The offseason for Ole Miss baseball has officially arrived in earnest.
Granted, the offseason technically started two weeks ago when the NCAA transfer portal window opened after the NCAA Regionals. The Rebels have been playing games during that time, but still managed to land three transfers.
More transfers are expected to come, but what positions need to be filled or have depth added remain to be seen. Only one current Rebel (Blake Ilitch, RHP) has entered the transfer portal and with no more games to play, others might follow in the coming days.
There’s also the upcoming MLB First-Year Player Draft. Ole Miss has 15 players who meet the draft eligibility requirements (see below) and a few are expected to start to be drafted high enough to decide to go pro instead of returning to college.
Catcher Austin Fawley and pitchers Cade Townsend and Taylor Rabe are the obvious draft candidates. For now, it’s best to plan as if none of those three will be back in 2027.
Other players like Dom Decker, Brayden Randle, Huson Calhoun, JP Robertson and Wil Libbert are on the border of the go pro or return to college line.
Mysterious Case of Hunter Elliott
The most intriguing draft eligible Rebel with eligibility remaining is Hunter Elliott.
Elliott is the last remaining player from Ole Miss’ 2022 national championship team. But he took a medical redshirt in 2023 (appeared in two games before needing season-ending surgery) and a regular redshirt in 2024 (recovering from injury). He played fully in both 2025 and 2026, leaving him with one more season of eligibility.
Unlike his fellow starters, Rabe and Townsend, Elliott isn’t projected to be a high draft pick. If Elliott isn’t drafted until after Round 10 of the MLB Draft, it’s conceivable that he’d return to Ole Miss for one more season.
Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco talked last week about how “old wins” in college baseball.
“Older teams seem to have success,” he said. “When you’re old, you’ve been through the adversity. You’ve been punched in the mouth, and hopefully you’ve been able to get back up, continue to fight and have success.”
Getting Elliott back would give Ole Miss that old, but tested player on the roster. What he decides to do in the next month will be worth monitoring.
Incoming Freshman
And don’t forget about the incoming high school signing class. Ole Miss has 14 signees in its class and a couple may not make it to campus.
Magnolia Heights’ (Miss.) Cole Prosek and Christian Doty and James Island Charter (S.C.) shortstop Taj Marchand are all listed on top 200 prospect lists. It would be a surprise if any of them ever put on an Ole Miss uniform.
That’s where things stand for Ole Miss right now. We’ll learn more about the future of the Rebels in the coming days and weeks.
Below you’ll find a breakdown of the eligibility status of the current Ole Miss roster, as well as the incoming freshman class and transfer portal activity.
But first, here’s how the draft eligibility requirements work.
MLB Draft Eligibility Rules Explained
MLB Draft eligibility is not always as simple as classifying players by their listed year in school.
High school players are eligible after graduation as long as they have not enrolled in college, while junior college players are eligible after completing at least one year at the JUCO level.
For players at four-year schools, draft eligibility begins once they have completed their junior year or turned 21 years old. That means most juniors and seniors are eligible, but some sophomores can be eligible as well if they are old enough, have redshirted or have a previous junior college background.
Because of that, roster decisions are usually sorted by more than just freshman, sophomore, junior and senior labels. Age, college timeline, redshirt status and previous school history all matter when determining who can be selected in the MLB Draft.
Ole Miss Baseball Roster
No Eligibility Remaining
- Tristan Bissetta, OF
- Will Furniss, 1B
- Daniel Pacella, OF
- Collin Reuter, C/IF
- Marko Sipila, RHP
- Judd Utermark, 3B
- Landon Waters, RHP
Draft Eligible
- Hudson Calhoun, RHP
- Patrick Collopy, LHP
- Dom Decker, 2B
- Hunter Elliott, LHP
- Austin Fawley, C
- Terry Hayes Jr., RHP
- Cooper Johnson, LHP
- Owen Kelly, RHP
- Landon Koenig, RHP
- Wil Libbert, LHP
- Taylor Rabe, RHP
- Brayden Randle, IF/OF
- JP Robertson, RHP
- Cade Townsend, RHP
Eligibility Remaining, Not Draft Eligible
- Noah Allen, RHP
- Bryden Bull, 1B/OF
- Evan Farrow, RHP
- Hayden Federico, OF
- Grayson Gibson, LHP
- Cannon Goldin, OF
- Owen Hancock, RHP
- Walker Hooks, LHP
- Topher Jones, IF
- Brett Moseley, OF
- Leo Odom, RHP
- Owen Paino, IF
- Leven Perera, C
- Jake Reigert, RHP
- Luke Romine, 1B
- Tate Sirmans, UT
Outgoing Transfers
- Blake Ilitch, RHP
Incoming Transfers
- Trey Hawsey, 1B (LSU)
- Mavrick Rizy, RHP
- Brent Stukes, RHP (USC Upstate)
High School Signing Class
- Cole Prosek, SS, Magnolia Heights (Miss.)
- Christian Doty, SS, Magnolia Heights (Miss.)
- Taj Marchand, SS, James Island Charter (S.C.)
- McCoy Silicz, RHP, Bakersfield Christian (Calif.)
- Winston Pennant, OF, Sumner High School (Fla.)
- Devin Long, RHP, Chaparral (Ariz.)
- Bryce Collins, RHP, Kelso (Wash.)
- Tucker Long, RHP, Ottumwa (Iowa)
- JP Harmon, RHP, Novato (Calif.)
- Brett Harris, C, Western Dubuque (Iowa)
- Lucas Lawrence, LHP, Catholic High School (La.)
- Ayson McIntosh, C, IMG Academy (Fla.)
- Ryan Walls, RHP, Trinity Christian Academy (Fla.)
- William Cutshall, INF/SS, Seneca (S.C.)
