Haslett talkes about Ole Miss interest
A name familiar with many Ole Miss fans, who are also fans of the New Orleans Saints, is former Saints head coach Jim Haslett and Hastlett's son, James Haslett, is a name that will become familiar in recruiting circles for the 2011 recruiting class.
James Haslett is a 6-foot-3, 170 pound pro-style quarterback who will finish his high school career at Clayton, MO. while his father takes on new duties as the Washington Redskins' defensive coordinator this year under new head coach Mike Shanahan.
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James Haslett has already picked up an offer from Miami (Ohio) and is drawing interest from several other schools including Ole Miss, Illinois, Clemson, Washington, and Tulane.
"I'm receiving a little mail from Ole Miss, but not hearing from them a lot," Haslett said on Monday evening. "I'm hoping I'll hear a lot later on."
Haslett's interest in Ole Miss comes from some firsthand experience. His older sister, now enrolled at Clemson, visited the Oxford campus when she was researching schools to attend and Haslett visited Ole Miss last year to watch a baseball game.
"My sister loved it at Ole Miss and I wanted to see a baseball game because Ole Miss always has some great baseball teams," he said. "When I was down there, I walked into the indoor facility and I just couldn't believe it. I said to myself, this is where I want to be, I want to be a Rebel."
Haslett had planned to attend an Ole Miss football camp last summer, and went so far as to pay the camp registration fee, but had to cancel because of an injury.
While the initial reaction of seeing Ole Miss' state of the art indoor practice facility had Haslett ready to sign up last year, some of the allure has rubbed off and he's now approaching recruiting a little more methodically.
"I don't have any favorites or anything," he said. "I would be very honored for any Division I program to offer me a scholarship. But I want to go through recruiting and check out a lot of places and see what's best for me."
That will include a serious second look at Ole Miss, particularly if the Rebels decide to pursue Haslett.
"I definitely want to get back down there," he said. "I might go for the spring game, or definitely I'd like to camp there."
Haslett said he closely followed Ole Miss last year, and particularly quarterback Jevan Snead, and said one thing that attracts him to the Rebels is their offense, which he thinks suits his skills.
As a sophomore, Haslett threw for over 1,500 yards with a completion rate nearing 65 percent and 17 touchdown passes. Last fall, he missed about half of the season due to injury and threw for just over 700 yards in six games with ten touchdown passes.
Although his father has re-located to Washington, Haslett plans to stay in Clayton for his senior season.
"We've already made that decision," he said. "I'm just really comfortable with everything here - the school, the coaches, the team, the fans - everything."
Haslett said he also has ambitions to play baseball in college and the thought of being a two-sport star intrigues him.
Haslett participated last month in the U.S. Army National Combine with his father in attendance.
Haslett has a GPA over 3.0 and took the ACT for the first time last Saturday.