Deantre Prince is back for one last ride in Oxford
Jul. 29—OXFORD — An injury forced Ole Miss senior cornerback Deantre Prince's hand as far as his professional career is concerned this offseason. But he's healthy now and ready for another season in Oxford.
Prince, originally from Charleston, Mississippi, hasn't had the most straight-forward college career.
He saw extensive playing time with the Rebels as a freshman in 2019, logging three starts. Following that campaign, he transferred to Northeast Mississippi Community College as a sophomore and eventually returned to Ole Miss as a walk-on in 2021. He started seven games for the Rebels in 2021 and started every game in 2022 as the team's top cover cornerback.
Because of the pandemic, Prince had an additional year of eligibility remaining if he wanted. He told reporters at SEC Media Days last week he had surgery in the offseason that made it impossible for him to work out for NFL scouts. So, he took advantage of the opportunity at hand and came back for one last ride with the Rebels.
After a tough end to the 2022 season, Prince and his defensive teammates are ready to hit the ground running this fall.
"We're ready. We're super confident," Prince said. "Looking forward to playing and put on a show."
Prince has five interceptions at Ole Miss and had a career-high 12 passes defended in 2022.
With the transfers of Miles Battle and Davison Igbinosun to Utah and Ohio State, respectively, Prince is the most experienced member of the cornerbacks room, though the transfer portal provided some talented experience from outside the SEC.
Former Georgia Tech cornerback Zamari Walton joined Ole Miss in the spring, and North Texas' Deshawn Gaddie Jr. has since joined the team as well.
Last season, Ole Miss ranked 54th nationally and ninth in the SEC in passing yards per game allowed at 219.8. After allowing just seven touchdown passes through the first seven games, the Rebels' secondary bent a bit against stiffer competition down the stretch, allowing 15 scoring tosses over the last six contests.
The Rebels lost five of six to close the season, including the last four. After suffering their first loss at LSU, the Rebels were taken down a few notches, Prince said. The tight home loss to Alabama then "knocked us all the way off the rail, and it derailed us."
"Me personally, I think we let one game lose the rest of the games for us," Prince said. "So, I feel like we gave up after that one game for the rest of the season, which is something that we worked on from January to now to make sure it never happens again."
Quotable
Pete Golding is the new defensive coordinator for the Rebels, and he brings with him a track-record of success.
The Crimson Tide ranked 17th nationally and third in the SEC with 187.8 passing yards per game allowed.Prince likes where the defense is with learning the new playbook following the spring and summer.
"I feel like it's important for us to have mutual attitudes towards these multiple schemes that Coach Golding has us running," Prince said.
