Report: As transfer decision looms, Jaxson Dart admitted to SEC school

Former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart, who on Jan. 10 entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, has not yet publicly made a decision on his destination, but a report from John Macon Gillespie of FanNation claims that Dart has already been admitted as a student at Ole Miss.

On3 was unable to confirm the validity of this report, but a separate report from 247 Sports’ Chris Hummer on Thursday stated that the Ole Miss Rebels “are in good shape” to land Dart.

Throughout the transfer process, Dart is believed to have considered both Ole Miss and Oklahoma, with BYU also giving a ; he even went so far as to tease potential commitments to both schools in Twitter posts wearing Rebels and Sooners gear. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine currently lists Ole Miss as a runaway favorite, with Lane Kiffin’s Rebels receiving a 98.4% chance of landing the coveted quarterback.

Dart was a four-star recruit heading into USC, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. After an impressive freshman campaign at USC, though, his value has only increased — Dart came in at No. 2 among all quarterbacks in the On3 Transfer Portal rankings, trailing only former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams. Moreover, his ranking is not just No. 2 among all quarterbacks, but No. 2 among all players in the NCAA Transfer Portal, regardless of position. He’s high up on a particularly talented group of quarterbacks, ranking above the likes of Quinn Ewers, Spencer Rattler and Kedon Slovis.

Dart, a native of Draper, UT was projected as USC’s backup quarterback heading into the 2021 season, his true freshman year in Los Angeles. However, Dart made his collegiate debut in Week 3 — earlier than expected — after coming in for relief for Slovis, who exited on the opening possession with an injury. Dart showed flashes of what made him a highly-coveted, four-star recruit by completing 30 of his 46 passing attempts against Washington State, throwing for 391 passing yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. He was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for his performance.

At first, it seemed as though Dart was going to spark a bit of a quarterback controversy at USC. However, he suffered an injury of his own to his right meniscus. After playing the rest of the game with a brace and an apparent limp, he was then sidelined as he underwent surgery. He later returned just over a month later against Arizona.

By season’s end, Dart played six games for USC, making his debut on Sept. 18 and returning on Oct. 30 after the injury. He threw for 1,353 passing yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions, while holding a 61.9 completion percentage, and he also rushed for 43 yards and two more scores.