Jerrion Ealy

Jerrion Ealy was a five-star running back coming out of the 2019 class.

So it came as no surprise that Ealy burst onto the college football scene last fall when, as a true freshman, he rushed for 722 yards and six touchdowns at Ole Miss, earning true freshman All-America accolades. He also caught 20 passes for 172 yards and a score for the Rebels.

A two-sport star at Jackson (Miss.) Prep, it comes as little surprise to those who have followed his career closely, that Ealy has earned a starting spot in the lineup for the Ole Miss baseball team. He was a top Major League Baseball prospect coming out of high school.

The diamond Rebels open their season today at 4 p.m. CT at Swayze Field in Oxford versus the top-ranked Louisville Cardinals. Ealy will make the start in center field in his first collegiate baseball game. He is hitting eighth in head coach Mike Bianco's lineup.

Ealy isn't the only football Rebel on the Ole Miss baseball roster. Fellow true freshman John Rhys Plumlee, who started eight games at quarterback last fall, is also an outfielder for the diamond Rebs. Plumlee rushed for a team-best 1,023 yards and 12 scores last season, while completing 79-of-150 passes for 910 yards and four touchdowns.

Ealy's and Plumlee's to-be-defined roles on the baseball team as the season progresses will determine in part how much time each spends with football when spring practice begins.

Plumlee is expected to be in a quarterback battle with Matt Corral. Ole Miss football is set to begin spring practice on March 17, in the heart of baseball season. The annual Grove Bowl, Ole Miss' spring football game, is scheduled for the evening of April 18.

"We want that to be (Plumlee's) first priority, because if you're going to be in something, I just think you go with it, and whatever time he has left he'll come to us," Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin said.

"I talked about it with baseball...let's see how it goes," Kiffin continued. "They're (Plumlee and Ealy) all in right now on baseball, and then let' see. If they're having a significant role, they'll stay in there. If they're not, then they'll probably come back and do more football," said Kiffin.

Meanwhile, Kiffin is doing what he can do to help. He even gave Ealy a lift to a recent baseball practice.

"I found out where the baseball stadium was yesterday, because I was driving the car and Ealy was walking on the side of the road by himself, so I circled around and picked him up. I'm like, 'Where are you going?' He said the baseball stadium. I kept taking wrong turns. He was like, 'Do you know where the baseball stadium is, Coach?' I told him no idea. It was an amazing stadium. I didn't even know about it. Beautiful looking stadium," Kiffin said in a previous interview.