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.
Lee Ann Herring-Olvedo
Lee Ann serves as the Director of Recruiting for The Rebel Walk. She sees college football the way championship programs do—from inside the personnel room. Every evaluation, every roster move, every recruiting battle tells a bigger story about identity, culture, and how a program is built to win in December, not just July.
With more than 15 years covering the SEC and the national recruiting landscape, Herring-Olvedo has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most respected personnel-driven voices—blending film evaluation, roster construction, and long-term program vision through a true front-office lens. Her coverage of powerhouse brands like Ole Miss Rebels and Kentucky Wildcatshas consistently gone beyond headlines, focusing instead on the blueprint behind winning programs: development, fit, culture, and recruiting strategy.
That foundation was formed early at Brown University, where she worked in player personnel and recruiting while competing as a student-athlete. Inside those recruiting operations rooms, she learned how elite organizations are truly built—through relentless evaluation, relationship building, projection, and trust in the board. Those experiences shaped the way she studies the game today: part scout, part storyteller, part architect.
Her analysis and reporting have appeared across major platforms including ESPN, NFL coverage spaces, USA Today Sports, and Saturday Down South. She also brought her personnel-minded approach to the airwaves as an on-air analyst for the Wake Up 502 College Football Show on Big X Sports Radio 96.1, where she became known for combining film-room detail with a wider understanding of roster identity and program trajectory.
In 2025, covering the rise of Houston Cougars football under Willie Fritz reignited the part of the sport that first drew her into football—the culture, the edge, the belief that a roster can reshape an entire city. That inspiration led to the launch of Coogs 365 Sports, a platform built to cover Houston athletics through a true scouting and recruiting lens while connecting the emotion of the game to the heartbeat of H-Town.
Now, Herring-Olvedo returns to The Rebel Walk where with an even deeper perspective shaped by years inside recruiting circles, national SEC coverage, and hands-on evaluation experience. Her return brings a familiar voice back to Ole Miss coverage—but with an evolved lens rooted in roster architecture, player development, and the modern realities of building championship-caliber football in the NIL and portal era.
For Herring-Olvedo, recruiting has never been about stars beside a name. It is about identifying competitors, projecting growth, and building a locker room capable of sustaining success. Her philosophy mirrors the best front offices in football: stack traits, trust culture, and never stop building.
