Ole Miss commit planning one more visit

Miami (Archbishop Carroll HS) running back Jeff Scott committed to Ole Miss sight unseen last August and made his first trip to the Oxford campus over the weekend.

"It went real good," Scott said on Sunday as he was boarding his flight headed back to Miami. "It was great and I had a lot of fun."

Scott, a 5-foot-8, 170 pound all-purpose back, who has been timed at 4.36 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is being recruited by Ole Miss to fill a void created with the departure of speedster Dexter McCluster and that was a point emphasized by Rebel head coach Houston Nutt when he talked with Scott just before he departed the campus.

"He's basically telling me that they're only recruiting one or two running backs and that they need my speed," Scott said. "He just told me to go back home, stay focused on my goals and stay on top of my academics."

Academics could be a concern for Ole Miss when it comes to Scott. He reports a 2.4 GPA and unless he improves that during his final semester of his senior year, he'll need to score a few points higher than the 840 required by the NCAA to qualify under the NCAA's sliding scale, where a higher SAT can offset a lower GPA.

Originally, Scott, who said he needs a higer score on his SAT, was set to re-take the test on Saturday, then visit FIU with a visit to Ole Miss on Jan. 29. However, Scott obviously changed those plans where he could visit with several other Florida prospects that included Miami-area linebacker Ralph Williams.

Scott said he still plans to visit FIU before signing day and will decide between FIU and Ole Miss.

However, Ole Miss put itself in good position with Scott with the visit.

"I don't know if you know it or not, but Ole Miss has some Miami players on the roster," Scott said. "I was surprised that they have so many Florida players. Charles Sawyer and Frank Crawford - both of them are from Miami - and we hung out and they escorted me around."

Scott said his first stop during the visit was an academic tour.

"We did an academic tour and they showed us where we can work with the tutors," he said. "We also went to (Coach Nutt's) house and then broke down in position groups and they kind of showed us they way they do things. I liked it all."

While some prospects traveling from Miami to Oxford might be ini shock with the small town after living in a major city, but Scott liked what he saw.

"I loved it," he said. "It's a small town but a big campus. I really liked how everybody got together and how the people were so nice."

Scott didn't give a timeline for making his final decision.