Quinshon Judkins reveals how NIL impacted Ole Miss locker room, if he's experienced tampering
While NIL may fracture some team’s camaraderie, Quinshon Judkins and his Ole Miss teammates remain tighter than ever.
Last season, Judkins rushed for 1,567 yards on 274 carries and had 16 rushing touchdowns. He also snagged 15 passes for 132 yards and another score. It’s easy to see why he’s become a hot commodity in the college football world.
Instead of being jealous of Judkins’ success, the Rebels have been more than supportive, as the running back explained during an appearance on SEC Network during SEC Media Days in Nashville.
“No, it hasn’t, because I think that’s the great thing about our locker room,” Judkins responded, asked if NIL has hurt Ole Miss’ locker room. “I think everybody loves each other, and looks at each other in a positive light and a positive way, where things like that won’t make another person jealous, or envious of another person. So I think that’s a great thing with our locker room.”
Outside of jealousy, tampering has become an issue, with programs attempting to get players to flee their current situations to join their team with promises of NIL money. It’s easy to see why a myriad of programs would want Judkins, but he admitted that hasn’t happened with him yet.
“With me, it hasn’t been,” the Ole Miss star responded, asked if tampering has been an issue. “So probably, but not with me.”
Ole Miss has a special player in Quinshon Judkins, and he isn’t going anywhere. The future is bright, and he’ll look to continue ascending in 2023.
More on Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss Rebels
One thing is abundantly clear about Quinshon Judkins, he exceeded expectations as a freshman. During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, On3’s Charles Power explained why that happened.
“Quinshon Judkins was phenomenal. I think he was the breakout star of the SEC last year, at least on offense. He was our Offensive True Freshman of the Year last year. And you think about, going into the season, everybody was talking about Zach Evans, the TCU transfer and former five-star. Quinshon Judkins outplayed Zach Evans last year. It seemed like he had 150 yards every week,” Power said.
“(He’s) a guy who was not as heralded but he was a top target for Lane Kiffin. They got him out of Alabama and he was phenomenal last year. A guy that forces a ton of missed tackles. He’s not going to blow you away from a size or speed perspective. But very instinctive, maximizes yardage, and really kept Ole Miss’ offense churning last year in games that they needed to win.”