Ole Miss QB Shea Patterson says he's transferring to Michigan

Shea Patterson is coming to Michigan.

The former five-star prospect and No. 1-ranked quarterback in the class of 2016 announced his decision to transfer from Ole Miss to Michigan on Monday via Twitter.

Patterson, who was on campus for an official visit this weekend, threw for 2,259 yards (63.8 percent completion rate), 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions at Ole Miss last season. His season was cut short after seven games.

Whether or not Patterson will be allowed to play for the Wolverines in 2018 is unclear.

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Ole Miss was handed NCAA sanctions due to recruiting infractions recently and the NCAA has permitted the program's senior players to transfer without having to sit out a season. Patterson is a sophomore.

However, a handful of Ole Miss players have alleged they were misled by now former Rebel coach Hugh Freeze and the athletic department during their recruitment about the severity of violations and potential punishment the program was facing.

Ole Miss safety Deontay Anderson, who is also considering a transfer to Michigan, and several other Ole Miss players have retained legal counsel and have petitioned to Ole Miss, the Southeastern Conference and the NCAA for instant transfer eligibility.

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If Patterson is cleared, he'll be in competition with Michigan redshirt freshman Brandon Peters and true freshman Dylan McCaffrey next year. The Wolverines also are expected to sign quarterback commits Joe Milton and Kevin Doyle for the 2018 recruiting class.

If he isn't eligible in 2018, he'd be a redshirt junior starting in 2019.

Peters became Michigan's third starting quarterback in 2017 after the Wolverines lost Wilton Speight to a vertebrae injury in Week 4 and were forced to sit fifth-year senior John O'Korn due to ineffective play.

An Indiana native, Peters threw for 486 yards and four touchdowns in games against Rutgers, Minnesota, Maryland and Wisconsin. He was knocked out of the Wisconsin loss with a concussion, which forced him to miss the regular season finale against Ohio State. Peters has since cleared concussion protocol and is expected to start for the Wolverines in the Outback Bowl against South Carolina on Jan. 1.

Speight has announced his decision to take a graduate transfer after this season. Third-year sophomore Alex Malzone also will transfer.

The No. 4-ranked player in the 2016 recruiting class and a Toledo native, Patterson committed to Ole Miss roughly two months after Jim Harbaugh became Michigan's head coach in 2015.

A noted Michigan fan as a youngster, Patterson's grandfather, George Patterson, played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons. His older brother, Sean, left a quality control job at LSU to join his brother at Ole Miss as a senior player personnel analyst shortly after Patterson committed to the Rebels in 2015.

After sitting out most of his true freshman season, Patterson started Ole Miss' final three games after starter Chad Kelly suffered a season-ending injury. Patterson threw for 880 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions over those games, and rushed for 169 yards. Ole Miss went 1-2 in those games.

Patterson won Ole Miss' starting quarterback job out of camp this season, starting the team's first seven games before going down with a torn PCL in October. Ole Miss was 3-4 when Patterson suffered the knee injury.

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Junior quarterback Jordan Ta'amu went 3-2 for the Rebels in place of Patterson, throwing for 1,682 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Patterson was on campus last weekend along with Anderson and Ole Miss receiver Van Jefferson. All three were joined by the entire Michigan coaching staff, including coach Jim Harbaugh, at the Crisler Center for the Wolverines' overtime win over UCLA on Saturday afternoon.

Several Michigan players were on hand to mingle with Patterson and company. Many have been asked over the past week for their thoughts on Harbaugh's decision to entertain transfers.

And whether or not any of them might feel threatened by an outside player coming into the program to compete for their spots.

"More competition makes each other better," said freshman center Cesar Ruiz, who was Patterson's prep quarterback at IMG Academy. "I don't think anyone feels threatened."

Contact Nick Baumgardner: nbaumgardn@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickBaumgardner.

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