Trey Washington, High School Coach Open Up Ole Miss Commitment
Trey Washington is a Rebel.
The Trussville, Ala. product committed to Ole Miss and coach Lane Kiffin on Wednesday afternoon, becoming the fifth member of the sixth Rebel commit of the 2021 class. Washington is a three-star rated cornerback by the 247Sports Composite.
In a bizarre offseason where recruiting is done entirely online, Washington committed without a visit to Ole Miss and without meeting many of the coaches in person. Yet it was still those relationships, developed over Zoom meetings, that led to his decision.
"I have a really good relationship with Coach (Terrell) Buckley and just the optimism around Coach Kiffin at Ole Miss, that's the big part of my decision," Washington said. "Everyone I talk to about Lane Kiffin, what he'll bring to a program when he gets there, that's what gives me that optimism about Kiffin and Ole Miss."
According to Washington, Buckley intends to keep him in a similar role to what he plays at Hewitt-Trussville High School – boundary corner.
At 6-foot and 195-pounds, Ole Miss loves his physicality and size. He'll play a bit of at safety during his upcoming senior year, a role that a few other programs recruited him at, but Washington is primarily a cover corner.
"He's a great cover guy. But he's a really good size kid that can be really physical and does a lot of things well," said Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd. "Trey is such a talented kid that we'll get him on offense some too. He's really good with the ball in his hands so it would be silly not to try and get him the ball some."
As a junior in 2019, Washington totaled 38 tackles at corner. More impressively, he recorded three interceptions and semi-ludicrous 16 passes defended.
Those ball skills are what lands him on offense some. While he won't play a full-time (or even half-time) receiver role, he did average 22 yards per catch on offense as a junior.
When it came to picking a program, it came down to the ability to simply get better on the field.
"The main thing for me was the confidence that the coaches build in me, that I'd leave the school better than I came," Washington said. "And I think these guys will do that."
Washington had some other SEC offers, particularly Mississippi State, but in the end it came down to Ole Miss, Louisville and Kansas State. Talking to the Rebel staff on Wednesday, they wanted him to commit on Zoom. Washington needed some time.
He talked it over with his family and later committed via Twitter.
"He's got a good relationship with the coaches there, as much as you can right now. He wanted to go visit more and everything, but the way things are right now makes that hard," Floyd said. "They felt good about it and thought Ole Miss was a great fit for him and his family. Trey wanted to make a decision before his senior year so they just went ahead and pulled the trigger."
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