Princely Umanmielen, one of Ole Miss’ several transfer portal jewels from the historic 2024 class, was an edge rusher. The senior already ticks off the majority of the boxes based on his measurements and biography. Umanmielen is 6-foot-5, 255 pounds, and already has four years of SEC experience.
When the former Florida Gator went through the transfer portal, everyone wanted a piece of the action for their 2024 defense.
Who would not?
But Ole Miss was not willing to give up the chance of securing his talents for this “Last Dance” team without a battle.
“Watching Princely was like, ‘Here’s someone who has the perfect size, length, and speed to be a really excellent player. You don’t have to say ‘here’s how we’d utilize somebody’ to conceal some of the flaws, as we’ve done a lot here. It’s great to have him, and you can see it out there. “His length really shows,” Kiffin said of Umanmielen on Tuesday.
The Texas native has only managed to get better every single season of his career. After posting 39 total tackles (22 solo) to go along with seven sacks (career-high) and countless tape of living in the backfield in 2023, 247Sports had Umanmielen ranked as the No. 2 available edge (No. 17 overall).
What was the portal experience like for one of the hottest names in it? Umanmielen told us following Tuesday’s indoor practice.
“When I first hit the (portal), it was a little stressful. I had a lot of teams coming at me left and right. I feel like Ole Miss just felt right. When I had talked to Kiffin, I liked how he ran the team (and) how they (did) practice. Just everything, it’s just all aligned,” Umanmielen told reporters in his first press conference as a Rebel. “The timeframe of when I had to leave my apartment in Florida and things like that, everything just aligned. I came on my visit and then I (saw) what I had to see and I was done. I didn’t have to talk to nobody else.”
Though he’s now a Rebel, and has been since the middle of December, it still hasn’t “hit” him that he’s no longer on gridirons in Florida. Social media has also been a reminder lately, but he’s excited for one more game in Gainesville this fall. The Rebels take a road trip there in late November to take on Florida, marking their first matchup since the 2020 season.
