The decision of where No. 2 overall transfer recruit, Walter Nolen would attend had come down to two final teams: Oregon and Ole Miss. On Christmas Eve, that announcement has come and he won’t be leaving the SEC after all. According to Hayes Fawcett of On3 Sports, Nolen is headed to Ole Miss.
Walter Nolen will have two years of eligibility left. Everyone had sought after the 6-4 298-pound defensive tackle and it was likely that we may have to wait until after Christmas. However, that is no longer the case. Even teams who have stability in the trenches were seeking after the recruit. It’s certainly not often that a player of his caliber is in the transfer portal.
In the 2023 season, Nolen finished with 37 total tackles, 4 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. With the announcement that Nolen is headed to Ole Miss, he’ll join Lane Kiffin who has been nicknamed the “Portal King” after stellar overhauls in 2021 and 2023. This year he has mainly been focused on adding offensive pieces but the addition of a defensive player is welcomed. In fact, they’ve struggled to secure some of the top names on the defensive side of the ball this season.
Nolen will help the Rebels fortify their defensive line. Especially in the run game under second-year defensive coordinator Pete Golding. They already have one of the best run games defensively only allowing opponents to rush 3.9 yards per carry and only gave up 19 rushing touchdowns. The Rebels have gone 33-15 since Kiffin arrived in Oxford, Mississippi. That has helped bring in a surge of talent that want to raise the standard for 2024.
With a win over Penn State, Ole Miss would have it’s first 11-win season in program history.
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