Riley Maddox announces his return to the Rebels for next season

The Major League Baseball Draft has another day remaining, but Riley Maddox ended the uncertainty around his next move.

The Ole Miss right-hander announced, via a post on X, that he's returning for the 2025 season. Maddox said "I'm back" with a Rebs hashtag and a highlight video, giving the Rebels some good news and one of their weekend starters.

Maddox was Ole Miss' best pitcher during stretches of 2024, including allowing two runs or fewer in three of his final starts. In the SEC Tournament and the final game of the year, Maddox held Mississippi State to no runs on three hits in seven innings.

The junior, who had Tommy John during his freshman season, was fully healthy for a year for the first time during his career.

He was effective, especially two times through the order, pitching off his low 90s sinker, but the Ole Miss defense was the worst in the league, leading to elevated pitch counts and unearned runs.

For the year, Maddox struck out 43 and walked 18 with a 6.05 ERA in 58 innings.

Maddox was a likely day-three selection in the draft, and the Royals showed him a lot of potential day-two interest.

Through the first 10 rounds, Ole Miss has had just two current or incoming players drafted. Top high school signee Slade Caldwell was chosen by the Diamondbacks in the first round, and senior Jackson Ross was a ninth round pick by the Nationals.

The Rebels went 27-29 overall and 11-19 in the SEC in 2024.