Remember when Ole Miss burst onto the national recruiting scene and signed high-profile recruits Laremy Tunsil, Robert Nkemdiche and Laquon Treadwell?

What about more recently with Shea Patterson, Greg Little and Benito Jones, all five-star recruits in the 2016 class?

Those days are long gone.

Ole Miss isn't beating out Alabama, Auburn and other national powers any more for recruits.

Ole Miss' class in 2017 ranked No. 12 in the SEC and No. 30 nationally. This year's group of freshmen won't go to postseason play.

As it stands, Ole Miss' group of 10 commits for the 2018 class ranks No. 11 in the SEC and No. 51 nationally. But how many of them will stick following the news of head coach Hugh Freeze's resignation?

No doubt this affects preparation for the upcoming season, as practice starts in two weeks.

Ole Miss imposed a one-year bowl ban for this fall, but still hasn't faced the NCAA's Committee of Infractions.

In 2014, Ole Miss signed six four-star recruits. Alabama wanted safety C.J. Hampton and held 81 percent of 247Sports crystal ball predictions before he chose Ole Miss. Offensive lineman Rod Taylor was also a wanted target by in-state schools.

In 2015, Ole Miss flipped four-star junior college defensive back Tony Bridges from Auburn.

In 2016, Little was one of the nation's top prospects as an offensive tackle from Allen, Texas. He chose Ole Miss over Alabama, Georgia, Auburn and others after de-committing from Texas A&M.

Freeze used to post fishing pictures whenever he landed a "big fish" on the recruiting trail and cryptically celebrated commitments. Little was his biggest fish in that class.

You get into the class of 2017, and it was ravaged by NCAA rumors.

One-time Alabama commit D.D. Bowie signed with Ole Miss in February, but he had flipped to the Rebels during the fall of 2015, his junior year. Four-star linebacker Breon Dixon had SEC offers, but even Freeze indicated that last year's class was a "penalty" as star recruits such as Cam Akers and Myles Brennan left the state.

In its current recruiting class, Ole Miss has some nice players committed including two locally in Vestavia Hills safety Jonathan Hess and Huffman defensive end Allen Love. But Ole Miss' NCAA cloud is pushing the elite recruits away. Four-star Asa Martin visited Ole Miss recently, but the Rebels won't make his top group.

When it came to battling Alabama, Auburn and other elite programs for recruits, Ole Miss stopped being a factor this winter because of the NCAA troubles. The ones that still believed in Ole Miss did so because of Freeze.

Without Freeze, it's hard to imagine the Rebels getting enough difference-makers to be a factor in the SEC for years to come. This will be celebrated in Tuscaloosa, Auburn and other places after the way Freeze and his staff recruited on a national level.