Top 3 landing spots for 4-star Shekai Mills-Knight to the class of 2025 ft. Ole Miss

Four-star running back Shekai Mills-Knight, from Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, wants to give his pledge before the new season kicks off. Baylor School will open its season on Aug. 25 and Mills-Knight is set to announce his commitment on Saturday, August 17.

Mills-Knight is rated as the nation's No. 19 running back, the No. 237 overall prospect in the 2025 class and the No. 10 player in the state of Tennessee, according to On3. 247 Sports places him as the No. 31 running back in the class and the No. 13 prospect in Tennessee.

Shekai Mills-Knight took official visits to Ole Miss, Auburn, Miami, Alabama, Michigan and Tennessee. Let's see which three programs are leading the race to acquire his pledge.

Top 3 programs competing for Shekai Mills-Knight's commitment

3. Auburn

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine gives Auburn only a 1.2% chance of landing Shekai Mills-Knight's commitment, but the Tigers have left a lasting impression on the running back. He visited Auburn on June 10 and since then, the program has been leaving no stone unturned to acquire his pledge.

"Ever since my official visit, they’ve been going the extra mile," Mills-Knight told Rivals. "They always tell me they’ll do anything to have me, to get me. I love their culture and I love that coach Nix can call plays since he’s the OC and RB coach."

Auburn's 2025 class has a total of 22 committed players, which ranks No. 6 in the nation and No. 4 in the SEC. Shekai Mills-Knight has also acknowledged the potential for growth and success at Auburn, both on and off the field.

"They’ve got a top recruiting class. They've got a great alumni base that got me in the mix with NFL legend Ronnie Brown and they've got really good networking for after football and a great education for what I’m trying to be (a financial advisor)."

Auburn's 2025 class already holds commitments from four-star prospects like Jared Smith, Derick Smith, Anquon Fegans, Eric Winters and Malik Autry, among others.

2. Tennessee

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, the Tennessee Volunteers have a 1.4% chance of securing Shekai Mills-Knight's pledge. He took an official visit to Tennessee on June 14 and has developed strong relationships with running back coach De'rail Sims and offensive line coach Walt Wells.

"I’ve been in Tennessee for a year now and it’s shown me nothing but love; why leave? They've got a strong recruiting class and my relationship with Coach Sims has been elite since his Cincinnati days and I vibe with Coach Walt also," Mills-Knight told Rivals. "I love their offensive schemes -- it gets the running backs in open space, allowing big runs."

Tennessee has 21 players committed to the 2025 class, which ranks No. 9 in the nation and No. 6 in the SEC. The class includes several blue-chip prospects on the offensive side of the ball, such as interior offensive lineman Douglas Utu, quarterback George MacIntyre and tight end DaSaahn Brame.

1. Ole Miss

Inside the Rebels logged a Crystal Ball prediction for Shekai Mills-Knight to choose Ole Miss last month and On3's Steve Wiltfong added his prediction earlier this week. According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine, Ole Miss now has a 94.7% chance of landing the talented running back.

Ole Miss was the first program to extend an offer to Mills-Knight and their persistence has paid off. He took an official visit to Oxford on June 21.

"They run a great offense and they’ve been top-five offense for several years now," Mills-Knight told Rivals. "Their position coaches (Kevin) Smith and (Enrique) Davis been there done that, so it’s different being taught by them. I could learn a lot and I love the plan they have to develop me."

Ole Miss has 14 players committed to the 2025 class, ranking No. 24 in the nation and No. 11 in the SEC. The Rebels are also actively pursuing other top targets, including four-star Jamarion Morrow, who can potentially flip to the program.