OXFORD — Chris Paul Jr., prefers to be called “Pooh.”

It’s a nickname he’s had since early in his childhood, though friends and teammates learned of it organically.

Both of his parents shared the nickname when they were younger. Chris Jr., aka Pooh, is the seventh child, the first boy in the family.

“I played for this travel ball team when I was younger,” Paul said. “To make a long story short, I had caught an interception to win the game. My mom had gotten these jackets with my face painted on them. She had a 3-D cutout of my head with my nickname on the bottom of it. You know how moms are. Once their sons score, they go crazy. She was screaming, jumping over the gate, holding the sign up and everybody could see who I was.

“Once I got older, it just started growing on me. That’s just my identity now. …I love that name.”

Jaxson Dart was calling him Pooh pretty quickly. The Ole Miss quarterback reached out to Paul immediately after the former Arkansas linebacker entered the transfer portal. He knew how good Paul was, having faced him twice. Paul, a 6-foot-1, 233-pounder from Cordele, Ga., had 74 tackles and two quarterback sacks for the Razorbacks last season, a year after recording 62 tackles and four sacks during the 2022 season in Fayetteville.

Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding would call Paul every evening at 6. Golding would call his parents an hour later. Dart connected via routine FaceTime calls and via video games such as Fortnite and Call of Duty.

“We were just playing the game together, getting to know each other,” Paul said. “With us two being two great players in the SEC, we’d already had some talks before that. Once I entered the portal, he was one of the first guys to reach out. It was simply, ‘Man, I want to get to know you as a person,’ so me and him built that bond just by video games, if I’m being honest.

“Once I got down here, he showed me around the city and things like that. I knew this was the place I wanted to be. …It showed me how much he cares about teammates and cares about the game. That’s the type of guy I wanted to surround myself with. Being a Rebel was a great decision.”

Paul had faced Ole Miss over the years and had been impressed by the Rebels’ toughness.

“Playing against them, that was a team that played with a lot of grit and played with a lot of effort,” Paul said. “They never gave up no matter what the score was.”

Now, he’ll be playing for an Ole Miss team that will almost certainly open the season ranked in the top 10 and widely considered as a contender, not only in the SEC but also in the national title race.

“I enjoyed my time at Arkansas,” Paul said. “I made lifelong bonds there. But it’s on to the next chapter. I’m making friends here. I’m getting settled into the city and things like that. I’m getting real acquainted with my teammates. Oxford has been a great experience so far. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”