Ole Miss Adds Iowa State Transfer Isheem Young

OXFORD, Miss. — The Rebels are painting the town red when it comes to making impactful moves via the transfer portal. Three-star Iowa State safety Isheem Young committed to Lane Kiffin and the Rebels this week.

Young took to Twitter Monday to announce his intent to become an Ole Miss Rebel.

on the same mission! #HottyToddy #HYDR pic.twitter.com/6Vcnf3RM1H

— uno (@Isheemyoung) January 10, 2022

Back in December when Young hit the portal, we immediately knew he was one the Rebels should look at closely and we put him on our portal “hot list.”

Fit In the ‘Sip

While there has been no official announcement of Chris Partridge being named the Rebels’ defensive coordinator, following the move of D.J. Durkin to A&M, that hasn’t slowed down the momentum he continues to bring to Ole Miss recruiting.

Isheem is a big win for the ‘Partridge Pipeline’ that brings another talented Philly product to the ‘Sip.

Although many Ole Miss fans probably weren’t familiar with Young prior to his entrance into the portal, his talent is obvious. In fact, when I saw Young not only had Philadelphia roots — but also had prepped at Imhotep Charter School where some of the best defensive players in the country have been produced over the last few recruiting cycles, I knew he needed to be on our recruiting radar.

It also didn’t hurt having two current Rebels — fellow Imhotep alum Taleeq Robbins and Philly native Tysheem Johnson — offer insight to Young into the Ole Miss program. As I have said before, coaches and staff can certainly sell a program to an extent, but the heart of it oftentimes comes from fellow athletes’ personal experiences at a program.

Young has played well in Ames for two seasons, closing out with 19 career starts for the Cyclones.

During his freshman season, he was named the 2020 Big 12 Co-Defensive Freshman of the Year. He not only led his team — but also the Big 12 conference and tied sixth in the nation — in forced fumbles.

And interestingly, Young won’t have to start over and learn a new defensive scheme, as Iowa State ran the 3-2-6 Ole Miss used in 2021.

He notched 106 tackles, 3 interceptions in 24 games as a Cyclone.

The 5-foot-10, 201-pound safety is a less-talk-more-action kind of player. He is physical and extremely good at making plays off the cuff.

I pity the man that has to take this hit from Isheem Young… what a catch pic.twitter.com/nMqd2fgIFc

— OutCYde the Lines (@OutCYdeTheLine) November 13, 2021

Young will have three years of eligibility remaining.

With Young and the other recent transfer portal additions to the Rebels’ roster this last week, Coach Kiffin’s 2022 recruiting class has risen to No. 16. I wouldn’t be surprised if before the last checkmate is made, there WILL be a top 10 class here in the ‘Sip.