Houston defensive back Isaiah Hamilton commits to Ole Miss Rebels

The Ole Miss Rebels have plucked one of the more coveted defensive back prospects out of the transfer portal. Isaiah Hamilton, a former Houston defensive back, decided to officially commit to Ole Miss in a Friday social media post. He was recently considering a portal visit to the Alabama Crimson Tide, but changed his mind, according to Pete Nakos and Matt Zenitz.

In joining the Rebels, Hamilton joins a roster that is one of the most loaded in all of college football. They’re expected to be a lock to make the 2025 College Football Playoff. This is the first year the playoff format will move to 12 teams. But many have also pegged the Rebels as outside contenders to possibly bring home the National Championship.

Pete Nakos reported on Thursday night that Hamilton was working on lining up an official visit to the Rebels. He snatched four interceptions last year with Houston. As a junior, he started all 12 games for the Cougars (839 snaps). Hamilton started all 12 games at corner, racking up 50 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and one forced fumble.

The four interceptions ranked 19th in the country in that stat category. They were also the most interceptions by a player in the Houston program in the past decade. Pro Football Focus gave him a coverage grade of 78.1, which ranked seventh among all cornerbacks in the Big 12. Hamilton racked up multiple tackles in all 12 games and four or more tackles in seven different games.

Before joining Houston, he spent three seasons with the Texas Southern Tigers, playing in 17 games. He snatched six interceptions, including five during the 2022 season. He also earned SWAC first team All-Conference honors in 2022, after two of those interceptions went for pick sixes. Hamilton also tallied 51 tackles and 10 pass breakups in 2022. Once he left Texas Southern, he joined Houston in January of 2023 as a mid-year enrollee.

In high school, Hamilton played football and basketball at Channelview, snatching eight total interceptions across 13 games. On the offensive side of the ball, he hauled in 11 touchdown catches in six games his senior year. Hamilton also tallied 414 all-purpose yards in his senior campaign. According to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings for the 2024 cycle, he is ranked as the No. 76 overall prospect in the country and the No. 10 corner back in the portal.