Spirit's Take: Here's what Ole Miss is adding in On3 Consensus four-star Ayden Williams
Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss have taken a slow and steady approach to their 2023 recruiting class.
But after a flurry of commitments in July, the Rebels are back at it again with the addition of On3 Consensus four-star wide receiver Ayden Williams.
The Ridgeland (Miss.) prospect chose Ole Miss over LSU and Tennessee. He held additional notable offers from, among others, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Jackson State, Mississippi State and Oregon.
The 6-foot-2, 190 pound Williams is Ole Miss’ seventh four-star commit for 2023, giving the Rebels a blue-chip rating of 70 percent.
Williams is the No. 17 wide receiver in the country.
He took unofficial visits to Georgia and LSU. He saw South Carolina unofficially, and he has an official scheduled for Tennessee in September. But Williams, the No. 2 prospect in Mississippi, took several trips to Ole Miss.
He ultimately cast his lot with the Rebels due to his tight-knit relationship with a couple of staffers. Kelvin Bolden, the Rebels’ director of recruiting strategy, was one. Same for Derrick Nix, who coaches the Ole Miss wide receivers.
But Kiffin also personally recruited Williams, the nation’s No. 117 overall prospect by the On3 Consensus, which further shows the top-priority nature of his recruitment.
SPIRIT’S TAKE
Williams was an integral part of Ridgeland’s offense as a junior last season, as he averaged 128.4 receiving yards per game. He ultimately finished with 63 receptions for 1,156 yards and 16 touchdowns.
On3’s Sam Spiegelman saw Williams’ meteoric rise at several 7-on-7 stops over the summer.
Spiegelman came away impressed.
“Ayden Williams has outstanding athleticism packed into a 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame and flashed his excellent hands and wide catch radius along with his ability to high-point the football and easily come down with 50-50 balls,” Spiegelman said.
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“Williams operated well on the perimeter and in the slot. Equally as impressive was his big vertical jump with some celebratory dunks during the competition.”
The commitment of Williams continues a long line of top in-state receivers staying home and playing for the Rebels.
He joins the likes of former blue chips Donte Moncrief, AJ Brown, DK Metcalf, Markell Pack and Vince Sanders to stick with Ole Miss and put the Rebels on the map in next-level wide-receiver play over the last decade.
Ole Miss has also featured out-of-state standouts such as Quincy Adeboyejo, Cody Core, DaMarkus Lodge, Elijah Moore, Damore’ea Stringfellow and Laquon Treadwell.
Williams could, potentially, be the next big thing at the position.
He brings a physicality to the 2023 class that is hard to find in receivers. However, he also possesses a complete game as a high school senior which should be fun to see develop in the coming years.
Williams has the versatility and skill-set to play both inside and outside, runs superb routes and has equally impressive hands to make the tough plays in traffic over the middle and downfield.
All of this should equate to the Mississippi receiver making an immediate impact as a true freshman next season.
