4-star Kentucky target, Neeo Avery, commits to Ole Miss

Kentucky football picked up a pair of four-star commits throughout July, but couldn’t add a third to close out the month.

On Sunday afternoon, four-star class of 2023 EDGE Neeo Avery announced that he will join the Ole Miss Rebels. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder out of Good Counsel (MD) chose Ole Miss over the likes of Kentucky, Maryland, and Oregon. The Rebels were perceived as the heavy favorite heading into Avery’s decision day. He apparently made his mind up earlier this summer.

“I have known for a month that I was going to Ole Miss,” Avery told On3’s Chad Simmons. “When I got down there in June, I heard their plan for me academically and as a football player. They showed me I was important. The coaches made me feel like a priority. After that visit, I really knew it was Ole Miss.”

Locked in🔒@OleMissFB pic.twitter.com/XncxXS9VuW

— Neeo Avery (@Neeo_avery) July 31, 2022

A former Penn State commit, Avery took official visits to Maryland and Kentucky in June. The Wildcats also got the blue-chipper on campus for an unofficial visit back in November. However, Ole Miss has gotten the prospect to Oxford three times in the last three months and still has an official visit available to use in the fall. He was on Ole Miss’ campus this past weekend, too.

In Avery’s own words, it sounds like Kentucky finished as a close second.

“Ole Miss just kept standing out to me. I did some soul-searching in July, but I feel really good about Ole Miss. Kentucky was up there too, but Ole Miss is different,” Avery told On3. “From the way they believe in me to their development to my relationships with the coaches, it is the right fit for me.”

Avery is considered the No. 253 overall rising senior in the country, according to the On3 Consensus. Kentucky will now have to see if they can flip him or decide if they need to look elsewhere altogether.