LOGANVILLE, Ga. -- Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze understands why college football fans across the country might have their suspicions about how the Rebels landed a top-five recruiting class on Wednesday.

The Rebels haven't won an SEC championship since 1963, have never won the SEC West outright and lost 16 SEC games in a row before beating Auburn 41-20 last season. As a result, Ole Miss has rarely gone head-to-head with the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU for top high school recruits.

Hugh Freeze reeled in the nation's No. 5 recruiting class this season. AP Photo/Bill Haber

On Wednesday, though, Ole Miss went head-to-head with those SEC heavyweights and many more top programs around the country to sign what is undoubtedly the best recruiting class in school history.

But if you think the Rebels cheated or cut corners to sign a class that includes the country's No. 1 overall player, No. 1 wide receiver, Nos. 1 and 3 offensive tackles and No. 2 safety, according to ESPN RecruitingNation, Freeze wants to know the specific allegations.

And the Rebels' second-year coach is dead serious.

"I want to know if there's something going on," Freeze said. "There's too much at stake for our program, our coaches and our families. I know the way we're doing it, and we're doing it the right way. If somebody has got something, they need to come on with it. It gets frustrating to get bombarded with it constantly. People take it way too far, and it's not fair to our players and their families to have to read it. It's one thing to suspect something and it's another thing to start naming names. I was really shocked by the amount of it and crudeness of it."

The Rebels' haul on Wednesday was stunning, although not entirely unexpected. Ole Miss started the day by signing defensive end Robert Nkemdiche of Loganville (Ga.) Grayson High School, the No. 1 overall recruit in the ESPN 150. Then the ball really started rolling, as the Rebels received signed national letters of intent from No. 1 offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (Lake City, Fla./Columbia), No. 1 receiver Laquon Treadwell (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee), No. 3 offensive tackle Austin Golson (Prattville, Ala.) and No. 2 safety Antonio Conner (Batesville, Miss./South Panola).

"Obviously, we wouldn't be sitting here getting all of the accolades, attention and criticism if we didn't have the high-end kids," Freeze said. "I'm not sitting here saying we're going to have a top-10 class every year. There were some unique circumstances. It was a perfect storm."

“ There were some unique circumstances. It was a perfect storm. ” -- Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze on his recruiting class

Nkemdiche, whom college football recruiters have compared to a young Reggie White because of his explosive pass-rushing skills, was the pied piper for the Rebels' unprecedented recruiting efforts. Once Nkemdiche decided that Ole Miss was a viable option for him -- he ended up choosing the Rebels over Alabama, Clemson and LSU -- other top players were more willing to consider joining him in Oxford, Miss.

Former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt deserves some of the credit. Two years ago, Nutt offered a scholarship to Denzel Nkemdiche, Robert's older brother and a lightly recruited prospect at Grayson High School. As a redshirt freshman linebacker this past season, Denzel led the Rebels with 82 tackles.

"We were told from day one if we created some excitement and wins, we'd have a chance with Robert," Freeze said. "We ended the season with some momentum and he started to become interested."

Nkemdiche committed to play at Clemson in June, but then his mother said she wasn't happy with his decision. Beverly Nkemdiche, who lives in Africa most of the year, wanted Robert to play with his older brother.

"I think it came down to going to school with his brother," Grayson High coach Mickey Conn said. "That was the bottom line: He just wanted to play football with his brother. There were a lot of other schools he liked, but at the end it came down to being with Denzel and keeping family peace."

Beverly realized pretty quickly that Ole Miss wouldn't be the most popular choice for her son, at least not with outsiders.