One day after reports indicated Jaxson Dart was heading to Ole Miss, he confirmed the transfer on social media and had a message for his new SEC home.
“I can already tell Oxford is a special place!” Dart wrote in a message shared on Instagram and Twitter. “I can’t wait to get to work and give you all that I have! Hotty Toddy! Ole Miss are you ready?”
Dart, the former USC quarterback, entered the NCAA transfer portal following his freshman season. He reportedly visited Ole Miss, Oklahoma and BYU.
Dart, who prepped at both Corner Canyon and Roy High, was the 2020 Deseret News Mr. Football recipient.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder threw for 1,353 yards and nine touchdowns against five interceptions as a true freshman in 2021 while adding a pair of rushing touchdowns.
Dart was rated one of the nation’s top available players in the transfer portal — 247 Sports had him ranked No. 3 in the country — and joins an Ole Miss team looking for a new starting quarterback. Matt Corral, who threw for more than 6,500 yards and nearly 50 touchdowns over the past two seasons, declared for the NFL draft, opening a QB battle for Lane Kiffin’s program.
“Bringing in Dart is a good thing for Ole Miss. Obviously,” Nick Suss of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger wrote.
“There are no guarantees that Dart can be a program-changing talent in the way Corral was. But Kiffin’s track record working with quarterbacks and Dart’s connection to passing game coordinator John David Baker, who recruited Dart to USC, hint towards the Rebels having a good understanding of how to use him.”
Dart also thanked the USC community for his one season in California.
“To my brothers … in the short time we had, I feel sincere gratitude for our memories and relationships we created. They will last a lifetime. You will forever be family,” he wrote.
“Despite adversity we stood together! Thank you for welcoming me and my family. I love SC and am extremely grateful for my time here.”