Top 2022 Guard Prospect Amaree Abram Commits to Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — Quietly Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis and his staff have assembled their best batch of recruits of any year so far. And the 2022 class got even deeper Saturday as the Rebels landed Amaree Abram who announced his decision.

Abram chose Ole Miss over a final five that also included Louisville, Maryland, St. John’s and DePaul.

1000% committed✅ pic.twitter.com/aTXkfcXKxd

— Amaree Abram (@amareeabram) March 5, 2022

Abram joins a class with Malique Ewin, TJ Caldwell, and Robert Cowherd. It hasn’t been an easy road for Abram. From Humble, Texas, Abram initially was a star for Port Arthur High School. There, he was heavily recruited by several schools.

But Abram felt it would be good for a change of scenery, and he transferred out to play at Southern California Academy. There, he joined fellow Ole Miss commit Robert Cowherd. Abram has said that Cowherd put in some effort to recruit him to Ole Miss.

In an interview with Joe Tipton at On3, Amaree discussed this.

Ole Miss commit Amaree Abram

Initially committing to Texas A&M in August of last year, Abram reopened his recruitment in November and Ole Miss was quick to get involved. Since transferring out to SoCal Academy, Abram’s game has blown up. He is one of the biggest risers in this year’s recruiting cycle. Sitting as a three-star for a while, he has jumped nearly 100 spots in some rankings.

As of now, Abram is considered a four-star prospect.

Amaree in the Rankings

On3 – #76 Nationally, #9 PG

247 Sports – #64 Nationally, #12 PG

Rivals – #109 Nationally

ESPN – Four Star Ranking

The Recruiting Process

For Abram, the recruiting process was interesting. After his de-commitment, he only went on two visits as he is playing his senior year. The first was back in December when he visited Ole Miss on the 3rd-5th.

In an interview at Zagsblog.com Abram detailed his trip to Oxford.

Amaree Abram on his visit to Ole Miss in December

The only other visit Abram took was to Louisville back on the weekend of January 22nd and 23rd. While Louisville was still in his final five, the Cardinals let go of Chris Mack shortly after his visit. DePaul came into the picture late but landed Zion Cruz. St. John’s was an option but never quite got a visit scheduled with Amaree.

Play-style and relationships were very important for Abram in his choice of schools. In an interview with Travis Braham of 247, he detailed why the play-style worked at Ole Miss was a special selling point.

Amaree Abram

After his visit with Ole Miss, it really seemed as if Abram made a connection with the Ole Miss staff–specifically, it appeared he and assistant coach Ronnie Hamilton formed a good relationship. The opportunity to play in the SEC was also important to Abram.

Abram Scouting Breakdown

Height: 6-3

Weight: 190

Team: SoCal Academy

Position: PG

Watching film on Amaree, one sees how he can fit in within Coach Davis’ system. At SoCal, Abram played both as a primary ball-handler at times, as well as a secondary ball-handler with Dior Johnson taking over.

With Jarkel Joiner likely back and Daeshun Ruffin returning after his ACL injury, Abram would give Ole Miss a third ball-handler. He can play a role similar to his at SoCal.

Abram loves to get out and push in transition. Whether just pushing the ball up himself or by passing it forward, he will get the ball up the court quickly. He plays downhill with the mindset to get to the rim or draw attention to himself to create for others. His handle and first step are tight. Abram loves to use a cross-over, push dribble, or in-n-out move to free up space or to start his attack.

This downhill mindset will be very complimentary alongside Daeshun Ruffin who already draws defenders with his gravity as a scorer.

Abram can attack off of closeouts and is a threat to pull-up off the dribble. He is an improving shooter (more on that in a bit) who can attack to all three levels. He loves the mid-range pull-up/floater, the step back three, and finishing around the rim. He is more of a playmaker than a shot creator. He is great at finding open men and making reads out of ball screens.

Defensively, his pressure makes him a good two-way option. He loves to play tough from the point of attack. SoCal switches a lot, so it will be interesting to see how he maneuvers around ball screens.

Where Abram excels is with his quickness and ability to understand spacing and to get into gaps. He jumps passing lanes getting easy steals. He has a lot of traits that can make him an impact guy early for Ole Miss.

2022 Amaree Abram 6’3 PG Southern California Academy is the best two way guard in the nation. Cat quick with elite instincts & toughness. 3 level scorer that puts pressure on rim & gets downhill. Close to unstoppable in ball screens. An absolute terror on both ends. @amareeabram pic.twitter.com/0dpK7fDAI9

— Julius V. (@JuliusVElite0) February 11, 2022

In the past couple of days, his team (SoCal Academy) competed in the Southeast Invitational in Charlotte. In their contest against 1-on-1 Academy, Abram broke the team record with 10 made three pointers. He finished with a game-high 38 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds.

In a blowout win earlier today, Abram again filled up the stat sheet as he finished with 10 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 5 steals against Elevation Prep.

2022 Ole Miss Class Breakdown

This 2022 recruiting class has set a milestone for the Ole Miss Men’s Basketball program. While Kermit Davis has certainly brought in some excellent classes, this one is his best. It marks the first time ever in the modern recruiting era where Ole Miss has brought in not one, not two, but three players inside the 247 Top-100. Before now, the Rebels have only had one class where they brought in two players in the top-100 — and that was fourteen years ago in 2008.

Let’s take a look at the class per 247Sports’ rankings. Note: This is not the composite rankings, but the 247 Rankings.

Amaree Abram – 64th National; 12th PG

Malique Ewin – 93rd National; 16th C*

TJ Caldwell – 96th National; 11th SG

Robert Cowherd – 217th National; 27th SG**

*-Ewin is 72nd nationally in the composite rankings

**- Notes composite rankings

As reported by Ben Garrett of the Ole Miss Spirit on On3, Kermit Davis will be looking to add three players through the transfer portal. If I had to speculate, I would guess a big man, a wing, and a forward. This means the Rebels could need four players from their roster to leave, plus Nysier Brooks who has exhausted his eligibility.

Garrett also stated Jarkel Joiner will probably be testing the professional waters — with the most likely scenario resulting in his return to Ole Miss.

Looking ahead

The return of talented players plus a standout recruiting class gives the Rebels a really exciting blend of talent for next year’s team as the future is bright for Ole Miss basketball.

(Feature image graphic: Lee Ann Herring, Rebel Walk)