It was five, then four, and now it is one for Birmingham (Ala.) Parker defensive end Demarcus Smith.
He first narrowed his list to Kansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Tennessee. The he eliminated the Jayhawks and got it down to an SEC quartet.
The last one standing is the Rebels in Oxford coached by Lane Kiffin.
"It came down to how I feel about the staff, the vibe with them and I just feel Ole Miss is the place I need to be," said Smith. "I visited there twice and it just has that old-school feel to it. I love the energy, the vibe, how I get along with the coaches and just the feeling when on campus."
Defensive line coach Deke Adams is the lead recruiter for Smith and those two have taken their relationship to another level over the last few months.
"We have been talking a lot since the quarantine. Coach Adams is great and he has really been on me hard the last two or three months. Since I visited there my last time before things shut down, we have talked a lot..
"He really turned it up with me over the last month or two. We have been talking almost every day and he has talked to me a lot about Ole Miss, he has gotten to know me and he is just a good guy."
The decision was announced August 21, but Smith has known he wanted to be a Rebel for some time.
"I would say I made my mind up back in July," said Smith. "This didn't just happen. I have known for a while. I just wanted to wait until today to announce it on my last first game of high school football.
"Ole Miss' coaches just made this decision easy. It is not all about football with them, they got to know me and it feels great to be committed to Ole Miss."
Smith let the Ole Miss coaches know of his decision Sunday August 16 and they were excited about the news.
