Khadim Sy finally made his decision Monday, choosing Ole Miss over Pittsburgh and East Carolina.

In the process, the Daytona (Fla.) State College forward gave the Rebels the inside presence and rim protection Ole Miss lacked during much of its first season under coach Kermit Davis, one that saw the Rebels make the NCAA Tournament before losing to Oklahoma in the first round.

Sy, a 6-foot-10, 240-pounder from Senegal, originally began his career at Virginia Tech. Sy started 28 games, averaging more than 10 minutes per game. He scored 4 points and 2.7 rebounds per game for the Hokies.

Sy earned national junior college honorable mention all-American honors at Daytona State. Sy teamed with Ole Miss signee Bryce Williams at Daytona, and that relationship, along with friendships he built with Devontae Shuler, Breein Tyree, Blake Hinson and others, pushed Ole Miss over the top Monday.

Sy joins a signing class that includes Williams, forwards Antavion Collum and Sammy Hunter, center Rodney Howard and guard Austin Crowley. The Rebels remain very much in the mix for four-star forward Jaemyn Brakefield should he decide to reclassify later in the summer and enroll at his college of choice in August.

Sy gives Ole Miss a scorer close to the basket and a long player close to the goal who can serve as a deterrent for guards driving into the lane. He figures, along with Hunter and possibly Brakefield, to earn all of the minutes Ole Miss got from Bruce Stevens and Dominik Olejniczak last season. Stevens graduated and Olejniczak transferred as a grad transfer to Florida State.