Eli Manning Commits to Ole Miss

The Associated Press
12/18/98 1:57 AM Eastern

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Newman High School quarterback Eli Manning verbally
committed Thursday night to the University of Mississippi, ending a three-month
recruiting frenzy that including more than 100 schools offering scholarships.

Manning said he would officially announce his commitment at a news today.

Manning follows his father, who was a standout quarterback at Ole Miss before playing
for the New Orleans Saints. Eli's oldest brother, Cooper, also played at Ole Miss as a
wide receiver. Another older brother, Peyton, played at Tennessee and is now starting
quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts.

"My heart told me Ole Miss was the best place," Manning said. "It is a good school with
a good program. They're changing a lot of things around with Coach (David) Cutcliffe
there. I told them I'm not going to be look back once I committed."

Cutcliffe is the former offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Tennessee,
where he coached Eli's brother, Peyton.

Cutcliffe took over the Ole Miss program after helping guide Tennessee (12-0) to a
victory against Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference Championship game
Dec. 5. at Atlanta.

Eli said he visited Ole Miss on Sunday and Monday and met with Cutcliffe, his assistants
and several Ole Miss players.

"He (Cutcliffe) called the plays at Tennessee and was real successful," Manning said.
"He does a real good job with quarterbacks."

Manning narrowed his list to Ole Miss, Virginia and Texas earlier this week. He said he
wanted to commit early, before the Christmas holidays, so he could concentrate on the
remainder of his senior year at Newman.

Manning said the pressure of playing at Ole Miss, where is father once starred, was not
a factor. Archie Manning was out of town and could not be reached fo