OXFORD ― Several key Ole Miss football recruits have left the Rebels’ 2025 recruiting class this week.
On Friday, Akylin Dear delivered the biggest blow.
The four-star running back told On3 that he’s backing off his commitment to the Rebels. Dear, a Quitman High School product, had been Ole Miss’ lone top 100 pledge.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Dear is the No. 29 overall prospect in the 2025 cycle, according to the 247Sports Composite. He is also the No. 2 running back and the No. 2 prospect in Mississippi.
Dear took a visit to Alabama earlier this month. He holds offers from several other schools at the top of the college football food chain, including Georgia, Michigan, Texas and Oregon.
His decommitment makes it four departures from Lane Kiffin’s class since June 24. Wideout Jerome Myles — a consensus four-star prospect with a five-star rating on 247Sports — was the first defection. Fellow four-star receiver Dillon Alfred joined him, with three-star defensive end Corey Amos also decommitting.
With Dear out of the fold, Ole Miss’ recruiting class shrinks to nine members and does not include any skill position players.
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David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.
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