portal. I’m not saying it’s right, only trying to adequately answer your completely valid question.

Spokanreb said …

With the state of NIL, it seems there are small-market teams trying to compete with large-market teams, just like in the movie ‘Moneyball.’

With Lane’s propensity to use analytics while leveraging the skills of the recruiting analytics team, please give your thoughts on the potential of us recruiting and signing “undervalued“ players that turn out to be better than advertised.

Thanks, Ben!

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): You might be on to something there … to a point.

It’s true the analytically-inclined Kiffin admittedly doesn’t care at all about star rankings or recruiting-site evals. Same with Pete Golding. Like, Golding loves Anthony Robinson, who’s soon to commit, I think, and he’s only a three-star. A few on here are going to bemoan that fact. That’s part of it, so I get it. Really, I do.

They’re gonna sink and swim with their own unique evals. But it still doesn’t excuse the recent in-state results. This class is historically talented and deep and Ole Miss just isn’t getting it done.

RELATED: Three-star safety Anthony Robinson commits to Ole Miss over Notre Dame and TCU

Ole Miss landed UTEP transfer WR Zakhari Franklin earlier this month

Mack m asked …

When will we know if (UTSA transfer wide receiver Zakhari) Franklin makes it? August?

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): Within the next few weeks is what I was told.

Rebzilla3 asked …

Who are our top WR targets?

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): There are a lot of them. Noreel White, Burnside, Nick Marsh, Mario Craver and David Washington off the top of my head.

Possum Holler Rebel asked …

I guess I missed it. What’s the issue with Franklin?

BEN GARRETT (SpiritBen): Ole Miss is waiting on Franklin and Jamarious Brown to get cleared academically and enroll second semester. Ole Miss doesn’t think there’s any issues.

the1barcode asked …

Why aren’t we high on Daniel Hill?

Zach Berry (Zach_Berry): He’s not high on Ole Miss.

HOW IT ENDED

SpiritBen said …

Sup fellas

The post TRANSCRIPT: The Ole Miss-only insider answers from the Spirit’s All-Day AMA (Ask Me Anything) appeared first on On3.