(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Brandon Bolden was just your average high school football recruit, so said the experts. 

The 5'11", 220-pound athlete from Scotlandville, LA, the grandson of former Kansas City Chief running back Frank Pitts, was rated three stars by Rivals.com and Scout.com.

During the summer before his senior year, Bolden camped at Auburn, LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss. At the time, LSU and Auburn appeared to be his favorites. LSU looked to be where Bolden would end up, considering Baton Rouge was 20 minutes from Scotlandville.

Toward the end of the summer, as the Alabama coaching staff saw Bolden up close, Nick Saban saw potential. He offered on the spot. Ole Miss followed, but LSU never reportedly offered, nor did Auburn.

Bolden added plenty of other offers, which included Baylor, Southern Miss, Tulane, and Vanderbilt.

During his senior year at his local high school (Scotlandville Magnet), Bolden racked up 866 yards on 112 carries, adding 12 touchdowns in eight games. He also caught 26 receptions for 260 yards.

As Bolden's recruiting was winding down in November, Bolden narrowed his final two to Alabama and Ole Miss. The Louisiana back was torn between the two. 

Then, it appeared Alabama might have an edge. 

Ed Orgeron, coming off of a 3-9 season, was abruptly fired on Nov. 24, 2007. 

However, the Ole Miss athletic department moved fast to bring a new head coach to Oxford. After Houston Nutt had resigned in Arkansas, the next day he was announced as the next Ole Miss head coach.

Bolden, at the Ole Miss camp, developed a good relationship with running backs coach Frank Wilson.

The bad news—Nutt decided to not retain Wilson to his current staff.

So what did this mean for Bolden?

As Houston Nutt scanned film to weed through Ed Orgeron's 2008 class, he saw Brandon Bolden's film and obviously liked what he saw. He told Bolden his offer was still valid at Ole Miss.

To make sure this is where he wanted to go, Bolden visited with his teammates Dallas Thomas and Prentiss Waggner days after Christmas.

Frank Wilson, however, wasn't going to give up. He accepted a job at Southern Miss and was coming strong for what he saw in Bolden. Bolden decided he would visit Ole Miss again and then Southern Miss during the final weeks of January and then make a decision.

As Bolden visited Ole Miss on Jan. 18, 2008, Enrique Davis, the No. 1 prep school player in the country and a five-star rated RB by Rivals.com, flew in to Oxford from Virginia after he decommitted from Auburn considering their new spread offense.

In the end, it didn't faze Bolden. Bolden committed to Ole Miss during the visit and told Frank Wilson he would cancel his visit to USM. Bolden was headed to Oxford.

Bolden, however, had some competition. A week after his commitment, Army All-American running back Devin Thomas committed to Houston Nutt and the Rebels, and on signing day, Enrique Davis shocked many by choosing Ole Miss over Auburn and Oregon.

The running back class for Ole Miss ended up at fourth in the nation according to Rivals.com.

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