Ole Miss are all in for 2024. After an impressive 11-2 season in 2023, head coach Lane Kiffin has gone all-out to get the best and the brightest to Oxford for the 2024 season.
The Rebels topped CFN’s SEC transfer portal rankings and are ranked seventh in our offseason 2024 Top 25 College Football Power Rankings. Ole Miss feels that this is their time to push for a playoff birth, and their top 10 returning players have the talent to help the program accomplish that lofty goal.
Ole Miss Top 10 Returners in 2024
Analyzing the returning players at every school is a difficult task in the transfer portal area. As such, we’ve included transfer-portal athletes on each team’s roster page to open spring camp in addition to the rostered players from last year.
10) Khari Coleman, LB
Khari Coleman returns to Oxford in 2024 for his final year of eligibility. He headlines an exciting linebacker group and — while there may be flashier players on the Ole Miss defense — is a real team leader.
Coleman transferred to Ole Miss from TCU in 2022 and excelled in a versatile role in 2023. With 48 total tackles, 3.5 for a loss, 2.5 sacks, one pass deflected, and one forced fumble, the linebacker flashed speed, strength, and consistent qualities.
9) Trey Washington, S
Trey Washington led the Rebels with 83 total tackles last fall. That number was good enough to be ranked eighth in the entire SEC. Furthermore, with three interceptions, the Ole Miss safety had the best year of his career, and given the additions that the Oxford program has made in 2024, he can improve again.
With Ole Miss adding impactful players on the defensive line, it will only allow Washington to use his awareness and instincts more. The Rebels’ defensive back thrived in big games in 2023, recording 10 tackles against Alabama and Texas A&M. If Ole Miss are to play in even bigger games in 2024, they will need players like Washington to step up.
8) Jared Ivey, DE
Jared Ivey was the Rebels’ joint sacks leader in 2023 and enjoyed the best season of his career. The pass rusher returns for his fifth year of eligibility in 2024 in a new-look Ole Miss defensive line. Surrounded by more talent than he was a year ago, Ivey can develop again this season.
In 2023, Ivey had 46 total tackles, 11.5 for a loss and 5.5 sacks, one pass defended, two forced fumbles, and one touchdown. Named to the Senior Bowl Watch List a year ago, he is already on the radar of NFL scouts and has flashed the talent and ability to improve again in 2024.
7) Ulysses Bentley IV, RB
With Quinshon Judkins shockingly leaving in the transfer portal, Ulysses Bentley IV will likely be the feature back in 2024. Behind the star RB, Bentley had 95 carries for 540 yards and four touchdowns last season as he rebounded from an injury-ridden 2022.
Ole Miss also brings over Logan Diggs from LSU in the transfer portal. However, after suffering a serious knee injury in the Reliaquest Bowl, there are question marks over his return date. That gives Bentley a massive opportunity to carry the running game in 2024, and he is primed for the best season of his career.
6) Caden Prieskorn, TE
Caden Prieskorn has been another masterstroke addition through the transfer portal, joining the Rebels ahead of the 2023 season. The former Memphis tight end was extremely productive when he saw the field last season, and there is hope he can kick on again in 2024 as one of the top returning tight ends in the country.
MORE: Ole Miss 2025 Football Schedule
After missing the first three games of the season due to a toe injury that required surgery, Prieskorn soon found his rhythm as a receiver, but also as a blocker. He was instrumental in the success of the Ole Miss run game and increasingly became a focal point of the passing attack.
5) Juice Wells, WR
Antwane ‘Juice’ Wells is another transfer portal addition from an SEC team. The former South Carolina Gamecock moves to Oxford after a disappointing 2023 season that saw him only play in three games to open the season due to a foot injury.
However, throughout his college career, Wells has proven he can be a credible receiving threat. In 2022, for the Gamecocks, Wells had 68 receptions for 928 yards and six touchdowns. Prior to joining South Carolina, Wells was with Jame Madison for two seasons and had 116 receptions, 1,853 receiving yards, and 21 touchdowns with the Dukes.
If Kiffin can get Wells up to speed with the Rebels, he will be an important weapon in a stacked offense.
4) Tre Harris, WR
Tre Harris led the Rebels in receiving yards in 2023, despite having a sprinkle of niggling injuries throughout the year. It was the receiver’s first year with the program after transferring to Oxford from Louisiana Tech, and his production certainly traveled with him.
In 2023, Harris had 54 receptions for 985 yards and eight touchdowns and was a consistently reliable option. He had substantially more yards than the next best receiver (Dayton Wade with 830) and double the amount of receiving touchdowns.
3) Princely Umanmielen, DE
Princely Umanmielen transfers to Ole Miss after four seasons with the Florida Gators and is coming off the best season of his career. In 2023, the pass rusher had 39 total tackles, 11.5 for a loss, and seven sacks.
That production will be essential if Ole Miss is to compete for a playoff spot in 2024. Umanmielen joins the Rebels as one of the top edge rushers in the nation and already has the attention of NFL scouts.
2) Walter Nolen, DT
Walter Nolen was one of the top players in the transfer portal and moved over to the Rebels with high expectations on his shoulders. Kiffin has used the transfer portal and NIL effectively, and Nolen is yet another example.
In 2023, the former Texas A&M defensive lineman had 37 total tackles, 8.5 for a loss, and four sacks in 12 games.
The former five-star prospect was the No. 1 ranked recruit in the 2022 class, and his explosive movement and incredible physicality will add another dimension to the Ole Miss defensive line — which is looking deadly ahead of the 2024 season. If Nolen can stay healthy, he will only increase the notion that he is one of the nation’s most talented interior defensive linemen.
1) Jaxson Dart, QB
Jaxson Dart returns to Oxford and will lead a star-studded offense in 2024. After transferring in from USC ahead of the 2022 season, the QB has excelled under Kiffin and is one of the top signal callers in the SEC.
KEEP READING: 2024 Ole Miss Rebels Football Roster
Dart is already one of the most productive QBs in Rebels history, and with another 3,000-yard season, he will close in on becoming second on the Ole Miss all-time passing yards leaderboard — only behind Eli Manning. With an abundance of weapons to throw, there’s a very real possibility of Dart achieving it.
College Football Network has you covered with the latest news and analysis, rankings, transfer portal information, top 10 returning players, the 2024 college football season schedule, and much more!