Rebel head coach Hugh Freeze continues his recruiting success, earning his first high school quarterback commitment today in Ryan Buchanan, a much welcomed addition to the Ole Miss 2013 signing class. Buchanan is a 6'3", 210 pound prospect who has received scholarship offers from Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, Florida, and others. He has a strong arm, delivers the ball accurately, and appears capable of making plays with his feet. One of his highlight videos is here. See for yourself:

To be considered is the level of competition against which Ryan is playing in these videos - MAIS football is significantly, shall we say, "weaker" than MHSAA ball - but he is impressive nonetheless. Receiving a commitment from a high school quarterback with great SEC offers is a welcomed change. The post-Eli tradition of relying on Juco graduates and transfer students to operate the Ole Miss offense has, itself, been a bit of a symptom of the larger disease of our program's instability. Hopefully this is commitment can signal the beginning of a trend and a movement away from that recruiting tactic.

While we're not really pursuing many elite receivers, this commitment could help us land players at other positions, as Buchanan has said that he will make an effort to recruit other high school prospects to follow him to Ole Miss. This, coupled with his talent and upside, make this exciting on many levels. Welcome, Ryan.