No. 2 Wideout in Mississippi to Choose Between Ole Miss, LSU and North Carolina

Lane Kiffin and Co. remain firmly in the mix for the top wide receiver, sleeper could emerge down the stretch.

Courtesy of Xavier McDonald's X/Twitter.

Morton (Miss.) four-star wide receiver Xavier McDonald is down to four schools with a commitment date locked in for Friday, July 4 as he winds down his recruiting process this summer.

McDonald, a Top-10 wide receiver in the 2026 Recruiting Class, will choose between the Ole Miss Rebels, LSU Tigers, North Carolina Tar Heels and Sacramento State Hornets.

The 6-foot-3, 160-pounder is a Top-100 prospect nationally with elite-level programs across America continuing to battle it out for his services during the 11th hour.

Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels are pushing all the right buttons here with the program knocking it out of the park during McDonald's official visit in June.

“I’m from the Sip so they want me to stay in the Sip so they’re going to do whatever they can to keep me in the Sip. Just the love was there and I felt it so it was just great being at Ole Miss,” he told On3 Sports.

"Seeing the energy, the love that they’ve been getting, it’s just the players. Players are great and you’re going to be around great people and you’re going to have better opportunities to play. It was just the love there.”

Truly blessed to be in this position🙏🏾
Decision date July 4th! pic.twitter.com/cBF06b5ve8

— Xavier Mcdonald (@Xavierkeonmac) June 28, 2025

But it'll be a battle for McDonald with LSU, Sacramento State and North Carolina remaining firmly in the mix for the highly-touted receiver.

LSU emerged as a threat in his process following an official visit to Baton Rouge this summer.

“LSU is definitely high on my list,” McDonald told On3 Sports. “The overall visit was great. The feeling on campus was amazing. Seeing the love and energy has me feeling great about LSU … Meeting with the coaches was great.

"I spent time with Coach Kelly and Coach Hank (Cortez Hankton). Their message was that coming to LSU will be a great and fun place to go. They also wanted to make sure that I know that their care about my degree more than football because my degree will last forever. They made me feel like LSU is the place to be.”

The sleeper pick here is the Sacramento Hornets as the outlier among McDonald's final four schools.

He took an official visit to see the California program during the weekend of June 20 as his final trip of the summer as they remain in the hunt.

Morton (Miss.) receiver Xavier McDonald, the No. 9 receiver in the 2026 class and a Top100 prospect nationally is taking an official visit to Sacramento State this weekend after taking LSU and Ole Miss officials earlier this month https://t.co/CZxVwOqMWE pic.twitter.com/zRLOZlsfS3

— Brandon Huffman (@BrandonHuffman) June 20, 2025

McDonald will reveal a commitment decision on Friday with all eyes on the No. 2 rated wide receiver in Mississippi set to come off the board.

Ole Miss has secured three commitments this week with the Rebels adding EDGE Landon Barnes, tight end JC Anderson and cornerback Iverson McCoy.

Now, all eyes are on McDonald as he prepares to go public with a decision on July 4.

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