Southern Miss football, Will Hall on pace to sign Sun Belt's top recruiting class
HATTIESBURG — Southern Miss football's 2023 season has been over for nearly a month now, but coach Will Hall and the rest of the staff have been hard at work on the recruiting trail and the transfer portal.
"It doesn't ever stop," Hall said after the final game versus Troy. "I know it seems like to everybody else that here are these segments, but you never stop recruiting, you never stop building and you never stop pushing forward."
One of the encouraging parts after a 3-9 season is the incoming recruiting class that has stayed intact. The Golden Eagles are projected to sign the Sun Belt Conference's top class, according to 247Sports, and will be able to finalize it when the early signing period begins on Wednesday.
247Sports calculates a numerical value for each team's recruiting class. It's a fluid ranking with the final touches being made on classes across the country, but as of Monday, Southern Miss checks in at first in the conference with 162.80 points. Coastal Carolina is in second with 155.77 points, followed by Appalachian State at 152.18.
That all puts the Golden Eagles at the No. 69 class nationally. If that's where they stick, it will be their highest-ranked recruiting class since 2012.
Whom could Southern Miss sign?
According to 247Sports, Southern Miss has 20 commitments for the 2024 class, all of which could be in play to sign on Wednesday.
Oak Grove three-star defensive lineman Caleb Moore is at the top of the list. Two other three-star defensive linemen – Grenada’s Aaron Travis and Flomaton, Alabama’s Miles Adams – round out the top three.
Madison-Ridgeland Academy quarterback John White is a three-star who broke the state’s record for career passing yards this season.
The Golden Eagles have also hit the junior college ranks, with seven of the 20 coming from that avenue. Some of the highlights include safety Jordan Johnson, tight end Terron Bedford, offensive tackle Greg Nunnery and cornerback Vernorrius Chaney.
It’s worth noting too that all of Southern Miss’ commits, except for Adams, are from Mississippi.
Transfer portal still churning
From a national standpoint, this transfer portal cycle has been a dramatic one with extremely talented players switching schools. But for Southern Miss, it's been relatively quiet so far.
Eight Golden Eagles have entered the transfer portal, but many of them either are not massive blows or weren't unexpected. Cornerback Markel McLaurin and quarterback Zach Wilcke are perhaps the two exceptions. Offensive lineman Gerquan Scott also departed as a graduate transfer and landed at Ole Miss.
Three players, according to 247Sports, have committed to Southern Miss via the transfer portal. Akron defensive lineman Ryan Johnson was the first, followed by Eastern Michigan offensive lineman Zack Conti. New Mexico safety Jermarius Lewis is the latest, though he posted an image on Instagram on Sunday of him on a visit at Arkansas State.
247Sports tabs Southern Miss 60th best incoming transfer class, which is second in the Sun Belt currently behind Marshall.
Southern Miss class of 2024 commitments
P Bart Edmiston, Jones College
DL Caleb Moore, Oak Grove
S Damion Miller, Port Gibson
DL Miles Adams, Flomaton
DL Aaron Travis, Grenada
WR TK Keyes, Taylorsville
OT Larry Edwards, Humphreys County
IOL Elijah Baker, Hattiesburg
DL Zay Lowery, West Point
OT Greg Nunnery, Mississippi Gulf Coast CC
EDGE Jameer Lewis, Southwest Mississippi CC
TE Reed Jesiolowski, Hartfield Academy
DL Jalen Owens, Oak Grove
QB John White, Madison-Ridgeland Academy
RB Jalen Washington, Houston
S Jordan Johnson, Mississippi Delta CC
CB Vernorrius Chaney, Hinds CC
LB Christopher Jones, Hartfield Academy
TE Terron Bedford, Jones College
OT Hastings Carruth, Southwest Mississippi CC
Sam Sklar is the Southern Miss beat reporter for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at ssklar@hattiesb.gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Southern Miss football on pace to sign Sun Belt's top recruiting class
