Ole Miss 4-star signee Travaris Banks ready to transition from CB to safety for the Rebels

Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Hillcrest four-star safety Travaris Banks wasn’t looking to stay home to play college football. The 6-foot-1.5, 195-pounder had an Alabama offer, but sights were never firmly on the Crimson Tide.

Florida State made a push, as did Mississippi State and the likes of Tennessee and Auburn. It was Ole Miss that kept getting Banks on campus, however, and eventually landed his pledge on June 8. Following a December official visit, he’s now locked in with the Rebels.

Before heading to Oxford to play for Lane Kiffin, Pete Golding and Co., Banks is participating in the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 3 in Orlando. He spoke to reporters at media check-in on Friday about the Rebels.

“It was really between FSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State,” Banks said.

The Seminoles had Banks on campus twice early in 2023, while Miss State also pushed around that time. This summer, Ole Miss began to emerge and swiped his commitment right after an unofficial visit in June.

Banks transitioning from CB to safety at the college level

Banks played cornerback for all four years in high school, but will begin transitioning to safety for the Rebels. While he enjoyed his time at corner, he’s ready to make the adjustments necessary to succeed at safety in Oxford.

“Really it’s easier to read the wide receivers from two-by-one to three-by-one. Corner, you really just read one side of the field, safety reads both sides of the field,” Banks explained.

The blue-chipper is the No. 251 overall prospect and No. 18 safety in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 15 player in Alabama.

Banks is the fifth highest-ranked high school signee in Ole Miss’ 2024 class — which ranks 20th in the nation, per the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. Kiffin and the Rebels are also currently dominating the transfer portal, having added 12 elite transfers, as of Dec. 30.

“All i’m hearing is Ole Miss is running the transfer portal, that’s good I guess. We’ll just see how it goes in the future,” Banks said.

Banks has an On3 NIL Valuation of $79K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.