Former Ole Miss Multi-Sport Athlete Commits to UCF
After spending multiple seasons with the Ole Miss football and baseball teams, John Rhys Plumlee has found his new home at the University of Central Florida.
The junior announced his decision to enter the transfer portal via a five-part Twitter post on Jan. 3. Rumors claimed that UCF was very interested in acquiring him, but the news was not made official until Sunday afternoon.
At the beginning of his college football career, Plumlee was an integral part of the Rebels' offense. The dual-threat quarterback first came onto the scene as a freshman in the fall of 2019, and he split snaps with Matt Corral throughout the season. Plumlee finished the season 79-of-150 passing for 910 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. His passing statistics weren't the best, but he was incredible on the ground-- he rushed for 1,023 yards and 12 touchdowns on 154 attempts.
In 2020, Corral became the true starting quarterback, and Plumlee was left to do a little bit of everything. He took a few snaps behind center but went only 5-of-7 for 65 yards with one touchdown. Plumlee was also used sparingly as both a wide receiver and a running back. He had 25 rushing attempts for 94 yards and six receptions for 79 yards.
This past season, the junior became even less of a factor for the Rebels. The once-prized quarterback had one pass for six yards against Austin Peay in early September. Plumlee continued to help out wherever necessary-- he had nine rushing attempts for 72 yards and 19 receptions for 201 yards-- but he wasn't an integral part of the team anymore. Luckily, he still had a great relationship with head coach Lane Kiffin and was even spotted fixing his tie before one game.
But Plumlee had another sport to occupy him when football wasn't enough: baseball. He played in nine games during his 2020 freshman season before the pandemic ended things in the middle of March. During that time, he posted an unimpressive .063 batting average with one hit, one run batted in, four runs scored and 11 strikeouts.
In the spring of 2021, Plumlee had a much better season as a sophomore for the Rebels. He became a reliable part of the team and played in 38 games with 18 starts. Plumlee improved in just about every area-- he had a .267 batting average and accounted for 21 runs scored and seven runs batted in on 16 hits. He also had a 1.000 fielding percentage as an outfielder and committed no errors. Still, he wasn't able to perform as well as most of the other starters.
Ultimately, Plumlee's decision will likely be the best career move for him. He wasn't being utilized as a quarterback at Ole Miss and was up against some fierce competition within his own baseball program. Hopefully, this move will work out for the best for Plumlee, and he will see more success in the years to come.
