"I changed those plans Tuesday," Parsons said. "(Ole Miss tight ends) Coach
(Maurice) Harris called me today. They're having a coaches meeting
this weekend. They have two tight ends committed. They want me, but they have
to have a meeting to see if they can take me so I'm going to go down there
after they decide."
Ole Miss offensive line coach Matt Luke and head coach Hugh Freeze traveled to Colorado to visit Parsons
at his house last week.
"They were talking to me about possibly taking a greyshirt. They wanted
to feel us out to see if that would be a possibility. They have two tight ends
committed, and they want to sign a third, but they don't want to have the same
situation they have now where all three of their tight ends graduate in the
same class. They wanted to see if maybe I would take a greyshirt. I told them
that I'm not looking to greyshirt next fall. I wouldn't mind redshirting, but
we really can't afford for me to pay our own way for a semester."
Was the news disappointing?
"They've been telling about the situation since I got back from my trip
(official visit to Ole Miss for November 24th weekend). At first it was such
a downer. I was in awe when I went down there for my visit. I wanted to be a
Rebel right then, but this has forced me to slow down with my recruitment, which
is good. I need to reevaluate things. I just don't want to greyshirt. I have
to look at all my options. It's been a learning experience."
Despite the bad news he still has the Rebels on top.
"They're still my favorite school. I just fell in love with their campus
and the fan support they get down there. It just felt like home away from home,
really. I hope it still works out, but if it doesn't, then I just have to never
look back and keep going forward."
Vanderbilt was at his school earlier this week and will return this weekend.
"They're really coming after me hard. They said I have a good chance to
come in there and play next year. I have a visit set with them for January 20th
weekend. I like Vandy. They don't really have much tradition or fan support
like Ole Miss, but I've heard from one of my friends at school who committed
to them to play baseball that they have a really nice campus. It's an awesome
academic school. They don't get the fan support, but they have some other things
that Ole Miss doesn't have."
Cal-Berkeley is back in the picture.
"I've been talking with Cal a lot lately too. I'm waiting to see who they
hire. I told them I'd come out there and take an official visit after the
break. Their athletic director has been staying in touch with me."
Another SEC school has begun to show some interest as well.
"Florida started calling last week. I sent them some video and they liked
it. We're just in the beginning stages of getting to know one another. I really
don't know where this is going to go from here with Florida. I hope they start
showing me some more interest though. I know it's a great school with great
fan support."
Yancy Porter is the Mississippi Scout for Scout.com and he can be reached at yporter@scout.com