Treyson Hughes knows the trend believes he’s the next iteration.

A Southern Conference hitter, for two straight seasons, has transferred to the Southeastern Conference and been one of the league’s best offensive players.

Hughes, who played two seasons at Mercer, committed to Ole Miss on Tuesday with that exact intention.

“That’s the goal for sure,” Hughes said about excelling in the SEC. “Those guys are awesome, and I can follow them and see what it is about. Playing in the SEC is a lifelong dream. It’s such a big day for me.”

Sonny DiChiara went to Auburn from Southern Conference member Samford in 2022 and was the SEC Player of the Year, and Colton Ledbetter hit .320 with a 1.024 OPS and 17 stolen bases after transferring to Mississippi State from Samford.

Mercer transfers have also had recent success at the higher level.

Hughes, a sophomore centerfielder, hit .389 for the Bears in 2023, with a .591 slugging percentage and .506 on-base percentage. He stole nine bases and had 50 walks and hit by pitches combined while striking out 33 times.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder visited the Rebels on Tuesday and committed the same day. Hughes chose Ole Miss over Tennessee, LSU, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Florida. He canceled a visit to Knoxville after selecting Ole Miss.

“Ole Miss is one of the best places to play college baseball in the country,” Hughes said. “They are coming off a College World Series and, and I know (2023) wasn’t the year they wanted, but that’s why they are looking for players like me to get back to Omaha.

“They want me to hit in the middle of the lineup and help get Ole Miss back to where it should be.”

Hughes and his parents walked around the Square and ate at local restaurant Boure before touring campus and all the facilities. He said he knew Ole Miss was the choice when the staff showed him a “legacy video” highlighting the Swayze Field atmosphere and program accomplishments.

Hughes is headed to the Cape League to play for Cotuit for the next month. He’s a draft-eligible sophomore, so while there’s still technically some question to his immediate baseball future, a team would have to buy him away from the Rebels at a significant price.

“It would take a pretty penny; I’ll just say it like that,” Hughes said.

The MLB First Year Player Draft is July 11-13, and barring a team meeting his signing bonus request, he’ll leave the Cape for Oxford once the draft is complete.

Hughes, who said Mercer was awesome to him and telling the Bears he was leaving was “tough,” is glad to have the transfer process complete. His phone was inundated with messages as soon as he entered the portal, and it was stressful to choose between quality options.

“At one point it took me five minutes to scroll down to my mom’s name in my messages,” Hughes said. “Having this over takes stress off me and my parents. I can just go play baseball again.”