Colorado Buffaloes, West Virginia Mountaineers Target Raves About Ole Miss Football

Following the trip, he caught up with 247Sports and Rivals where he raved about his time in the Magnolia State.

Ole Miss rolled out the red carpet for the talented Ohio native as his recruitment process heats up, but there is still more to come for the gifted pass catcher.

With one visit down, Ballinger is still in line to take visits to Ohio State and Florida moving forward as he evaluates the contenders in his process.

Ballinger has seen multiple schools intensify their pursuits after taking multiple unofficial visits over the summer as well.

The talented tight end checked in with the Vanderbilt Commodores and Duke Blue Devils this offseason where he broke down his time at each program.

"Coach Flaherty and Coach Lepak were very welcoming and encouraging. Practice was shorter because of their upcoming scrimmage so it was mostly team periods," Ballinger told 247Sports of his time at Vanderilt.

"Vanderbilt players got after each other in a positive way and competed physically. The program is on the rise for sure."

He also took a trip over to Duke with an opportunity to visit the program's campus and more.

"Duke's campus was beautiful," he told 247Sports. "Listing to Coach Diaz and his staff talk made me feel like I was in a true football environment. All the guys wanted each other to succeed and you could tell by the way they competed."

Now, with the season arriving, Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels remain in pursuit of the coveted tight end in the 2027 Recruiting Cycle with the program a team to watch.