A week after the Ole Miss Rebels picked up a standout defensive end in Channing Ward, head coach Hugh Freeze landed another important commitment from East Mississippi Community College quarterback Bo Wallace Tuesday afternoon.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound native of Pulaski, Tenn., was scheduled to make his college choice today, but Wallace, who started his college career at Arkansas State, couldn’t wait to make his choice any longer. Citing a comfort with Freeze, who was the offensive coordinator the one year Wallace was at ASU, and a desire to play in the Southeastern Conference, the NJCAA All-American chose the Rebels over Mississippi State and others.
“I’m happy to be a Rebel. I can’t wait to get there, to get started,” said Wallace, who will go through spring drills and enroll in school this semester. “Ole Miss is where I wanted to be. I’ve been an Ole Miss fan and I felt I could come in and compete for the starting job.”
Wallace was heavily courted by the Bulldogs, who only have two quarterbacks on the roster heading into the spring after losing Chris Relf to graduation and Dylan Favre to Pearl River Community College.
Wallace not only gives Freeze a fifth quarterback on the roster for spring drills, he could be one of six on the roster at the start of the fall. Ole Miss currently has a non-binding verbal commitment from Franklin, Tenn., native C.J. Beathard (6-2, 180).
The 2011 season was a memorable for Wallace and EMCC (12-0 overall). Not only did he break the national single-season passing records in yards (4,604), total offense (4,810) and touchdowns (53), he also directed the Lions to the MACJC state title and then the NJCAA national championship.
In the Lions’ 55-47 win over Arizona Western in the NJCAA title game, Wallace threw for seven touchdowns and was 31-for-44 for 486 yards. He threw for 400 or more yards five times during the season and his lowest yardage total of the season was 276 against Pearl River.
Smart QB
Wallace had a big night against the NWCC in the third week of the season throwing for three touchdowns and 359 yards. NWCC defensive coordinator Andy Greening said Wallace was one of the best quarterback to play in the state in “five or six years.”
“The six inches between his ears is what separates him from everybody. Didn’t matter what you did he, he always had answer for it. I see a lot of quarterbacks not as good as him,” Greening said. “He’s a good enough runner hurt you if don’t respect him. He makes great decisions and then he can beat you with his arm. A lot of quarterbacks can’t do that.”
Wallace recently visited MSU, Indiana and Baylor, and also garnered interest from Texas and Texas Tech most recently. (January 11, 2012, Page 7)
